Two of Us (Louis Tomlinson song)

Tomlinson's mother, Johannah Deakin, died from leukemia in December 2016; she was 43. In his interview with BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat Tomlinson talked about how he used to lean on his mum for a lot of things - "anytime I needed advice on something she would be the first call I made." "Two of Us" is a song that honours Johannah's memory and describes the impact her death had on Tomlinson. In his interview with iNews Tomlinson said: "To be honest, I’ve wanted to write this song for a while. But it’s a bold thing to do, and when I had those thoughts, I wanted a few more years of experience as a songwriter before writing it. This is one of the most important songs to me, and I had only one chance to get it right." In his interview with BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat Tomlinson said that writing the song for him "therapeutic", "empowering" and "something [he] needed to get off [his] chest." He said: "I'm not at the stage in my grief where I'm going to open the first verse and burst into tears... I don't want people to get caught up in the sadness of it. The song should be hopeful." ==Promotion==

In early February, Tomlinson tweeted that he had "just heard the master of the single. So excited for you all to hear it!" The acoustic version of the song was released on 24 May 2019. ==Reception==

Trey Alston of MTV called "Two of Us" "a stirring tune that warms the heart with its strong atmosphere of love" and "a somber, reflective ode" to Tomlinson's mother, "his star in the nighttime sky". Writing for Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield included "Two of Us" in his list of Top 25 Songs of 2019, praising Louis "speaking plainly about grief and loss", and describing the line about calling his late mother's voicemail — “I’ll leave a message so I’m not alone” — as "devastating in its candor" The song was included in the 22 Best Mothers Day song by The Oprah Magazine. ==Music videos==

Louis released three music videos for "Two of Us". The lyric video was released along with the song, and it features a closeup of Tomlinson's hands writing the lyrics of the song on sheets of paper. Trey Alston of MTV called it "simplistic" and "stirring" and praised it for "going farther [than] typed words in Arial font fading in and out of the screen" and "adding an extra thematic level to an already emotional number" The video urges viewers to donate to three different charities: the Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice (of which Louis is a patron), Cancer Research UK (in honour of Louis' mother) and the Alzheimer's Society (in honour of Richard's wife). The official music video, directed by Huse Monfaradi was released on 16 May 2019. It was shot in black-and-white widescreen and features Tomlinson on the piano, playing guitar and emotionally performing the song under a spotlight, before switching to a live band performance. Writing for Rolling Stone, Claire Shaffer praised the music video for "capturing the weight of the song" and "firmly establishing Tomlinson’s talent and appeal as a true solo artist and frontman" ==Charts==