Moments (One Direction song)
"Moments" is a song by English-Irish boy band One Direction from their debut studio album, Up All Night (2011). It was written by Ed Sheeran, and Si Hulbert, the song's producer. In 2011, as One Direction member Harry Styles told Sheeran that the boy band did not have enough songs for their album, Sheeran offered "Moments" as a track that he "was never going to use".
"Moments"
The song is a mid-tempo pop ballad about a love lost to distance, or a boy who commits suicide after the death of his lover. Instrumentation includes a lightly strummed guitar and intermediate piano lines. The ballad received generally positive reviews from music critics, who noted the song's memorability and complimented its composition. Upon the release of Up All Night, "Moments" charted in lower regions on the singles charts of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom due to strong digital download sales. One Direction performed the song on all three of their major concert tours: Up All Night Tour (2011–12), Take Me Home Tour (2013) and Where We Are Tour (2014).
Composition and lyrics[edit]
"Moments" is a mid-tempo pop ballad.[8] Written in the key of D major,[9] the beat is set in common time and moves at a moderate 150 beats per minute.[9] One Direction's vocal range in the song span from the note of D4 to A5.[9] "Moments" utilises a gently strummed guitar and intermediate piano lines.[9] Inspired by the breakdown of a relationship between Sheeran and an unnamed woman,[4] the song's lyrics revolve around an unrequited love.[4] The chorus of the song is essentially built on the hook, "You know I'll be your life, your voice, your reason to be/ My love, my heart is breathing for this moment in time/I'll find the words to say/ Before you leave me today."[9][10]
Critical reception[edit]
"Moments" received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised its musical arrangement and memorability. Alex Hughes from The Huffington Post characterised the song as "heartbreaking".[11] Hollywood Life and AllMusic both rated "Moments" as one of the best songs on Up All Night.[12][13] Herald Sun writer Cameron Adams referred to the track as a "classic boy band ballad".[8] Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz cited the lyrics "be your life, your voice, your reason to be", writing that "Lyrics like that won't help the group earn much respect in music circles. But if a tween-pop empire is what these boys are after, they're definitely headed in the right direction".[14] Erica Futterman for Rolling Stone opined that the track's lyricism is "quintessentially swoonworthy" toward an audience aged approximately 8 to 12 and female.[10]
Chart performance[edit]
Upon the release of Up All Night, "Moments" debuted on multiple world charts due to strong digital download sales. The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 118 on the chart issue of 3 December 2011.[15] "Moments" was One Direction's sixth best-selling song in the UK by August 2012.[16] It bowed on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 87 on the chart issue of 21 March 2012.[17] It also entered the Australian Singles Chart at number 60 on the chart issue date of 8 April 2012.[18]