By Cayla Resnick
I can still picture me as a 10 year old sitting in the family room with my mom when she turns on the tv. She changes the channel to the X factor as I hear “Performing for one last time”. One Direction appears and starts to play their last released single History. The song begins with everyone in the room clapping which first brings the feeling of joy and celebration of all the band has accomplished. As Harry Styles starts to sing you can hear the support from their fans in the audience. This is a full circle moment for them since they first started out on the X Factor and it is the place that brought them all together.
The song that they are singing, History, is on their fifth and final album Made in the A.M.. Although one of their band members, Zayn Malik, isn’t with the group anymore they still include him in the slideshow, since he still had such an impact on the band both for the fans and the other members. Although it is a hard moment for the members and they don’t know if they will ever be back as a group all four of them have a smile on their faces as they continue to sing. This is especially noticeable in Niall Horan as he is singing the second verse with his positive energy glowing through the screen.
When the chorus hits, all I can do is take in their final moments as a band with the flashes of old images of the band in their happiest times behind them starting to appear while they are singing. Every time even to this day when I watch the performance and see the slideshow in the background it moves me in such a joyful way even though the performance also brings such despair with being their last one. Although the song can be taken in many ways I see it as a song they wrote for their fans and the history that they have created getting to connect with their fans and create a lasting impact for them. Which I feel really shines through this performance.
As Louis Tomlinson sings the bridge he sings the lyrics “this is not the end” which is still to this day my favorite moment of the whole performance. Although the band knows that they are taking a hiatus and don’t know if they will ever be back together, it doesn’t mean that the connections and relationship with their fans is also ending. The band’s impact will continue to live on even if they aren’t actively making music and performing together, and as of today they are all still around creating their own solo music.
As the performance comes to a close and they sing the last line “we can live forever” you can sense the changes on their faces. As reality is starting to hit them that they just finished their last performance together for who knows how long and that their future together remains undetermined. Their final moment on the screen is them all hugging each other which is an image that I still think about all the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bY256ed42k
As someone who cries over this performance, I feel you heavily. I am a big fan of One Direction and their last performance is so bittersweet! Their hug at the end gets me every time.