Tortured talent Liam Payne has certainly been in the wars of late. Firstly, Liam was unkindly accused of being a blubbery misery addicted to nicotine and then poor Payne was forced to feel the pain of splitting up from his long-term lady-love Sophia Smith.
Yet the question remains, can Liam Payne become the artist he was born to be and make a silk purse out of this pig’s ear?
In other words, can Liam Payne take all his misery, woe and heartbreak, channel it, and produce a groundbreaking piece of art that encapsulates the terrible and raging beauty of the human condition?
As a keen fan of contemporary pop, Liam Payne undoubtedly knows there have been a long and industrious list of so called ‘break-up’ albums which document the entire spectrum of emotions one feels when suffering the sort of break-up Liam has just endured.
Think Adele’s 21 , Marvin Gaye’s Here My Dear , Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, and Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space. All beloved staples in a lot of One Directioner’s, and no doubt Liam Payne’s music collection.
Yet there’s one break-up album that towers above the rest like a testament to the kind of heartache and loss that has turned the champagne in Payne’s life to rancid vinegar. It’s Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan.
When Liam Payne poured his guts out on Twitter following his brave decision to end it with Sophia Smith due to work commitments, One DIrectioners everywhere felt the Payne when Liam tweeted lines such as: “Can’t be without you… Worse thing I ever did was let you go… No (sic) all I got left is the thought of you.”
Liam Payne’s tweets read like heartfelt lyrics. Like a maestro pinning down butterflies, Liam told the world how he was feeling through a series of tweets that were simply stunning in their authoritative and masterful command of the English language.
Payne is currently in a prime position to take his pain and produce the sort of album anyone who has ever experienced heartbreak will doubtless appreciate.
Whether Liam will make a classic album documenting his heartache in the immediate future remains to be seen, and if he does perhaps he would be wise to include his One Direction band-mates.
Possibly Liam and the lads could cover the standout song on Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks – Idiot wind.
It’s a big ask but I’m positive the heavenly harmonies of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne could bring new meaning to such lines as: “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth.”