Music |
Adele
By
Published: Jul 12, 2011
Category:
Rock
“Television,” a wise man said, “is not to watch, it’s to appear on.”
My sentiments, exactly. I sit in front of a screen all day. At night, why would I want to watch anything more contemporary than a black-and-white Turner Classic movie?
There is no other possible explanation for my failure to praise Adele early.
Indeed, for being, possibly, the absolute last music lover in American to fall for her.
Consider: Her first album debuted at #1 in England. In 2009, she won Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. “21,” her new CD, spent 16 weeks at #1 in England. Possible Guinness Book of Records factoid: She’s the first living artist to have two top five hits on both the Singles and Albums charts simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. Fan mail from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown: “With the troubles that the country’s in financially, you’re a light at the end of the tunnel." US sales of “21” (as of July 1): 2.5 million copies and 992,000 digital copies — the best selling album in both formats for the first half of 2011. [To buy the CD “21” from Amazon, click here. For the MP3 download, click here.]
Yeah, people have heard of her. People like you, even. Just not me.
I stumbled onto “Someone Like You” last week. It’s such a simple song, just Adele and a piano. There’s a lot I could say — about the transparency of young emotion, about my own romantic history, about what it takes to break through the protective shell we all need these days. Better, though, to say: Adele is a fog-cutter, a purifier, a transmitter of everything worth caring about. For the MP3 download of “Someone Like You,” click here.] Here are the lyrics:
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
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
Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
"Don’t forget me," I begged
"I’ll remember," you said
"Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead."
Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead.
You know how the time flies
Only yesterday
It was the time of our lives
We were born and raised
In a summer haze
Bound by the surprise
Of our glory days
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.
Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
"Don’t forget me," I begged
"I’ll remember," you said
"Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead."
Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known
How bittersweet this would taste?
Never mind
I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
"Don’t forget me," I begged
"I’ll remember," you said
"Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead"
And here is Adele.
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