Most people think This Town is a nostalgic song about someone Niall misses from his hometown and how whenever he comes back and sees that person, in a way, heās still in love with them.
But Iām here to tell you everything you believe is wrONG.
Listen. The song is about familiarity. Niall and Zayn knew each other better than anyone in the band (canon, donāt get me started). When Zayn was asked a question about himself and didnāt know the answers Louis went āNiall?ā because he knows this about them and Zayn went āYeah, you know me well.ā
They knew exactly how to help each other. Niall knew how to get Zayn out of his comfort zone a bit and when people talked over him he always made sure to listen. Zayn knew how to help Niall calm down a bit whether he was panicking in a bad way or just overly excited about something.
Even after Zayn left Niall kept talking about Zayn with familiarity. Heās the only one who from the start seemed to understand Zaynās decision, didnāt joke about it, didnāt give to many details but made clear he wasnāt the bad guy. āIf your hearts not in it you shouldnāt do it.ā and āHe just fell out of love with it.ā and even though more recently when he was asked if he was still in touch with Zayn he said he wasnāt really, he didnāt put blame on him or say he was trying to ādistance himselfā he just said 'Zayn is Zaynā, because he still knows him better than most people.
Now to the song. /waking up to kiss you and nobodyās there./ this the line that stops me from believing its about someone (as Niall said) he dated when he was like 12 or 13. This sounds like someone leaving you abruptly and when you wake up the next morning, you forget they left for a second. Zayn left in the middle of a tour and it took some time for Niall to get used to the fact that he wasnāt there.
/Yesterday I thought I saw your shadown running around, itās funny how things never change in this old town/ Zayn isnāt the only thing thatās the epitome of familiarity for Niall, the same goes for One Direction. This line is about how even later Niall kept forgetting Zayn wasnāt there sometimes because everyone just kept moving in the exact same way as before.
/I remember everything from when we were the children playing in this fairground/ obviously this sounds like a childhood crush but since the boys always talk about how they grew up in the band, makes sense to me.
/Wish I was there with you now/ Now, thereās that rumor about how Niall wanted to leave One Direction as well. According to that ex-jls member when they were in Vegas together they both discussed the pros and cons of leaving a boyband with him. There was another source stating this as well. Obviously, rumors. But it fits for now.
A lot of the lyrics speaks for itself because Zayn was the love of Niallās life, no offense.
/Everything comes back to you/ Even if theyre not in touch now, theyāll always care about each other and if they ever needed each other theyād be there in a heartbeat.
/You still make me nervous when you walk in the room/ Okay obviously as I said before, makes total sense, no explanation needed. Donāt @ me. But this also reminded me about the amaās back in 2016 and how at the red carpet, heād talked about how he was excited to see Zayn and how he wanted to talk to him. In his mind he had planned out entirely. Then Niall performed this song right in front of Zayn. It was his most emotional performance of that song ever. While singing he finally felt how everything had changed, and suddenly all his plans fell apart. When he walked off the stage and had to pass Zayn his entire body looked tense, he was being rushed, away, he didnāt really know what to do anymore and all that came out was a handshake.
/And I know that itās wrong that I canāt move on, but thereās something about you/ Since this was the first song Niall wrote for his album I think itās definitely set in the time the band was still going. Everyone seemed to have moved on the moment Zayn packed his bags and Niall was left alone with this feeling of just wanting to have Zayn, someone who he (canon) trusted with everything that was on his mind, around him. Zayn was Niallās comfort blanket. Someone who never judged him and was always able to calm his mind.
And that my friends, is why This Town by Niall Horan is about Zayn Malik. Sorry for the long post but as you can see I got carried away.
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