“rolling in the deep”~ adele

Holy crap. She’s fabulous. A powerhouse.

Right now, I’m obsessed with this song — and this video. I love every image in it. Especially the dancer, looking like an otherworldly Mongol warrior swirling in the snow. When you first see him (her? I love that you can’t really tell) about 5 seconds in, so still, so dark, it’s so frightening that it’s thrilling. Don’t underestimate the things that I will do. Then the water begins to pound and the warrior begins to move, slowly through the white, and you know this woman whose heart has been ransacked is on the brink of her revenge. And you can’t wait. You can’t look away. I love the story behind every image, but an implied story, a story you write yourself. My story of it may be very different from yours and that’s the beauty here. Maybe that’s one of the benefits of being a nonlinear thinker in a linear world: things like this make total sense to me. I’ve watched it repeatedly now, playing a little game with myself and pausing at 3-second intervals, 5-second intervals, and there’s not a wasted shot in this entire thing.

Every freeze frame is a perfect shot. Something I’d frame on my wall.

I talked to someone about this video who said, “Well, she just sits there.” “Just sits there”? Oh, no, she doesn’t, peaches. (I hate those kinds of conversations, really. Some people just do not get it. They don’t have the sensitivity to see anything past the surfaces of life and I can barely keep from punching them.) She actually acts the snot outta this song, above and beyond the crackle and soar of that voice. But, really, it’s her stillness at certain moments that is the most ominous thing to me about it. Her stillness at the beginning which comes full circle to her stillness at the end. Grief, but resolve too. A kind of steel is settling in her heart. This is a woman you should not have messed with. Watch the curl of her lip on baby, I’ve got no story to be told. Look at her dismissive wave of her fingers on reap just what you sow and the sigh — the broken sigh — that comes the very next second. Oh, no. She is not just sitting there.

Far from it.

The one who broke her heart should be very afraid.

14 Replies to ““rolling in the deep”~ adele”

  1. Aahh yes, you described this song and video PERFECTLY!! I’m glad I’m not the only one who is obsessed with it! The whole video looks just like an art installation. It’s the perfect mix of art and sound, mingling into one thrilling piece of work.

  2. This was on Glee last night ::hangs head in shame:: and it was the first time I’d ever heard it. ::hangs head even lower in shame::

    I love it. I wish it had been around back when I had my Worst Breakup Ever — I would’ve played it until the tape broke. (Because we only had cassette back then, kids. When dinosaurs roamed the earth.)

  3. We enjoy listening to Adele at our house – especially our kids. You should hear Alex belt out this song! She’s coming to Portland soon and the show sold out very quickly. It would be a great one to see.

  4. Anna — Thank you.

    Lisa — Yeah, I actually didn’t like Glee’s version of it. I mostly like what Glee does with songs, although not always. I didn’t like their version. It was like they deliberately did a crap job of it because they knew they can’t touch the original.

    sheila — yup.

    Kathi — That would be a great show.

  5. If you pause it at 2:16, you can see just one of the moments I want as a photo. The dancer/warrior bent back like that. It’s a 2-second sequence that ends with that pose, but it’s just breathtaking to me.

  6. I’ve been listening to this song for a while now but hadn’t seen the video. I see what you mean! IMO, if you want to see “just sitting there,” that’s Madonna in “Live to Tell.” But that was kind of a throwaway in support of the movie it was in, anyway.

    This song has been making a slow ascent to the top–happy to see it get more widely played now.

    To add to what Sheila said, Adele not only is an old old soul but she also HAS soul. I love her singing, and her look. I think have a bit of a girl crush.

    Lisa–there’s are a lot of good breakup songs on the album. Can I say album? I’m old too!

  7. Yeah… so, Glee? This wasn’t a very good idea to cover this song.

    And while I’m at it, grrrrr…. who sings “Jar of Hearts” at a PROM for a SLOW DANCE??!? That’s a romantic song? What’s the matter, you weren’t allowed to use “Nothing Compares 2 U”? What band would perform that song at a prom?

    What happened there is that the producers wanted a particular character to sing a particular song, paying no attention at all to the situation said characters were in.

    Oy. Sorry about that. I’ve been cramming that one down since Tuesday.

  8. I bought the SONGS FOR JAPAN CD on iTunes – and Adele’s version of the heart-crack Bob Dylan song “Make You Feel My Love” is on it. It takes guts to cover Dylan, first of all. And I love her because she doesn’t Christina Aguilera-ize her notes – she is able to hold a note, and sustain it – in a real old-school kind of way. (Aguilera’s got pipes, and I actually like her – but sometimes I want to her to just HOLD A DAMN NOTE). Adele’s version of “Make You Feel My Love” is almost – almost – as heartbreaking and tender as Dylan’s, and that’s saying something.

  9. I’m so glad you’re also obsessed with this song! I had, um, never heard it until Haley sang it on American Idol, because I’m old and listen to talk radio most of the time. so I got the CD last weekend, and I seriously play this song over and over if I’m in the car by myself. I just belt it out with her, and it feels almost as good just to SANG that song as it does to hear her sing it. Had never seen the video, thanks for posting–it’s beautiful.

    I love her.

  10. I finally had time to watch the video. I didn’t realize I was already a fan of the song– I’m getting old, so I don’t always know who sings the songs on the radio that I like.

    She’s a powerhouse, all right.

    And you’ve found yet another lovely music video. You should get paid for your scouting skills.

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