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The track opens with a roughly 50-second piano solo before its official intro (also exclusively on piano, but a different note pattern entirely) starts.

In the live setting, this solo was cut for the “An Evening With Adele” (2008) tour, included and elaborated upon slightly for the “Adele Live” (2011) tour, then cut again for the “Adele Live 2016/2017” tours.

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There was a running joke in the once-popular Horrible Histories television series about “wild, wet, England”. It does have some basis in fact, and is likely a phenomenon known all-too-well by Londoner Adele.

England’s an island on the upper latitudes, so it tends to be colder and wetter than elsewhere in the world. But, it’s worth sticking around your hometown for one really good, warm summer’s day with your loved ones.

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Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” is performed by Adele on her debut 19. Despite being the only cover (and the only album track she didn’t write), it’s her favourite song on the album.

In January 2013, Heart FM named Adele’s version as the UK’s number one song of all time in its Hall of Fame Top 500.

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While “Make You Feel My Love” was originally written by Bob Dylan, the first released recording was actually done by Billy Joel, who put it on his Greatest Hits Volume III. The Dylan song would famously be covered by Adele on her debut studio album 19.

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“Twisted Logic” is the final (listed) track on X&Y and is pretty slow-burning until the final hook, when it turns into an epic rock-out. The song is a warning that if we are not careful with the planet, we will be sure to lose it (and ourselves) one day.

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On “Chasing Pavements”, Adele wonders whether or not to try and pursue a relationship with the man of her dreams. It actually caused a bit of controversy in the States because people thought “chasing pavements” was a euphemism for being in love with gay men (definitely unattainable for women).

Adele briefly explained the story behind this track in an interview with ELLE for their “Life in Lyrics,” saying:

“Chasing Pavements,” I slapped my boyfriend and was running down to Tottenham Court Road in London to make sure I didn’t get in trouble, and then no one was chasing after me, and I was, like, “You’re chasing pavements, it’s going nowhere.”

The song was Adele’s first big hit in the United States and earned the Brit one of her first Grammys (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance).

Rapper Machine Gun Kelly later used a sample from this song for his own “Chasing Pavements” off his self-released album Rage Pack.

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When Adele was on her 2008-09 US tour she became exposed to the country, blues and R&B sounds that would become the backbone of her sophomore album 21. In this “Rolling in the Deep” B-side and UK bonus track, Adele covers a bluegrass song by the Tennessee group SteelDrivers.

See the SteelDrivers page for “If It Hadn’t Been for Love” for a full breakdown of the lyrics.

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“Need You Now” is the title track, first track, and first single of Lady A’s second studio album.

The song depicts the painful memories of a lost love and the longing to once again see the other person after getting drunk.

The song was a massive crossover hit, netting the country trio a #2 Hot 100 hit and their second #1 Hot Country hit. Additionally, the song earned four Grammys at the 2011 ceremonies including Song and Record of the Year.

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Adele made (good) waves when she performed Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” with Darius Rucker for the 2010 CMT Artists of the Year special. They were subsequently nominated for Performance of the Year at the 2011 CMT Music Awards. Their cover of the song was also included on the Target deluxe edition of 21.

Check out Lady Antebellum’s page for “Need You now” to get the breakdown of all the lyrics

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Frontman Robert Smith wrote “Lovesong” as a wedding present for his bride-to-be Mary Poole in 1988.

“Lovesong” was the second UK and third US single from Disintegration, The Cure’s eighth studio album, and is the band’s highest charting single in the United States, reaching #2 in late 1989.

Despite the song’s enormous success, Smith has mixed feelings about the track. He expresses satisfaction in finally feeling comfortable enough to write a straightforward love song and feels the song keeps Disintegration from having only one mood – presumably “gloom”. However, he called it the weakest song on the album and expressed disappointment that it was the band’s breakthrough single in the US.

Notable cover versions:

  • Rock band 311 covered the song for the film 50 First Dates
  • Singer-songwriter Adele covered it on her sophomore album 21
  • Rock band Anberlin covered it on their 2003 debut album Blueprints for the Black Market.

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