While many people are focused on the global pandemic or the new hit documentary “Tiger King,” One Direction fans are trying to piece together the rumors and hints at the band’s 2020 return.
All of the band members have been giving small clues that suggest the boy band is getting back together. The rumors have awakened the inner “directioner” in most of their fans, who are now taking to the internet to discuss their excitement.
Although I once considered myself a huge One Direction fan, I fall into the minority when it comes to my opinion about the comeback: I do not think the band should get back together.
After the band’s breakup in 2015, all five members went off to start their own careers, most notably Harry Styles and Niall Horan. All of them have released separate albums that display their own developed and personal sound.
With such different styles, it would be very difficult for them to find a cohesive sound again. Additionally, the band was not formed organically. They were forced to perform together in a singing competition, “The X Factor,” in 2010. The band received a large amount of positive attention, so they decided to stay together after their third place finish in the competition.
Because the band was forced together, the boys butted heads and disagreed on a lot of decisions made about the band. Although they are all now much older and have matured, I still think if they got back together, it would be hard to compromise.
A large part of my unpopular opinion comes from how special the One Direction era was to me. I spent the majority of my middle school and high school days listening to their music. I love their old sound because it brings back so many good memories.
I feel like if the band were to get back together, their old music will fade away and it will be taken over by a much different sound.
One day, I want my children to hear an old One Direction song and almost laugh at its arrangement and lyrics. It would make it all that more special when I tell them about the times I would get ready for a day of school in eighth grade while singing along to those same lyrics.
It’s true I would love a One Direction reunion tour, but not so soon and with no new music. I wanted to be in my forties and be excited about buying tickets with my middle school friends to go see the band we once loved.
When I was discussing this with my friend, who had a very different opinion, she asked me how this reunion would be different from the Jonas Brothers’ return, which I was very excited for.
The difference is that although Nick and Joe developed their own careers, their music wasn’t much different. It was the fact that they grew up singing together that made creating music together come naturally. Since they are all blood-related, they really know each other and work well together.
I just want to remember One Direction as the fresh-faced boys who sang about young relationships and getting girls to notice them. I want to remember them as they were when I first saw them in the “What Makes You Beautiful” music video.
If the rumors are true and One Direction does make a comeback at the end of 2020, I won’t be angry about it. I am actually looking forward to hearing what they make together. I just wanted to keep One Direction as a special and prominent part of my past.
Shelby Bordes is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Rayne, Louisiana.
