Anyone else remember this gem? Any guesses as to how old this video is?

…it’s almost three years old.

I can’t believe I’ve waited at least three years to be singing this on my own 22nd birthday, particularly since the birthday hype is only going to start falling shorter and shorter the more years that pass after you’ve turned the big [American] 2-1. Granted, if you are a T. Swift fan, being able to accurately sing this oldie but a goodie of a song is pretty exciting. But if that’s not up your alley, you can also wait until you’re 25 and celebrate by renting your first car.

Point being: turning 22 isn’t exactly the largest milestone in anyone’s book, but it looks like it’ll be shaking out to be a fairly solid year — and it’s not just because this new music video dropped as a hugely pleasant surprise right on the morning of my birthday:

I woke up to this. I admit it’s probably not the best practice to be checking my phone first thing in the morning, but something about the backlight of the iPhone screen wakes my eyes up a lot faster…and makes it far more difficult to fall back asleep between my 10-minute interval alarm clocks and snooze taps. Regardless, I went about my usual rounds in my email, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which is finally where I found what I’m now calling my perfect “first” birthday present.

I’m not going to lie — I teared up a bit as I laid in bed watching this at 8am. As a fan who has seen [almost] each and every one of the montage clips they used in this video, it was a major #tbt (Throwback Tuesday).

You never really notice when you’re growing up. You kind of just do it, caught in the midst of everything that’s going on in your life at the time, and only notice after the fact when you catch sight of a photo from a couple years ago. But even then, sometimes it doesn’t really sink in. Perhaps you look the same. Perhaps you look like a different person.

But when you watch other people grow up — in this case, One Direction — it’s unmistakable how much they’ve all changed individually and together.

As a fan, I might be severely biased, but I think this was one of their best-crafted music videos. The concept fits perfectly with the song, and it fits with where they currently are in their lives as a band and as separate individuals. It’s ominous and bittersweet to watch the ending of the music video, where all four of them walk away from each other, but I suppose in a way it’s inevitable.

People grow old, people grow up, people grow apart. It’s impossible to fathom what they’re all thinking or where they all want to be, but if this was the end of it all (and I’ll cross every paired set of body parts through 2016 hoping that it’s not the case) then at least they ended it on the best note possible with more than enough memories to last them (and me) a lifetime.