Adele’s "Lovesong”

How is it that one song can tip you back to feelings that you genuinely believed were long gone? This week it’s Adele’s cover of “Lovesong,” originally written and recorded by ‘80‘s indie icons, The Cure. The only cover tune on Adele’s latest album, “Lovesong” has struck a bit of a blow. I find myself thinking about a man, who I really should be over and done with. But those lyrics, “Whenever I’m alone with you, you make me feel like I am whole again. Whenever I’m alone with you, you make me feel like I am fun again,” are simple and telling. 

When I listened to The Cure do the song back in 1989, I liked it because I thought ‘yes, this is how I want to feel when I’m in love.’  I was in college and despite a few boyfriends, at that time, I was pretty sure that I hadn’t felt quite what the song expressed. Today, listening to Adele’s version, I realize yes, I felt that with someone and it was as wonderful as the song had expressed. We broke up more than two years ago. It was a rather short courtship. I laughed a lot, not only when we were together but also via email and text. I discovered a lot of new music because of him, including Adele.  He had a day job that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with, but it allowed him to pursue other passions such as writing and music. I was inspired to write more and get started on all kinds of my own new ideas, including this blog. He made me feel, as the song says, like I was fun and whole again. Unfortunately, after some revealing conversations, I realized that he didn’t feel the same when he was with me, so I ended the relationship. Now he’s in love with someone else.


Thankfully, Adele’s new album 21 has plenty of songs to get me through all the other emotions that this song triggered. Honestly, I’m thinking ‘oh crap, I really don’t want to feel all of this again,’ but I cant stop listening to the album and I keep having to catch my breath. 


The original version of “Lovesong” had a catchy beat underlying lead-singer Robert Smith’s soft, whiny voice, along with some strings and swirly electric guitars. The song is hopeful and sweet, particularly in comparison to the rest of the songs on the album Disintegration, where you can find the original by The Cure. Adele’s “Lovesong” has an acoustic guitar and a slower jazzy back beat. Her voice sounds a lot less hopeful. When she sings “however far away, I will always love you,” It sounds like there’s no hope that this love is already gone. 

Lost love dominates the entire album. Adele openly admits that she was going through a break-up while writing the album. It’s quite a ride, from “Rolling in The Deep’s” upbeat ‘60’s girl group backing vocals, to the gospel-esque “I’ll Be Waiting” to the orchestral epic ballad style of “Set Fire To The Rain.” Break-ups deliver all sorts of emotions, so there’s something for the full journey on this album. “Turning Tables” is the ‘you can’t hurt me’ song, while “Rumor Has It” covers that younger other woman. I wonder though, if Adele is only 21, how young is this other woman?  

Adele’s voice is reminiscent of the original Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, although Adele’s voice has yet to reach its full power.  Amy Winehouse and Duffy are Adele’s contemporaries, all white women hailing from the UK singing music that has it roots in American soul. There’s a race discussion to be had as soul music comes from a mix of gospel and R&B and was originally the purview of black artists such as Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin through the 1960s and ‘70s.  But in 2011 music genres continually cross-over and belong to anyone who can deliver the goods.   

Adele delivers over and over on this album, as she did on her first album 19. Not only does she have a strong and soulful voice, she’s also writing impressive lyrics for a 21 year old.  She seems too young for all this pain, but she captures it and strikes a chord. If we’re honest with ourselves, we may not have been in love at 21, but the basic feelings around miserable break-ups are still the same twenty years later.  

Another stand out song on the album is “Someone Like You.”  In an interview posted on YouTube, Adele talks about the meaning of the lyrics and how the end of this relationship changed her. Written from the perspective of what it would be like at 40 going back to see this man when he’s married, she thinks it won’t be over for her. I wonder what she’ll be writing at 40 if she can deliver these lyrics at 21. “Regrets and mistakes, they’re 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...Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.”  

And there’s that breath, caught in my lungs, because I can’t talk to him about Adele’s version of “Lovesong.”