Hello, its Adele

By Jill Roeleveld
Preparation

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, winner of ten Grammys and an Oscar, has
recorded three albums so far: 19, 21 and the recently released 25. All are
named after her age during the recordings. The famous romance singers
lead single of 25 is the very new Hello. It is a soul piano ballad in which
Adele herself plays the drums. It starts out slowly with only a piano and
Adele singing, but soon starts to build up tension as other instruments join
in, including the drums being played by Adele. It is not a song many would
dance to, including myself. It is more of a song you just listen to and sing
along with. Hello is a contemporary song and through the lyrics Adele
comments on our daily lives. Not only does that song reminds us of
leaving a message on someones answering machine, it also reminds us
that even though you lose contact with someone, you should at least try
to make up for any mistakes you might have made in order to move on.
Because what many people forget nowadays is to forgive themselves and
to apologize to one another. On the BBC 1 Radio, Adele told Nick
Grimshaw: "I felt all of us were moving on, and it's not about an exrelationship, a love relationship, it's about my relationship with everyone
that I love. It's not that we have fallen out, we've all got our lives going on
and I needed to write that song so they would all hear it, because I'm not
in touch with them." I believe Hello is Adeles phone call to her loved ones,
to apologize for losing touch with them and to express her new hope of
getting into contact with them again.

First impression (the sensory level)

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

Piano
Low
Repetition
Drums
Unity

Description
Hello starts off with a simple repeated piano melody. Six seconds into the
song, Adele starts to sing, Hello being the first word. At 0,54 a bass joins
the lonely piano and is shortly followed by a guitar who will lead us into
the chorus at 1.06, with bass drums, piano, bass, and guitars. The same
instruments play throughout the third verse but at 1.56 the bass drums
and guitars drop out. At the second chorus at 2.38, they join back in along
with drums and background singers. It is at this moment that the song has
reached its climax until 4.39, when all instruments but the piano drop out.
The piano continuous to play the same melody, as it has been playing
throughout the song, until the song ends at 4.55. Overall the song is very
smooth and mostly low, however, Adele sings in a higher note during the
climax and sometimes throws in an even higher note to emphasise
syllables. During the climax all the instruments come together to create
the illusion of a quicker pace and the tension, which had been building up
until 2.38, is resolved at 4.39.

Analysis (the musical/formal level)

The piano melody, in a F minor scale, is repeated throughout the song. In
combination with the bass, a harmony is created. When the drums play,
they repeat the beat (79 beats per minute) over and over again. The lyrics
has repetition too, for example, hello is sung nine times, being the first
word of each verse and the chorus. Variety is created by the coming in
and dropping out of different kinds of instruments. Also, Adele sings
higher and louder (crescendo) in the chorus than she does in the verses of
the song. The tension builds up slowly and is resolved at 4.39 when a
decrescendo clearly occurs. There is, however, no occurrence of
dissonance. What is also noticeable in Adeles voice is that she uses a
chest voice while singing the verses, which are filled with some tension,
while she uses a head voice when singing the chorus, which is where the
tension is resolved. Adeles first words (hello, its me) create a soundscape
of someone talking on the phone. The texture can only be described as
thick, heavy and dense. The piano in the beginning, the joining in and
dropping out of the bass and drums are all examples of timbre
occurrences in the song. The song is rather loud and therefore sets the
dynamics of the song, you are confronted with Adeles loud sorry and
knows that she is full of regret. Adeles background singers start to chant
around 2.40 creating a fugue. The unity in the song can most clearly be
heard between 2.38 and 4.39, when all the instruments play together in
unity with Adeles voice, pushing the listener to the edge of his/her seat.
The style of the song is typical Adele; the low chest voice that hooks
listeners, the loud chorus, the acoustic instruments and the love theme in
the song. What makes this song stand out from her other songs is that this
is her first soul piano ballad. Because the song is so popular it also falls
under the pop music category.

Interpretation (the associative level)

To me Hello is like a memory. At the age of eleven my grandfather died
and about a week later, I called his phone number and left him a
message. Hello, from the outside from my point of view is seen as the
side of the living and the side of the dead. I mustve called a thousand
times but you never seem to be home, to me that is the saddest and
most upsetting line in the song. Because no matter how hard you try and
no matter how many times you call, nobody will ever be home again. It
personally reminds me that I should always stay in touch with my family,
so that I will not have any regrets about missing precious time together.

Background information
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on the 5th of May in 1988. While Adele
attended BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, she made a

three-track album for a school project and posted this on her Myspace
account. Four months after graduating, she signed a contract with XL
Recordings. Today Adele is an English singer and songwriter, with three
albums, thirty-five songs, ten Grammys and one Oscar so far. Adele has
admitted to being a fan of Spice Girls, Destinys Child, Etta James, British
soul artist Gabrielle, Beyonc and many more. She published her first
album at the age of nineteen. Today, the singer-songwriter is twentyseven and has recently become a mother. Hello was released on the 23rd
of October in 2015, the same year in which new millennium goals were to
be decided on, the oil price decreased noticeably and we, The
Netherlands, declared war on Syria. Hello belongs to two different music
cultures: the soul and pop culture. Soul music originated from the United
states (late 1950s) and is still quite popular today for its mix of elements
from African-American gospel music, blues and jazz. Pop music originated
from the Western World during the late 1950s. Pop music includes any
style of music that lasts a short to medium length of time and is written in
the verse-chorus structure with melodic tunes and hooks. In the culture of
Western Europe pop music plays a part in our everyday lives. These are
the songs that earn a place in the top 100 or 40 and are played on the
radio non-stop. When you go to a party, pop music is played to dance to
and sing along with. In the case of Hello, it is indeed played on the radio
non-stop and when I am at school I can hear people greeting each other
with the first line of the song: Hello, its me. Because Hello became such a
hit, Adele decided to go on tour through Western Europe and give live
concerts.
Albums and songs by Adele
19
25
Daydreamer
Hello
Rumour Has It
Chasing Pavements
Miss You
Dont You Remember
Crazy For You
Remedy
Wont Go
First Love
River Lea
Ill Be Waiting
Make You Feel My Love
Million Years Ago
Lovesong
Tired

21
Rolling In The Deep
Best For Last
Send My Love
Turning Tables
I
Cold Shoulder
When We Were Young
Set Fire To The Rain
Melt My Hear To Stone
He
Water Under The Bridge
Take It All
Right As Rain
Love In The Dark
One And Only
My Shame
All I Ask
Someone Like You

Sweetest Devotion
Skyfall

Hometown Glory

All three Albums are in the soul music genre, but only 21 and 25 are in the
pop music genre. 21 became the best-selling album of the 21st century.
While both 19 and 21 are can be listened to on Spotify, Adele refused to
publish her third album in iTunes, Spotify and any other online download.
As you can read from the titles of the songs, most of them are about love,
break-ups or healing from one. Other popular songs during the publication
of Hello are: Hotline Bling by Drake, Lean On by Major Lazer, Bang My
Head by David Guetta, Cant Feel My Face by The Weekend, On My Mind
by Ellie Goulding and many more.

Informed Judgement
My first impression was piano, because the first thing you hear when
listening to the song is a melody produced by a piano. My second
impression was low, because Adeles chest voice produced a low sound
that created a soundscape of sadness. My third impression, repetition is
based on the piano melody, the beat of the drums and Adeles Hello,
which are repeated throughout the song. Drums came in Fourth because
the drums play a heavy beat that reminds me of the thumping of a heart.
Last but not least, I listed unity, because at 2.38 all the instruments and
Adeles voice come together beautifully and create unity. None of my first
impressions have changed. I would recommend this song to anyone who
appreciates soul music with a hint of pop. This heartfelt song is something
to close your eyes to and to simply appreciate the instruments and
Adeles voice come together in unity.

Lyrics
Hello, it's me
I was wondering if after all these years
You'd like to meet, to go over everything
They say that time's supposed to heal ya
But I ain't done much healing
Hello, can you hear me
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be
When we were younger and free
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet
There's such a difference between us

And a million miles

Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times to tell you
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried to tell you
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore
Hello, how are you
It's so typical of me to talk about myself
I'm sorry, I hope that you're well
Did you ever make it out of that town
Where nothing ever happened
It's no secret
That the both of us are running out of time
Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times to tell you
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried to tell you
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore
Ooooohh, anymore
Ooooohh, anymore
Ooooohh, anymore
Anymore
Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times to tell you
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried to tell you
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore

Sources
http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0156888
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_(Adele_song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music