Night Changes

Did You Know?

• The song begins in the key of A major and changes to B major 2 minutes and 28 seconds in.
• The harmonies in the chorus are backed by rounds of 'Oohs'.
• The song explores themes of the rapid passage of time and seizing the moment.

Music video

The official music video for Night Changes was released on 21 November 2014 and directed by Ben Winston. It was the last One Direction video to feature Zayn Malik, who left the band on 25 March 2015. Liam Payne's real-life girlfriend Sophia Smith participated in the shoot but did not appear on-screen. The video is presented from a point-of-view perspective of going on a date with each of the five members. The five dates occur in different settings: a restaurant with Zayn Malik, a drive in a vintage car with Louis Tomlinson, a night playing Monopoly and Jenga by a fireplace at Niall Horan's house, ice skating with Harry Styles, and a funfair with Liam Payne. During each date, events go wrong. Zayn's date's ex-boyfriend arrives, yells at her, and dumps water and spaghetti on Zayn, causing the date to leave. Harry attempts a complicated ice skating trick with his date, resulting in both falling and getting injured. Liam becomes nauseated on a Waltzer ride and vomits in his date's hat. Niall's shirt sleeve catches fire from the fireplace, and while grabbing a towel to extinguish it, he tips over a jug that spills on his date's dress. Louis is pulled over by police, presumably for speeding, and his attempt to joke with the officer leads to his arrest, with his date watching him being driven away in the police car.

Commercial performance

Night Changes achieved moderate commercial success and is among the band's most critically acclaimed tracks, praised for its contemplative treatment of life's fleeting nature. As of October 2024, it is One Direction's most-streamed song on Spotify, with over 2 billion streams. Following Liam Payne's death in October 2024, the song experienced a surge in sales and streams, reaching 6th place on Spotify's daily global song chart. The Official Charts Company reported it at number 16 on the UK Midweek Singles Chart, and it re-entered the UK Singles Chart Top 100 on 25 October 2024 at a new peak of number 6.