Music Review: Adele "Someone Like You"

Adele

Someone Like You

Album: 21

Year:  2011

              Adele confesses her love to her married ex in the dreary “Someone Like You

            A moody piano opens the single, setting a pitiful tone. Adele, through the gossip of her friends, found out her ex recently got married. For the last couple months, she’s been thinking of him and their relationship. She’s decided to confront him, On the doorstep of his house (with French doors, like he always wanted and talked about having in their home one day), she relays what she heard. She openly snits at his new dream and states his wife isn’t good enough for him. She asks him why he isn’t being honest with her in return. (“I heard that you're settled down/That you found a girl and you're married now/I heard that your dreams came true/Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you/Old friend, why are you so shy?/Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.”)

  In the pre-chorus, she apologizes for not calling. Coming over and seeing him is something she had to do. She wants him to remember that she existed in his life at one point. (“I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited/But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it/I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded/That for me it isn't over.”)

     In the chorus, she tells him that he’s the one she wanted. When she looks for a new boyfriend, it will be another version of him. She wants him to be happy and pleads with him to stay in touch. When they  were together, he would often say relationships are an enriching, painful experience at the same time. (“Never mind, I'll find someone like you/I wish nothing but the best for you to/Don't forget me, I beg/
I remember you said/"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead/Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead")

        It feels not too long ago that they were a couple and in love. It was relationship with a lot of good memories. They were young and it seemed like everything would last forever. Nothing seemed impossible. (“You know how the time flies/Only yesterday was the time of our lives/We were born and raised/In a summer haze/Bound by the surprise of our glory days.”)

            The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

          In the bridge, despite the insecurity and conversations they should’ve had, she wouldn’t take the time back. It’s a part of her. Somehow, the hope that they would get back together was there. Now, there is only pictures, birthday cards, and pressed flowers and the questions of what could’ve been. (“Nothing compares/
No worries or cares/Regrets and mistakes/They are memories made/Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?”)

           The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

        She wants another chance. It’s a last ditch effort. He needs to know how she feels. She also has to know if she had any relevance in his life at all. She will find a way into his life again. However, she’s hanging onto something that isn’t there anymore and needs to move on. Antangozing her ex by  disrespecting his marriage and demanding answers only exceraberates the problem.

    Adele’s subdued rude vocals stretch with each breath, grasping to reach the notes until finally falling into a husky mess.  The latter part of the chorus applies and unfortunately, seeps through the rest of the single.

 The flat  “Someone Like You” has an off-putting calm nastiness which strips away at any sympathy.

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