next to you

sometimes it hits me just how much one direction did in only five years. they fit four tours and did 326 shows in just five years. to compare, taylor swift has done 399 shows in almost twice that time, excluding the reputation tour. beyoncé has done 442 shows as a solo artist since the dangerously in love tour in 2003. just let those numbers sink in.

this isnt meant to be a cutesy like “oh :’) look at how much they accomplished :’)” thing. this is just me being absolutely baffled by how extremely overworked these boys were. im proud of everything they’ve done but these numbers are scary.

since i woke up missing them yet again, just wanna add that they released 5 studio albums in as many years. taylor swift and beyoncé each put out 6 studio albums in twice the time that one direction did (for beyoncé it’s longer). that’s just not normal, you dont churn out albums while you’re in the middle of touring the last one. not to mention, their teams did such a crappy job of promo after the third one and their sales weren’t half of what they could have been if they hadn’t essentially been burned out. no fucking wonder they all began to loathe it and had to stop, catch me being bitter about it until the day i die

oh and ONE MORE THING for everyone who’s saying that they’re done as a band because they hated it at the end. they didnt hate the band, they hated the nonstop work and no room to breathe and no sense of autonomy that came with the band. there are bands that have been around for decades and they haven’t been active constantly. it’s okay to take breaks occasionally so they don’t burn themselves out completely and the boys needed a break from one direction, not from music. they’ll come back one day and whenever that happens, it’ll be on their terms and it’ll be explosive and i personally just cant wait tbh