You & I (One Direction song)

Did You Know?

• The song's lyrics include the line: 'Not even the gods above can separate the two of us.'
• A fragrance endorsed by One Direction, named after the song, was released in August 2014.

Background and release

Following the success of their second album Take Me Home and the documentary One Direction: This Is Us, the band announced their third studio album. Liam Payne described the album as having a "very rock direction" and being "quite retro. Harry Styles commented, "This one is for you, so we hope you like. The single was released on 25 May, accompanied by an EP that included a remix by Liam Payne called the 'Big Payno' mix, as well as piano and duet versions.

Critical reception

Music critics gave "You & I" generally favourable reviews. Chris Payne of Billboard called it a "slow jam" suited for middle school dances. Michael Cragg of Mirror described it as a "delicate, acoustic guitar-lead ballad" with an adult sound, comparing it to Snow Patrol. Tim Sendra of AllMusic labelled it a "cinematically swoony ballad" that conveys real emotion. Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club noted the band's matured voices on this "syrupy soft rock ballad." Melinda Newman of HitFix called it an "elegant ballad" that could be massive, while Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times remarked it resembled Bryan Adams' "Heaven."

Commercial performance

After the release of Midnight Memories, "You & I" debuted at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart on 1 December 2013. Following the music video release, it re-entered at number 49 on 27 April 2014 and later climbed to number 22 after its official single release. In Ireland, the song debuted at number 45 in November 2013, re-entered at number 47 after the video, and rose to number 7, becoming the band's eleventh top-ten single there. In Australia, it peaked at number 23, and in New Zealand at number 22. It reached number 13 in Spain but missed the top ten there for the first time since "What Makes You Beautiful." In France, it peaked at number 42. In the United States, it debuted and peaked at number 68, the band's lowest-charting single there, selling 382,000 copies by December 2014.

Music video

The music video for "You & I" was directed by Ben Winston and shot on Clevedon Pier. It was edited to appear as a single take, showing the band members morphing into each other as they walk along the pier and trade lead vocals. The video won the British Video award at the 2015 Brit Awards. It sparked controversy when Australian production company OhYeahWow accused One Direction of plagiarising the concept from Clubfeet's video for "Everything You Wanted." Carl Williot of Idolator compared the visual to the closing scene of Michael Jackson's "Black or White," while Louis Virtel of HitFix called it "weird and scary."