Story of My Life" is an acoustic folktronica song with neofolk elements.

[1][5] It runs for a total of four

minutes and five seconds. Idolator compared the song to the works of Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Mumford
& Sons.[1][4] The song is written and recorded in E-flat major. According to musicnotes.com, the song
runs at 120 beats per minute.[6] This song was mixed by Joe Zook.

Critical reception

Sam Lanksy of Idolator called the song "surprisingly great" and noted it was a "mature midpoint" between
the group's signature "rollicking pop-rock confection[s]" and "dreary ballads". Lanksy additionally called
the song "merciful" and complimented it for using alternative-folk influences without "smell[ing] like
spilled beer".[4] Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "contemplative,
acoustic guitar-driven song" and complimenting it for being "more memorable" than any of the group's
previous works. Sciarretto noted that the song would resonate with listeners of many different ages and
showed that One Direction "isn't just a boy band"; although noted the song was not as "crazy catchy" as
their previous songs.[1] Lauren Wheeler of TheCelebrityCafe.com gave the song 5 out of 5 stars noting
that the lyrics were "reflective" and "much deeper than some of their bigger hits." Wheeler added that the
song showed that One Direction "not only have range, but also have matured through their music."[7]

Chart performance

On 31 October 2013, the song debuted at number one on the Irish Singles Chart, becoming One Direction's
fourth number-one single in Ireland.[8] The song also debuted at number one in New Zealand, becoming
both their second number-one debut and single on the New Zealand Singles Chart.[9] The single has been
unsuccessful in reaching number one in the UK on three occasions, firstly by debuting at number four, then
climbing to three, and finally by stalling at two—although it was at number one on the iTunes for the
entirety of that week and it peaked at number one on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. In Australia, the
song debuted at number three on the ARIA Charts and has since been certified Gold.[10]

In the United States, it charted at number six, giving the band their fourth U.S. top ten single. It has charted
in the top 15 for 19 weeks, seven of those in the top 10, and has become the band's second-highest selling
single in the U.S. after their debut single "What Makes You Beautiful" (2011). The song also reached
number one on the Adult Pop Songs chart, becoming One Direction's first number one on a U.S. airplay
chart.[11] It has sold 2.8 million digital copies in the U.S. as of June 2016.[12]

Music video
Three days before the music video was uploaded, three teasers were posted, once each day. Zayn Malik and
Liam Payne also posted a picture from the video with Malik posting a picture with his sister.[13][14]

The video was directed by Ben Winston, who also directed the video for their previous single "Best Song
Ever". The video was accidentally published and leaked by Vevo two days earlier when they were
supposed to upload the second teaser for the music video, but it was immediately removed.[15] It was then
officially uploaded on 3 November 2013. The video features some the band's family members: Zayn's
sister, Harry's mother, Liam's parents and sisters, Niall Horan's brother and Louis' grandparents (two of
whom are now deceased). It starts in a dark room with the band developing photos. Afterwards, certain
family photos for each member are shown, and the photos morph into the same family members doing a
current recreation of the photos.[16] Photos included in the video consist of: Zayn, aged 7, with his little
sister; Louis, aged 8, with his grandparents; Harry, aged 4, with his mother; Niall, aged 4, with his brother
being aged 10 when the photo was taken; Liam aged 10, with his family.