Where’s ZAYN? Probably on a bed somewhere, and we mean that in the least invasive way possible. From counting sheep all the way back to his debut solo album Mind Of Mine—’PILLOWTALK,’ the music video featuring his ex-girlfriend-slash-mother-of-his-child, the ever-so-stunning Gigi Hadid—to one toss-and-turn away from ‘Sideways,’ another sexy tune that has no business being this good. Written entirely by ZAYN and produced by The Monsters & Strangerz (Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello, Halsey), German (Justin Bieber, Madison Beer, Zara Larsson), and Jesse Shatkin (One Direction, Fall Out Boy, MGK), the R&B number ponders a love lost—and he spends most of the music video with sunlight streaming in from the window behind him, lying on his side, staring at the empty space where someone used to be.
Very ZAYN: a poetic thought tucked into the back of his head while he somehow still looks devastatingly suave doing it. So we had our own sleepless night thoughts—what would his other songs look like as sleeping positions?
The Starfish
You know you’re special when you’re in the starfish position— lying on your back, arms stretched out towards your head, legs spread wide, full oceanic specimen—because you’re sitting comfortably in the five percent of sleepers who actually do it. Full spread, no regrets, zero apologies, and the whole bed is yours. That’s the same energy ‘Die For Me’ needed to be the lead single of ZAYN’s KONNAKOL era, no questions asked. Sharp, atmospheric R&B touches, vocals layered so carefully it feels like he’s building a case—and honestly, he is. It’s the perfect exclamation point for when someone promised you everything and delivered absolutely nothing, and you’re done being quiet about it. The starfish doesn’t shrink to one side of the bed. Neither does this song.
The Accidental Nap
We’ve all accidentally slept through a movie, our yawns becoming the background vocals to a character’s great adventure. Well, sleeping on a song is the musical equivalent of that—and the song everyone has been catching z’s through is ‘Alienated,’ off of ZAYN’s ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS. Honey-textured vocals, easy-listening beats, and nothing but truthful, sombre honesty about feeling completely disconnected from your own circumstances. Just like you’re drifting alone on your spaceship, ZAYN was also the sole writer here—a continued pattern in his career, except for the rare big writing sessions that birth tunes like ‘Die For Me.’ Whether it’s a blaring alarm, a friend tapping you on the shoulder, or just us showing up and screaming about this song until you listen—eventually, you’re going to wake up to it.
The Pillow Hoarder
We mean, pillow hoarder and ‘PILLOWTALK?’ Kind of speaks for itself, no? No vivid dreams needing to be decoded here. Three of ZAYN’s songs have earned their place in Spotify’s billion streams club—’Dusk Till Dawn’ with Sia, ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ with Taylor Swift, and the one carrying his sole vocals, ‘PILLOWTALK.’ The trifecta, the opus, the one. As we mentioned, the single arrived with a music video that made an immediate statement—bold graphic design, a red-inversion colour palette, and Gigi Hadid, because of course.
The Corpse
Our minds during the day? Tumbleweeds drifting through. At night? Whole other story—a million little thoughts jammed in there, ruminating until we reach for our phone, and the cycle repeats. The corpse is the flat-on-your-back, staring-at-the-ceiling, contemplating-everything position, and ‘Lied To’ is exactly that tune. Imagine not being able to trust anyone except that one shimmering person who has your total faith—and then losing them too. Between its beautiful, twinkling acoustic intro blossoming into a cozy, harmonising just-under-three-minutes number, it’s the song that plays on loop in your head at 2 a.m. whether you asked it to or not. ZAYN really said let’s make something that sounds like a hug and hits like a gut punch, and we are not okay about it.
Sideways
And well, ‘Sideways’ is going to have us sideways on a bed, reaching for a lover who’s no longer there—ouch. A little freaky, let’s not pretend, but more than anything, it’s pure yearning at every hour, including 3 a.m. “You’re here, but you’re not tonight”—describing the ghost in the bedroom that just won’t leave his mind. There’s also a lyrical callback to ‘PILLOWTALK’ with “face-to-face with your lips on mine / and our legs on the pillowcase,” painting the same intimate picture as its predecessor, just less midnight conversations and more hands all over me.
Which ZAYN song is nursing you to sleep tonight? Let us know on our socials—Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook—and hey, if you’re a ‘Sideways’ stan, you’re already in luck: gorgeous visuals, a voice like that, and dreams we absolutely will not be telling anyone about. Promise. 🫶
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