Music Review: Adele "Set Fire To The Rain"

Adele

Set Fire To The Rain

Album: 21

Year: 2011

              Adele realizes her relationship with her boyfriend is over in the  crestfallen “Set Fire To The Rain.”

         An apprehensive piano opens the single, setting a tense tone. She had always hoped he would notice her. She watched him from afar as he smoked his cigarette. When he passed by her after he was finished, she avoided her gaze, knowing her cheeks were turning red. A month later, she had gathered the courage to sit next to him. It was when she was wiping her eyes with her gloves that he finally put his arm around her and asked her what was wrong. As she cried in his arms, he kissed her. Special and loved, she walked with him, her alienation gone. (“I let it fall, my heart/And as it fell, you rose to claim it/It was dark and I was over/Until you kissed my lips and you saved me/My hands, they're strong/But my knees were far too weak/To stand in your arms/Without falling to your feet.”)

              In the pre-chorus,  she covers her right ear, flinching at the high-pitched sounds on the radio. He shouted into her ear, demanding why she didn’t answer the phone last night. She had asked him where he was. He shouted “with friends” and blamed her for not thinking of him, neglecting to check her phone. (“But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew/All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true/And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win.”)

              In the chorus, the fine hairs on his beard prick her finger while he apologizes to her. A drop of water from his eye rans down her hand. She struggles to breathe, her tears stuck in her throat. He’s ready to leave her for someone else and she has to face the possibility of being alone again. (“But I set fire to the rain/Watched it pour as I touched your face/Let it burn while I cry/'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name.”)

            After having sex, he would wrap his arms around her. She wouldn’t move a limb, even if her arm went numb. His soft skin was comfortable for her. It was as though he noticed her all over again. (“When laying with you/I could stay there, close my eyes/Feel you here, forever/You and me together, nothing is better.”)

              The pre-chorus is sung again.

             In the second chorus, she adds she pulled him closer to her, giving him small kisses. He would laugh and kiss her shoulder. She wanted to have one last good memory of him.  (“But I set fire to the rain..I set fire to the rain/And I threw us into the flames/Where I felt something die, 'cause I knew that/That was the last time, the last time.”)

             In the bridge, she hasn’t the shaken the routine they once shared. She has to remind herself to lock the door now. He isn’t going to come by anymore. However, she can’t stop herself to search for his car in her apartment building’s parking lot. (“Sometimes I wake up by the door/As if that heart you caught is still waiting for you/Even now when it's already over/I can't help myself from looking for you.”)

            The second chorus is sung again.

            In the final section, she may be cold from the breakup but she’s ok with being single. (“Oh, no/Let it burn, oh/Let it burn/Let it burn.”)

        Adele’s wary vocals prepare for a fight, with an escape plan in mind. He’s not going to let her go without some strong words of her own. She isn't going to let him corner her inside his house,

        The simmering “Set Fire To The Rain” keeps a steady boil, letting the steam rise.