The Lyrics From Adele's "21": The Story Behind "Rolling In The Deep"

Little need be said. "Rolling in the Deep" was the song of the year from the album of the year. Now who could she have been singing about? Even cursory attention to the lyrics would tell the listener that Adele is speaking to a lover who jilted her. But what went into this lyrical blast of R & B that would walk off with so many accolades?

Let's start with the title. Where did "Rolling In The Deep" come from? In an interview with Rolling Stone Adele described it as, "adaptation of a kind of slang, slur phrase in the UK called 'roll deep,' which means to have someone, always have someone that has your back, and you're never on your own, if you're ever in trouble you've always got someone who's going to come and help you fight it or whatever like that. And that's how I felt in the relationship that the record's about, especially 'Rolling in the Deep.' That's how I felt, you know, I thought that's what I was always going to have, and um, it ended up not being the case."

Some songwriters labor for ages over a song. Not with this one. Adele wrote the lyrics in three hours the day after she broke up with her boyfriend. Lucky for the boyfriend that we don't know for certain who he is.

Adele had planned to write a ballad but her producer Paul Epworth changed her mind, suggesting something more aggressive. Her (now ex) boyfriend had made some offensive statements to her during an argument and Adele wrote the lyrics in response, or as she told The London Sunday Times "We'd had a fuming argument the night before... I'd been bubbling. Then I went into the studio and screamed." My money says her ex now wishes he hadn't said them.

Actually, no description of what went into the lyrics would be complete without mentioning the most overlooked words of all: her producer's! Listen realllly carefully to the very beginning of the song just before Adele starts singing and you can faintly hear producer Paul Epworth doing a count off. A technical error? A practical joke? 'Twas neither. It seems the take you hear on the record is actually a demo (this happens sometimes). Yes, Adele sang more takes afterward but none of them captured the hurt and anger she poured into that first try. So Epworth used this original take and built the arrangement around it. His barely audible voice at the beginning evidently couldn't be edited out.

A minor footnote to a truly major song. It takes genuine skill to toss off award winning song lyrics in a couple of hours and deliver a stunning vocal on the very first take. But that's exactly what Adele did.

If you liked the songs from Adele's "21" then you can click here to download a free rock song.