The new Adele album came out last week, and basically the entire world lost its collective mind. Our hero, known for her songs about love and loss, heartbreak and healing, is back! With her soulful voice and these oh-so-relatable ballads, Adele just speaks to our souls! Or at least we like to think she does. With all the hype, I decided to take a closer look at her most popular song, “Hello,” and to really dissect the lyrics. Is Adele as relatable as we all think? Or does her song reveal just how different her personal love stories are?
Hello, it’s me.
A pretty straightforward beginning. She’s letting someone know that it’s her. But it’s also a little obvious. Who else would it be?
I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time’s supposed to heal ya
But I ain’t done much healing
Adele is saying that she has not talked to this person, whoever it may be, in many years (although she’s only 25, so how long can it really have been?). And whoever it was hurt her feelings. Poor Adele.
Hello, can you hear me
I’m in California dreaming about who we used to be
Adele is in California and is worried about cell reception. This phone call must be important.
When we were younger and free
I’ve forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet
Whoa, whoa. The world fell? Adele has survived an apocalypse, and since her words are pure truth, we’ve got to believe that it happened. It’s Adele’s world, and we’re just living in it, I guess.
There’s such a difference between us
And a million miles
A million miles is a very long distance. If Adele is in post-apocalyptic California, she must be calling someone in outer space. Adele clearly wants us to know that she is in communication with an extra-terrestrial! Not only will she win infinite Grammys this year, she will also win a Nobel Prize for finding life in space.
Hello from the other side
Oh dear, not “the other side.” Adele is trying to call a dead person. The world fell and he died and now he’s somewhere in space. But Adele still has his phone number because she is magical.
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done
A thousand times, Adele? Really? This line is symbolic of her ex-love’s beauty. Like Helen of Troy, his was the face that launched a thousand phone calls.
But when I call you never seem to be home
The beautiful, dead space alien apparently owns a space home. But he is either busy or is avoiding her and does not answer his phone.
Hello from the outside
Now Adele is in space too and is just outside his space house. She reaaaaallly wants to talk.
At least I can say that I’ve tried
To tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heart
But it don’t matter it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore
Adele feels bad about breaking his heart with the same sledgehammer that she just used to break down his front door. But since he is dead, his broken heart isn’t an issue any more.
Hello, how are you
It’s so typical of me to talk about myself I’m sorry
Now that Adele has barged into his house, she tries to make small talk. She attempts to lighten the mood by apologizing for her narcissistic tendencies. She also says “Hello” for the fifth time, which reveals her terrible conversation skills.
I hope that you’re well
Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happened
Adele continues to drill him with questions, but it seems that dead ex-lovers are not great conversationalists either. Perhaps this was their downfall: Adele only talked about herself and he did not talk at all.
It’s no secret that the both of us
Are running out of time
In one last attempt to reunite them, Adele reminds him that both of them will die someday. But her words fall on deaf dead ears.
Adele is then so overcome with emotions that she repeats 90% of the song again. She is not successful at bringing her beautiful, dead space alien ex-lover back to life, however, and so must write more songs about it.
This in-depth look at “Hello” was eye-opening for me. I thought I knew what Adele was talking about and that I could find myself in her lyrics, but now I’m pretty sure that I can’t. She had me at “Hello,” but she lost me not long after that. I’m not denying that our dear Adele nails her vocals and can tell a great story. I just think she could work on being more relatable. Post-apocalyptic, trans-planetary love stories just aren’t in my repertoire.
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