Strong

Album: Midnight Memories (2013)
Charted: 48 87
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Songfacts®:

  • Louis Tomlinson and frequent One Direction collaborator Jamie Scott co-wrote this song, which is about how if you're in love with someone, you shouldn't be embarrassed to tell her. It was co-produced by Julian Bunetta, a veteran producer on The X Factor who co-penned the music for many of the Midnight Memories tracks.
  • Bunetta explained the song's meaning to MTV News: "We got into this discussion about how when you tell someone like 'I need you, I love you and I need you 'cause you make me strong,' essentially you can scare someone off. It's pressure, so people just kind of run from it. So, that's what the lyric is," he said. "It's saying 'I'm sorry if I say this, but f--- it."

    "And obviously Louis' been in a relationship [with Eleanor Calder] for a long time," Bunetta added. "It was just sort of a thing that I think all guys feel, having to uphold a man 'I'm strong' [philosophy], and kind of throwing that idea out the window."
  • The song reached #1 on the New Zealand singles chart. This was due to download sales of the track in the week after the release of Midnight Memories.

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