The Singles Jukebox

Wait, this is a farewell single? But I thought they were the ones who want to be with me :( :( :(

[Video][Website]
[4.62]

Alfred Soto: One of the factors that made Made in the A.M. a disappointment was the tendency to turn songs into hootenannies in which the audience assumes it’s being addressed. If “History” is supposed to One Direction’s farewell, it’s an anemic one. The chorus melody sounds incomplete and the boys as if they’d just met. Not a farewell, I hope.
[5]

Patrick St. Michel: Meh song, but then again it’s stellar fan service and a nice goodbye (until One Direction reunite at Coachella in five years or something).
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: The handclaps and acoustic guitar read “More Than Words” — a song I’ve never liked. The lyrics read “Up With People,” at least until the bridge and its mentions of tattoos (ooh, how edgy). Don’t let the door hit you boys in the ass on your way out.
[2]

Megan Harrington: There is a moment in “History” where the usual flawed logic of youth deteriorates so completely that logic is no longer a part of the fabric of One Direction’s universe. I think you know the moment. It’s a synapse between “you and me got a whole lot of history/ so don’t let it go/ we can make some more” and “we can live forever!” When I hear that fundamental shift, my face lights up, every single time. 
[6]

Scott Mildenhall: Take That got Steinman and a choir, 1D get traces of Mr. Big. This song is actually a very nice thing, but the atmosphere of “hey lads, we’re having a great time aren’t we?” afforded by the handclaps and strumming and overegging of the desire to evoke nostalgia is a bit of a sticking point. That said, it is, perhaps, finally, peak One Direction. Working at such pains to appear a particular kind of “grounded” for so long, is it any wonder that Zayn’s idea of life for a “normal 22-year-old” is to carry on being a popstar?
[6]

Brad Shoup: Look at these little guys, kicking that ol’ can down that lonely road. A chipper, strummy farewell that doubles as a passive-aggressive angle for continued brand engagement, it claps down on you like a sweaty palm or eight. Maybe next go-’round they’ll learn how to harmonize.
[5]

Will Adams: The heavy, lolling rhythm mistakes lethargy for sway, something which the stapled-in bridge tries to amend. I’ve always found it difficult to be fully invested in these cheerful chaps; theirs is a history of shouty choruses and promises of immortality. The problem with “History” is that it’s begun to sound like even they don’t believe it anymore.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: That leap upwards to “we could live forever!” would be such a rush if it was in a fast-paced One Direction banger along the lines of “Live Like We’re Young.” Sadly it’s held back screaming on the ground trying to fly by the pub-rock sing-a-long pace and the absence of Zayn, who sent such things into the stratosphere. This might as well be a boyband Oasis b-side (is it their “Life Got Cold” as well as their “Whole Lotta History”?). Taken out of context, this sounds like no group anyone would have cared much about, though Liam Or Harry Or Louis Or Niall does a good job on the middle-eight, I suppose. Bye boys, and thanks for some amazing pop songs. This isn’t one of them.
[5]