Steal My Girl

### Composer(s)

Wayne Hector, John Ryan, Julian Bunetta, Ed Drewett, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Jonathan Cain

### Producer(s)

Julian Bunetta, John Ryan, Pär Westerlund

## Singles Chronology

**Steal My Girl** is a song written and recorded by English-Irish boy band, One Direction. It is the lead single from their fourth studio album, *Four* (2014).

It was released worldwide on September 29, 2014. The single was written by band members Louis Tomlinsonand Liam Payne along with Wayne Hector, John Ryan, Ed Drewett, Julian Bunetta and Jonathan Cain. It was produced by Julian Bunetta, John Ryan and Pär Westerlund.

They also performed this song for the first time on their fourth concert tour, the *On the Road Again Tour*.

Lyrically, the song frets over the potential for rivals to take the group's girlfriends away from them, and why they matter to them.

## Background

The band announced the release of their fourth studio album, *Four*, on September 08, 2014.

"Steal My Girl" was announced as the first single on September 14, 2014, by band member, Liam Payne. On September 28th, one day prior to the official release, the song was leaked on the internet.

The song is co-written by Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson. Tomlinson stated the song is a "feel good song and it’s not too far away from the last album *(Midnight Memories*)."

Since leaving the band, Zayn has expressed discomfort with being framed as "mysterious" (a title card in the beginning of the video describes him as such) saying this was a label forced on him and was untrue of his personality.

The song's piano piece of the instrumental was similar to Journey's "Faithfully".

## Lyrics

**[Zayn]**

She been my queen

Since we were sixteen

We want the same things,

We dream the same dreams,

Alright (alright)

I got it all

'Cause she is the one

Her mom calls me 'love',

Her dad calls me 'son',

Alright (alright)

**[Niall]**

I know, I know, I know for sure

**[All]**

Everybody wanna steal my girl

Everybody wanna take her heart away

Couple billion in the whole wide world

Find another one 'cause she belongs to me

Everybody wanna steal my girl

Everybody wanna take her heart away

Couple billion in the whole wide world

Find another one 'cause she belongs to me

Na na na na na na (oh, yeah)

Na na na na na na (alright)

Na na na na na na

Na na

**[Harry]**

She belongs to me

**[Liam]**

Kisses like cream

Her walk is so mean

And every jaw drop

When she's in those jeans

Alright, alright

**[Louis]**

I don't exist

If I don't have her

The sun doesn't shine,

The world doesn't turn,

Alright, alright

**[Niall]**

But I know, I know, I know for sure

**[All]**

Everybody wanna steal my girl

Everybody wanna take her heart away

Couple billion in the whole wide world

Find another one 'cause she belongs to me

Everybody wanna steal my girl

Everybody wanna take her heart away

Couple billion in the whole wide world

Find another one 'cause she belongs to me

Na na na na na na (oh, yeah)

Na na na na na na (alright)

Na na na na na na

Na na na na na na

**[Harry]**

She knows, she knows

That I've never let her down before

She knows, she knows

That I'm never gonna let

Another take her love from me now

**[All]**

[All]

Everybody wanna steal my girl

Everybody wanna take her heart away

Couple billion in the whole wide world

Find another one 'cause she belongs to me

Everybody wanna steal my girl

Everybody wanna take her heart away

Couple billion in the whole wide world

Find another one 'cause she belongs to me

Na na na na na na (oh, yeah, alright, yeah)

Na na na na na na (alright)

Na na na na na na

Na na

She belongs to me

Na na na na na na (oh, yeah)

(She belongs to me, yeah)

Na na na na na na (alright)

Na na na na na na

She belongs to me

## Music Video

 **Length**
 **Director**
 **Production Co**
 **Location**

### Synopsis

The music video for the song was released on October 24, 2014. It features the band being directed by Hollywood superstar Danny DeVito as they meets up in the middle of the desert where a video shoot is being set up. Each band member is given a role to represent (Harry is "love", Niall is "light", Liam is "power", Louis is "danger" and Zayn is "mystery").

Liam smashing a row of silver balls that spell "inhibitions" and leading a marching band. Zayn fights off sumo wrestlers. Louis interacts with a chimp named Eli, as well as a mountain lion and flamingos. Niall is seen to be dancing with a Maasai tribe from Kenya. Harry is seen surrounded by masked female ballet dancers. The video combines surreal imagery with different types of dancers and the group standing on a cliff performing the song. DeVito is seen throughout the video. At the end of the video, everyone dances in the rain together, and DeVito is satisfied with the footage filmed.

## Release

The single became available worldwide on September 29, except in the United Kingdom. The song was made available in the United Kingdom on October 12, with Payne's remix of the recording (dubbed as the Big Payno and Afterhrs Pool Party Remix) being the B-side.

"Steal My Girl" ranked number three on the UK Singles Chart. Despite this, the track is the eighth song from the group to have peaked top-three in the UK Singles Chart. "Steal My Girl" reached number 13 on the US *Billboard* Hot 100.

## Reception

The song received acclaim from music critics. Lucas Villa of *AXS* praised One Direction's classic rock sound of "Steal My Girl", noting similarities to Journey's "Faithfully". He wrote that "the guys have been digging in their parents' record collections" and added "[it's] a pretty neat and new direction for the band."

*Billboard* gave the song four and a half out of five stars, stating it "represents the group's most tremendous Van Halen impression yet." Jim Farber from the *Daily News* reviews the single as a throwback to the 1970s/80s due to the arena rock ballad.

Upon the release of "Steal My Girl", Hayley Williams and Chad Gilbert pointed the similarities between the song and New Found Glory's "It's Not Your Fault". Tune similarities have also been found with 2006 Bollywood movie Krrish's song "Koi Tumsa Nahi".

## References

1. ↑ One Direction Announces 'Four' Album Lead Single 'Steal My Girl,' Due Late September
2. ↑ One Direction 'Steal My Girl' Leaks
3. ↑ **one direction announce new single 'steal my girl'**