Is Adele's Music Poetic?

Adele is an English singer and songwriter prominent in today's music world. She is best known for her debut album, "19," which was released in 2008. Following her successful debut album, Adele released "21" and "25". The titles of her album indicate her age during the time she released that album. Adele is primarily known for singing of sorrow, sadness, and breakups with a touch of soul added to the rhythm of music. One of her most successful songs from her second album, "21", is "Rolling in the Deep."


In her song, "Rolling in the Deep", Adele uses hyperbole to convey her feelings during a breakup. She states, " There's a fire starting in my heart / Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark." While it is not likely one will have a fire start in their heart in their lifetime, Adele does an excellent job using words to express how mad and hurt she was during this time in her life. Adele adds to her poetic sound when she says, "You had my heart......inside of your hand". Again, Adele uses exaggeration to explain how her ex-boyfriend had all of her and her love all to himself. By using hyperbole in her song, Adele gives her audience a deeper glimpse into her feelings and what she really experienced during a breakup.

Adele's cohesiveness also makes her music style similar to that of poetry. Adele's lyrics flow nicely together to tell a story that makes sense. This appeals to fans because they feel like they either know Adele or can relate to her. In her song, Adele states, " The scars of your love, remind me of us./ They keep me thinking that we almost had it all/ The scars of your love, they leave me breathless/ I can't help feeling../ We could have had it all". Here, Adele nuisances her lyrics together to tell a story. This is effective because one is able to easily identify the story Adele is telling with respects to the line breaks.