One to Adele

“On a scale of one to Adele… How bad was your last break-up?” 

(http://www.imglols.com/on-a-scale-of-one-to-adele/)

I saw this cartoon shared on Facebook recently and it made me laugh. While I could totally relate to the feeling of going through a very bad break-up (Read: Set Fire to the Rain), I wasn’t the type who would say, “Never mind, I’ll find someone like you” because that it precisely what I don’t want to do. I don’t want someone like you. I want someone better. Someone who will treat me better. But I do agree: “sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.” There’s pain, but there’s also hope.

As this generation’s Queen of Break-up Songs, Adele captured the varying emotions one feels when a relationship breaks up. We’ve all probably felt like getting back at unfaithful exes, wanting them to go “Rolling in the Deep” and never resurfacing again.  Or maybe we feel like we’re just “Chasing Pavements”, feeling like a car crash waiting to happen but still trying to make it work. Or maybe we felt abandoned and not knowing why just makes it even more painful. “Don’t You Remember”?

Beyond the lyrics of Adele’s songs, though, there is the beauty of her voice. It’s smokey, full of authority, yet wise… It’s open and full of emotion. When she sings, you hear the longing and the regret, the anger and annoyance… Or is it irritation? It’s deep and rough, like cornmeal in a can. It’s perfect for expressing strong emotions in a song. And then there’s the music. It’s soulful. It catches your attention and doesn’t let go, and then you realize you’re hooked… swimming in the messy emotions stirred up by her songs.

It’s like Ally McBeal’s “walking wounded” meets Breakfast at Tiffany’s meets Edward Scissorhands. Does that make sense? You’ve got these icons of heartbreak (in my head at least) of varying “personalities” --- the quirky, funny, self-deprecating, open, angry, and awkward to the classy, sad, ethereal, and hopeful to the gothic, haunting, magical, thought-provoking, and surreal --- and all of them are in this one person’s songs. It’s pretty impressive.

So, on a scale of one to Adele…? I’d say, Adele.