Wednesday 8 February 2012

Adele: Rolling in the Deep

I have no idea why this woman hits me so profoundly, but she does. I'd love to marry her, but given her track record, she'd be bound to write another album about the numerous ways in which I failed her. I'm willing to trade that for a year or so with her. She has boundless talent and she's beautiful and I'd do it in a New York moment.

Since the lyrics to "Rolling in the Deep" are publicly available, I'm going to copy them into this blog. IMO, they have all the bitterness and compression of classic ballads, and I'm glad that this song is not about me.

Following are the lyrics to "Rolling in the Deep":

There's a fire, starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship here

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 bring me out the dark

The scars of your love reminds me of us
They keep thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling…

We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
Your had my heart inside your hand
And you played it to the beat

Baby, I had no story to be told
But I've heard one of you and I'm gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Making a home down there as mine won't be shared

The scars of our love remind you of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling

We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside your hand
And you played it to the beat

Could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside your hand
But you played it with a beating

Through your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turn my sorrow into pleasured gold
You pay me back in kind and treasure what you sow

(Now I'm gonna wish you had never met me)
We could have had it all
(Tears are gonna fail, rolling in the deep)
We could have had it all

(Now I'm gonna wish you had never met me)
It all, it all, it all, it all
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

(Now I'm gonna wish you had never met me)
You had my heart and soul)
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep
And you played it to the beat

(Now I'm gonna wish you never had met me)
Could have had it all
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
Rolling in the deep

(Now I'm gonna wish you never had met me)
You had my heart and soul in your hand
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
But you played it, you played it, you played it to the beat

Adele, Love and Kisses! One day I hope to meet you, and kiss your hand. I'm running out of adjectives and superlatives to describe your impact upon me. I'm 3 times your age, but I continue to hope that one day I could say all this in person. I play this and many other of your songs daily. I'd hate to be on the bad end of your stick, but in trade for a few hours or days or even months with you, I'd accept that fate. Adele, you ROCK!

Maybe the thing I love best is how anti-cliche the YouTube "Rolling in the Deep" tracks are. Down with the era of "the only way to make it as a female musician" is by wearing scanty outfits and hiring sexually-provocative dancers. Up with sheer goddess talent!

Not to get too lofty here, but I can't resist quoting Arthur Schopenhauer: "Marry a woman for her conversational skills. After 40 years, that's all that shall remain." (Actually, I think that's a paraphrase, rather than an accurate quote, but you get the gist.)

The typical male trajectory is, (and perhaps it also applies to the female trajectory, but I daren't venture a position on that, despite a few exemplary cases, which are clearly insufficient evidence),

A maxim: "The thing that compels you to fall in love is precisely the thing you shall hate in a couple of years."

Case in point (one among many others, but shockingly frequent): she dressed provocatively when you first melted at the sight, then worked up the courage to approach her, then She said Yes, and before you knew it, She was your girlfriend. But she continued to dress provocatively, and your territorial instincts kicked in, and just like an outraged Father, you protested her going out in public dressed like that.

She: "Well, yeah, but isn't that what you loved about me in the first place?"
He: "Well, yeah, but now you're My Girl, and it's inappropriate."
She: "Oh, so now I'm supposed to be a virgin, without desires to be attractive?"
He: "I need you to be dressed 'Spoken For', else God knows who might start hitting upon you.
She: Shall I wear a burqa? Would that make you happy?"
He: "When you go out, your attire must say 'Spoken For', else I shall be insulted and ridiculed."
She: "In the 21st Century, it is men and their families who ought to pay the dowry, not the fathers of women! That is so 19th Century, and presupposes that women are required for nothing but childbirth. Welcome to the 21st Century. Men are obsolete. We can do it with test-tubes. So there!
1. We now have the vote, in at least some nations!"
2. Females outnumber males in every nation but China.

What has all this to do with Adele? Well, a lot. She strikes me as the logical consequent to Alanis Morrisette, whose "You Oughta Know" on her album "Jagged Little Pill" encapsulated all the bitterness of at least a generation of women, and at last count she sold about 5 million copies. Now it's Adele's turn, and she rocks!

A.

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