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One Direction's latest stadium rock anthem gets the unplugged treatment.

Shawn Mendes got his start in music covering pop hits on Vine and YouTube. (His first was of Justin Bieber's "As Long As You Love Me.") He has since released his debut album and opened for Taylor Swift, though somehow, he found time to do an acoustic rendition of One Direction's "Drag Me Down." His approach to these covers hasn't changed much over these past few years; as always, the only equipment he really seems to use is his guitar and a camera. Turns out, though, that is all he really needed to transform the song completely. While the original cements the boy band's status as a bonafide stadium rock act, Mendes's stripped-down approach better highlights how emotional the lyrics actually are, and at a time when One Direction's singing mostly gets drowned out by fans screaming. Watch below.

Revisit "From Vine Crush to Pop Star: Shawn Mendes Is Just Getting Started."

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