Music Review: Adele "Rumour Has It"

Adele

Rumour Has It

Album: 21

Year: 2011

     Adele dismisses stories about her ex in the blunt “Rumour Has It.”

        A rumbling drum opens the single, setting a perturbed tone. She was hanging out a friend’s house. While they were making dinner, they caught up on what they’ve been up to since they last talked. Her friend started dating a new guy who works in real estate. She’s joined a book club. Over dinner, the topic of her ex comes up. Her friend found out he’s seeing someone else. He’s been saying she’s perfect for him. She stops eating, choking the food down her throat, and immediately wants to gag. When they were going out, she suspected he liked someone else. She believes the new girl is a distraction and someone he can’t possibly love.. They were together for a long time and know each other well. The new girl isn’t going to last very long. (“She, she ain't real/She ain't gonna be able to love you like I will/She is a stranger/You and I have history/Or don't you remember?/Sure, she's got it all/But, baby, is that really what you want?”)

      In the pre-chorus, she has to laugh. Her oblivious ex doesn’t get it. The new girl, she’s heard, may have cheated on him, and it’s got him upset. The relationship isn’t working out like he thought and it’s left him miserable. Supposedly, she broke up with him. (“Bless your soul, you've got your head in the clouds/She made a fool out of you/And, boy, she's bringing you down/She made your heart melt/But you're cold to the core/Now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore.”)

       In the chorus, she says it’s the current gossip. (“Rumor has it/Rumor has it/Rumor has it/Rumor has it Rumor has it/Rumor has it/Rumor has it/Rumor has it.”)

        While talking on the phone with another mutual friend, the friend says the girl is about twenty. She smirks, knowing it’s only the girl’s youthful body that’s keeping him around. Her friend also added that he’s been talking about her, thinking of how much she would appreciate seeing his family and listen to his gripes. Her friend asks if she and her ex have been hanging out again. She’s silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say. He told her it was going to stay between them until they figured things out. She answers yes and then responds no one was supposed to know about it. (“She, is half your age/But I'm guessing that's the reason that you've stayed/I heard you've been missing me/You've been telling people things you shouldn't be/Like when we creep out when she ain't around/Haven't you heard the rumours?")

        In the second pre-chorus, she’s embarassed, knowing his word means nothing. The possibility of getting back together thrilled her. However, the reality that he hasn’t changed has hit her. As far as she knows, he’s going to break up with the current girlfriend for her. But she’s not certain it will happen. (“Bless your soul, you've got your head in the clouds/You made a fool out of me/And, boy, I'm bringing me down/You made my heart melt, yet I'm cold to the core/But rumour has it I'm the one you're leaving her for.”)

     The chorus is sung again.

      In the bridge, she can’t take anymore of the gossip. Every mutual friend tells her something different and she doesn’t know what’s true anymore. She’s thwarting the latest rumor: he’s trying to win her back again and she believes he’s her soulmate. She may have said it in passing, as an idea which was there once, but it’s not now. They are permeantly over. (“All of these words whispered in my ear/Tell a story that I cannot bear to hear/Just 'cause I said it, it don't mean that I meant it/People say crazy things/Just 'cause I said it, don't mean that I meant it/Just 'cause you heard it.”)

   The chorus is sung twice.

  In the final lyric, she reveals to her ex she has found someone else, shattering any hope he has of getting her back. (“But rumour has it he's the one I'm leaving you for.”)

      Adele’s curt, cavalier vocals snap, splintering the notes with a piercing crack at each turn in the drama. At first, she was angry he moved on but was ok with it once she found out he still had feelings for her. Once they got involved again, the elation dissipated when she realized he hasn't learned anything from their breakup. Finally, she ends it for good after he starts spinning another version of the truth and finds someone worthy of her time.

     The barbed “Rumour Has It” twists to a satsifying conclusion.

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