Music Favourites: Adele

I believe this name isn’t new to everyone, in fact, practically everyone knows this British singer and songwriter. Adele is one of my favourite singers of all times and I have never got tired and “annoyed” with her songs even after a long time, which I usually will with other songs. Her songs are not too complicated to understand and it resonates in my mind each time I listen to it. The rhythm, dynamics and the meaning of the lyrics of each song are unique and they are not the typical love ballads and sad love songs, which make me like the songs even more! Moreover, Adele’s songs are mostly in the lower voice range, allowing people to sing her songs with ease and comfort.

My favourite songs by Adele will definitely have to be “Someone like You” and “Rolling in the deep”, which are coincidentally two of her more popular songs. “Someone like You” was one of the first songs that I came across and it definitely touched me as it was full of feelings and emotions. The song speaks about a broken relationship, and lyrically it speaks of Adele coming to terms with it.  Adele said that she “was struggling emotionally when she composed it” and felt “pretty miserable and pretty lonely” but she felt “so freed” after composing the song. I guess it was because of the feelings that she had inside her that made the song so touching and relatable to the world even if it was a different scenario.

Contradicting to “Someone like you”, “Rolling in the deep” conveys a totally different story of being abandoned and lonely but a story of “a scorned lover, who is finally able to see the light, but despite regretful sentiments, reconciliation is not an option” which is sort of shows a more rebellious side of her towards the relationship. The song lyrically also conveys her thoughts of “being told that my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish, and that I was a weak person if I didn’t stay in the relationship”, which made her feel very insulted, hence showing her strong repulsion towards the relationship. Although the thoughts and feelings in this song is more on the rebellious side but through her voice, it can be felt that she is actually faking her strong side and being so tough in front of everyone but she actually is collapsing and breaking down inside.

I guess this is what makes me like the songs very much as there is a lot to tell throughout the songs and not only lyrics-wise which is typical of most love ballads nowadays. I hope you will also enjoy her songs and be sure to check out her new album 25 which will be releasing any time this year!

Rachael Fong (1L)