Music Review: Adele "Rolling In The Deep"

Adele

Rolling In The Deep

Album: 21

Year: 2010

              Adele realizes what a terrible guy her boyfriend is in the fiery “Rolling In The Deep.”

            A hammering drum opens the single, setting a smarting tone. She taps her fingers on the counter. Did he purposely leave his phone out for her to notice? She hears him turn the water off in the shower. She’s ready to go into the bathroom and throw his phone at him. Now, she can see right through him – the lies, the excuses, the sweet nothings. She dares him to turn her friends against her. She’ll tell them everything and not leave a detail out. By the time she’s done, no one will ever speak to him. She’s not the meek young woman that he thinks of her as. (“There's a fire starting in my heart/Reaching a fever pitch, and it's bringing me out the dark/Finally, I can see you crystal clear/Go ahead and sell me out, and I'll lay your shit bare/See how I'll leave with every piece of you/Don't underestimate the things that I will do/There's a fire starting in my heart/Reaching a fever pitch, and it's bringing me out the dark.”)

                In the pre-chorus, she thinks they had a great relationship. She doesn’t understand what went wrong. (“The scars of your love remind me of us/They keep me thinking that we almost had it all/The scars of your love, they leave me breathless.”)

                In the chorus, she says she will haunt him for the rest of the days. He will regret cheating on her. She loved him completely and he ruined it. (“I can't help feeling/We could have had it all (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/Rolling in the deep (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)/You had my heart inside of your hand (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/And you played it to the beat (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep.”)

                      She leaves the relationship without any skeletons. However, she found out much more on the Internet about him. It’s enough to bury him. He wants him to suffer and live a life of endless misery. On the other hand, she’ll be ok. (“Baby, I have no story to be told/But I've heard one on you/Now I'm gonna make your head burn/Think of me in the depths of your despair/Make a home down there/As mine sure won't be shared.”)

                 The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

                  In the bridge, she tells him karma will find him eventually. He’ll twist their story around, putting her at fault. However, she’ll know the truth. (“Throw your soul through every open door/Count your blessings to find what you look for/Turn my sorrow into treasured gold/You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/We could have had it all (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)/We could have had it all (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/It all, it all, it all (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep.”)

                  A variation of the chorus is sung twice to end the single. (“We could have had it all (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/Rolling in the deep (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)/You had my heart inside of your hand (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/And you played it to the beat (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)/We could have had it all (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/Rolling in the deep (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)/You had my heart inside of your hand (You're gonna wish you never had met me)/But you played it/You played it/You played it/You played it to the beat.”)

           Adele has quiet calm to her vocals, making her anger unsettling. She’s hell-bent on destruction of him and will pick him apart. She’ll be methodical, taking her time and by the time he realizes what happened, she’ll be long gone.

         The  acerbic “Rolling In The Deep” exacts its revenge piece by piece.