One Direction - Take Me Home

One Direction
Take Me Home
Columbia Records (2012)
By Abby Snowden

Two years since their debut on X Factor, One Direction has released their second album entitled Take Me Home. Best known for their song “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction does not allow this album to stray too far from what we’ve heard from them in the past. With a little help from their friends Ed Sheeran and McFly, these five teen boys have kept the same general party-hard, dance-forever sound.

The album opens with “Live While We’re Young,” which is a slightly suggestive introduction, with lyrics such as “I know we only met but let’s pretend it’s love… Tonight let’s get some and live while we’re young.” We can’t expect much else from 18-20 year old boys, but overall, this song just makes you want to grab a friend and dance. The songs “C’mon, C’mon” and “Kiss you” have the same general concept. They’re just about a bunch of teenage boys looking to have a good time with some good-looking ladies. (“Oh, I just wanna show you off to all of my friends / Makin' them drool down their chinny chin chins / Baby, be mine tonight, mine tonight.”) These suggestive undertones are easily masked by the songs’ catchy beats, allowing parents to let their 12 year-old daughters listen without thinking twice about it.

The most popular song on iTunes by an overwhelming amount is “Little Things,” which was written by close friend Ed Sheeran. Obviously so, this song takes on a very “Ed Sheeran sound,” for lack of a better phrase – not exactly something they should keep doing, but for this song it works (although it feels like every other song on their previous album, Up All Night.) “One Thing,” “What Makes You Beautiful,” and “Everything About You” all take on the standpoint of the boy who sees beyond a girl’s imperfections and loves who she really is. In “Little Things,” they repeat the same “You still have to squeeze into your jeans / But you’re perfect to me.” It’s a common theme for them to sing about being in love with girls despite those girls’ self-confidence issues, and it seems to be working pretty well for them. The other song written by Ed Sheeran is “Over Again.” This song was not a One Direction song, or should I say, it shouldn’t have been. Anyone who has ever listened to even one Ed Sheeran song can hear his musical stylings instantaneously. It strays just a little to far off of the One Direction path that it almost doesn’t fit on this album.

My personal favorite, “I Would,” was written by McFly, another pop band originating in England. There is no question that thousands of teenage girls are waiting in line to even meet a boy from One Direction, but in this song the male speaker has a hard time getting a girl to notice him. She is preoccupied with her boyfriend, who “doesn’t treat her like [the speaker] would.” For once, One Direction doesn’t get the girl, leaving them to think about all of the things that they would do if they had. When you listen to it, you can’t help but tap your finger along, or at least dance a little.

Overall, it’s just another pop album, made by a bunch of attractive British boys. It’s a shame it wasn’t released during the summer, because it is undoubtedly one of those albums you want to blare in the car while you’re driving with the windows down. Hopefully they’ll progress musically with their next release, but for now I think teenage girls everywhere are satisfied with the One Direction they’ve come to love.

Check out:
“She’s Not Afraid”
“I Would”
“Kiss You”