Liam Payne’s “Both Ways” Lyrics Meaning

The term “both ways” is a euphemism, if you will, for a person who is bisexual. That is said individuals have romantic affairs with “both” males and females. And in this song, whom Liam is granting this attribute to is his girlfriend. Or more specifically he is praising her for being so. Or going into even deeper detail, the singer appreciates this relationship as, via his dating of this particular lady, he is able to engage in bedroom activities where there is more than one woman involved. 

So the insinuated implication is that Liam enjoys bedroom fun between one man and two women. And being that his partner is indeed bisexual she is down for such activities, even spurring them herself. In fact she tells the singer that they’re both “young and… stupid” and should enjoy life accordingly.  And the way she likes to celebrate in particular is apparently by doing it with other females in addition to Liam, which is something he has absolutely, positively no problems with.

In fact, as stated earlier, he very much likes to participate. So the best way to describe “Both Ways” is as a celebration itself, in which the singer is relishing the fact that he has girlfriend who likes other girls in addition to himself.

Facts about “Both Ways”

This track was produced by Afterhrs, a musical duo consisting of Ian Franzino and Andrew Haas.

They also co-wrote the song along with Steph Jones, RuthAnne and Liam Payne.

“Both Ways” was released by Capitol Records on 6 December 2019 as part of Liam Payne’s debut album titled “LP1”

And as of that date it is actually this song that is making headlines more than the 16 others featured. This is because Liam Payne, via “Both Ways”, has been accused of “fetishizing bisexuality”. In other words, he’s basically being criticized for stereotyping these kind of women as being overly-promiscuous, to his own enjoyment, which some people who are actually bi (or sympathizers) took offense to.

However, his girlfriend at the time, model Maya Henry, seems to have no issues with the nature of his lyrics.

Moreover it should be noted that it is unlikely this song is actually about Maya, as Liam has been working on it since 2016, long before he and Henry had started dating.