Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
English Department
Winter Semester 2013/2014
Proseminar: Sociolinguistics
Lecturer: PD Dr. Sandra Mollin
Due Date: February 28, 2014
Distinguishing Music from Reality – Differences
Between Singing Style and Speech Style
Exemplified by Adele
by:
Dominik Krambs
Eberlinweg 13a
69121 Heidelberg
E-mail: Krambs@stud.uni-heidelberg.de
Matrikelnummer: 3143850
© Dominik Krambs
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1!
2. Background
1!
3. Methodology
3!
4. Discussion
4!
4.1 Speech Style
4!
4.2 Singing Style and Differences
5!
4.3 Reasons for Style Shift
8!
5. Conclusion
9!
Works Cited
10!
Appendix: Transcript of Adele – 21 Track by Track Interview
11!
1. Introduction
More than three decades ago, Peter Trudgill published a groundbreaking study on
British pop song pronunciation (1983), which developed to become an essential part in
the field of sociolinguistics and has found many imitators and successors including me.
By analyzing the singing style of British rock and pop bands from the 1960s and 1970s,
he laid the foundation for numerous subsequent studies that are based on his work and
even add to his findings. The suggestions for possible reasons for his results include
concepts from various branches of linguistics and have been extended in light of further
research by other scholars. He thereby set a framework that is applicable to music
beyond those ages, which is inherent in this particular study. As Trudgill mainly
analyzed the Beatles concerning their pronunciation, this paper will attempt to examine
the work of Adele. Her case is of exceptional interest because one notices her thick
British accent without even paying attention to it. This raises the question whether her
accent also appears in her songs.
Taking into consideration results from prior research, this study will present
relevant background information that explains some concepts of pop song
pronunciation. Following the steps of the methodology, the discussion will demonstrate
the phonetic and lexical differences between her spoken and sung realizations. In order
to convey meaning to the results, the discussion will go into depth and render possible
explanations for the discrepancies just before recapitulating and giving an outlook.
2. Background
As aforementioned, Peter Trudgill (1983) contributed a great deal to the field of pop
song pronunciation. In his study, he sets up a set of six features that were used by
British artists especially in the 1950s and 1960s, of which only five are of interest for
this study:
Feature
Example
1
T-flapping for intervocalic <t>
better
2
[æ] instead of [aː]
last, dance, half
1
3
Deletion of diphthong glide in /aɪ/ resulting in [a·]
my, life
4
[$⋅] instead of [æ̈ ~ ɐ] or [ʊ ~ ɤ]
love, done
5
[ɑ] instead of [ɒ]
body, top
Trudgill explains that these features can be found in British varieties. Some varieties
may contain several of the realizations, but not all of them. The entirety of the features
is only found in General American (GA), which is why British singers must be
modifying their pronunciation when singing. Yet, the way Trudgill describes some of
these features is a little unorthodox, for it is prescriptive: “It is not permitted to
pronounce words such as dance, last with the /aː/ that is normal in south-eastern
England.” (Trudgill 1983, 142) Clearly, a descriptive style would be more appropriate.
In order to find a suitable explanation for this linguistic modification, Trudgill comes up
with a list of linguistic phenomena that may be the cause for the latter:
1. Giles’s accommodation theory (Giles and Smith 1979) claims that one changes
one’s linguistic behavior to sound more like the respective conversation partner
for reasons of higher prestige or the will to identification. Likewise, one can
dissociate in one’s linguistic behavior to create more distance. However, this
theory applies rather to conversation.
2. A more simple way of finding a solution would be to maintain that this style
shift is related to linguistic appropriateness. Diaphasically speaking, it is a
different situation; therefore the register needs to be adapted.
3. Le Page (1978) claims that the modification of the linguistic behavior is related
to the identification with a certain group on distinct occasions.
Trudgill elaborates on the latter being the fittest explanation of the three. Due to the
discovered American phonetic and lexical features he assumes that the British pop
singers from the 1950s and 1960s identified with American rock ’n’ roll singers and
bands since they are probably their idols. Interestingly though, Americans in general do
not perceive these features as an imitation of some kind of American variety.
As time moves on, Trudgill does too by analyzing pronunciation features of the punk
movement, which are condensed to only two for the purpose of this paper:
2
Feature
Example
1
Vocalization of /l/
milk
2
Glottal stop for intervocalic and word-final /t/
better, bit
Paul Simpson (1999), though criticizing Trudgill somewhat, acknowledges his
colleague’s work and also takes into account principles from linguistic discourse, which
add to the list of potential explanations of style shift. His three maxims are tenor, field
and mode. The tenor describes the kind of relationship and the participants in the
discourse, while the field of discourse focuses on different persona and therefore
accents within the music, unlike the mode that shifts the attention to the manner in
which the song is presented, whether it is sung or rather a mere voiceover. Simpson
explains deviations from the reasons given with the longing for being different from the
ordinary. Bands or singers who do not seem to follow the observations want to sound
unique in order to stand out.
Joan C. Beal takes another path by establishing the theory that deviations have to
do with the feeling of divergence. She takes the British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys
as an example of divergence due to their disagreement with modern music industry and
links it to their singing style in a Sheffield accent as well as local references from their
hometown Sheffield.
These findings of prior research will be used as a framework for the following
analysis of Adele’s speech style, singing style and possible differences between them to
determine whether they apply in any way.
3. Methodology
In order to conduct an accurate comparison between Adele’s speech style and singing
style, a few requirements in terms of the approach towards the analysis have to be
considered. For both the singing style and the speech style the corpora need to be
appropriately sized, so that the results are representative and do not exceed the limits.
As a consequence, three songs from each of her two albums 19 (Adele 2008) and 21
(Adele 2011) (“Chasing Pavements”, “My Same”, “Hometown Glory” on 19; “Rolling
3
In the Deep”, “Turning Tables” and “Someone Like You” on 21) are examined for
similarities and differences to one interview of 15 minutes length. Since the two albums
came out on two different points of time (Cunningham), a diachronic view towards her
singing style is guaranteed to enable one to tell whether her singing style has modified
in itself. A crucial part of the approach towards the analysis is the decision what to
begin with. Different starting points may result in different outcomes or affect the
validity of the study. Analyzing the interview first is strategically beneficial in terms of
coherence in order to have a basis that one can elaborate on because the singing style is
more likely to be inconsistent compared to the speech style.
4. Discussion
4.1 Speech Style
Since Adele is English (Cunningham), Received Pronunciation (RP) is the variety that
will function as the base, from which on further linguistic deviations will be identified:
“Turning Tables” [teɪbʊs] is the second of the two [tʉː] tracks that I wrote [rɜʊʔ]
with [wɪf] Ryan [raɪ$n] Tedder. At [æʔ] the Grammy’s in 2009 [tuː faʊz$n $n
nɑɪn], we were both [bɜʊθ] staying [steɪɪŋ] in the same [sʌɪm] hotel [hɜʊt$ʊ] and
I got [gɒʔ] in the elevator [el$vʌɪʔ$] with [wɪθ] about [$bæʊʔ] a hundred heart
balloons and then Ryan [rɑɪ$n] got [gɒʔ] in as well [w$ʊ] and all he could hear
was my cackle [kækʊ], which has become a bit [bɪʔ] infamous. (YouTube 2:57)
This excerpt from the interview with Adele that is being analyzed shows without even
going into great detail that her linguistic behavior is full of inconsistencies. This is only
a selection to get an idea of what her speech style looks like. Thus, one can assume that
other inconsistencies are yet to be uncovered. Evidently, Adele is not to be considered a
pure RP speaker though the variety her speech style can be allocated to is not the
contrary either, for only phonetic deviations from the norm, which is RP, and
realizations contradicting the deviations are indicated.
There are four features, by which one can already tell to a certain extent what
variety is present here. /t/ is not realized in intervocalic position and at the end of the
word. Instead, a glottal stop is inserted. Also, her speech style does not only contain /t/
that become glottal stops, but also some that are deleted. For the lexeme it’s, she
4
realizes [ɪs]. In standard RP, the diphthongs from the excerpt are realized as /$ʊ/, /aɪ/
and /eɪ/. In this case, their realization is /ɜʊ/, /ɑɪ/ and /ʌɪ/. Another feature that draws
one’s attention is the replacement of /θ/ with /f/, which is known as TH Fronting. Both
dental sounds (/θ/ and /ð/) become labiodental; /f/and /v/ respectively. The last feature
mentioned is the L Vocalization. It only occurs with /l/ in syllable-final position that is
realized as /ʊ/. Furthermore, although not included in the transcribed excerpt, Adele
occasionally makes use of H Dropping in such words as home [ʔ$ʊm]. In addition, the
realizations of some vowels are not identical either. The standard RP is /iː/ whereas
Adele realizes it as [ɪiː]. The sample above also shows a different production of /uː/,
which becomes [ʉ] in this case. These features and many more are characteristics of
what Wells labels as popular London (1982b, 301-334). It is not a variety that is clearcut, since it ranges on a continuum from RP to Cockney, which is also a reason for the
inconsistency of the features. Some speakers tend to be closer to Received
Pronunciation, others tend to resemble the Cockney accent. Being from Tottenham,
London (Cunningham), Adele is one of those speakers with the popular London accent
whose pronunciation varies.
Nevertheless, her speech style includes some features that are not so common. In
words like question and miserable, the fortis alveolar fricative /s/ is subject to
affrication, which is consequently realized as [kw$ʃtʃ$n] and [mɪʒr$bl]. This may not be
a feature that can be deduced from a variety, but it shapes Adele’s speech style, making
it unique.
In summary, Adele’s speech style contains overall RP features mixed with
distinct realizations such as L Vocalization and TH Fronting of the popular London
accent.
4.2 Singing Style and Differences
As a general statement, it is safe to say that Adele’s speech style differs to a high degree
from her singing style. Whereas the former is greatly influenced by her vernacular
popular London working class accent, her singing style is dominated by RP with nonRP features:
5
There’s a [eɪ] fire starting [stɑːɾɪŋ] in my [ma·] heart [hɑːɾ]
Reaching [riːtʃɪŋ] a [$] fever [fiːv$] pitch
And it’s bringing me out [aʊt] the dark
Finally [faɪn$liː] I [a·] can see [siː] you [juː] crystal [krɪst$l] clear
Go [goʊ] ahead and sell me out
And I’ll [a·l] lay [leɪ] your shit bare (Adele 2011)
Again, this short excerpt from the song “Rolling In the Deep” on the album 21 gives
some indications in terms of the extent to which Adele’s singing style differs and what
exactly differs. Taking a mere look at the words starting and heart, one would expect
the alveolar plosive /t/ from an RP speaker in these words. What has just been shown
would indicate that Adele would normally glottalize these phones. However, both words
contain an alveolar flap, changing [stɑːtɪŋ] to [stɑːɾɪŋ]. Interestingly though, this
realization pattern is avoided shortly afterwards. The lexeme crystal does not contain an
alveolar flap, but the normal plosive realization [t]. Although the alveolar flap is also
considered a variant of Cockney (Wells 1982b, 324), Adele does not seem to use it,
according to the analysis of the interview. Again, inconsistency is a recurring theme
here. Another very obvious feature that differs from RP or popular London is the
deletion of the diphthong glide in lexemes such as I, which instead of [aɪ] is realized as
[a·]. These two phenomena are predominantly found in General American (Wells
1982a). What is also part of General American is the cluster [oʊ] as it is produced above
in the word go, while the equivalent in RP is [$ʊ].
Not only does Adele adopt General American features in her singing style, she
also reduces her London vernacular. The realizations of the long vowels in reaching and
fever prove the modification towards RP as her speech style consists mainly of the
popular London variant [ɪiː]. The same applies to the popular London realization [ʉ],
which is replaced with [uː] as can be seen in two. The diphthongs are affected by this
modification as well. As shown above, there are variants in popular London accent to
the normal RP realization, which are also omitted in Adele’s singing style. Lexemes like
out show that she tends to prefer the RP realization for diphthongs. The corpus taken
from the other songs offers even more deviations. The lexeme all, which appears quite a
lot in the track “Rolling In the Deep”, is an indicator for the oppressed L Vocalization
that is part of Adele’s London vernacular. The line from the song “Rolling In the Deep”,
“Think [θiŋk] of me in the depths of your despair / make a home [hoʊm] down there /
6
As mine sure won’t be shared” (Adele 2011), demonstrates that neither TH Fronting nor
h-deletion, which are part of her speech style, are included in her singing style. Instead,
the RP and the GA variant are respectively used. However, not all linguistic
modifications in Adele’s style shift can be explained with variants of other varieties.
Pronunciations like [eɪ] for a as in the sample above or [ðiːs] for this as in „Chasing
Pavements“ can only be explained by means of her freedom to realize it the way she
wants for aesthetic purposes. These productions may be summed up as idiosyncrasies of
Adele.
These modifications hold true for all the songs analyzed. Yet, there is always an
exception to a rule. In this case, the exception is “Hometown Glory”. As the title
already suggests, the song deals with impression of one’s origin. It is therefore right to
expect Adele to make use of her popular London accent:
And tutting [tʌʔɪn] my [ma·] heel [hɪʊ] and strutting [ʃtrʌʔɪn] my [ma·] feet [fiːʔ]
Is there anything I can do for you dear?
Is there anyone I could call [kɔːl]?
No and thank you please madame
I ain’t lost just wandering [lɔːʃ dʒɪs wɒnd$rɪŋ] (Adele 2008)
Tutting, strutting, feet, lost and just reveal the realization of the glottal stop in the song.
Likewise, the L Vocalization in heel can be detected as well as another phenomenon
that the glottal stop causes. Due to the absence of /t/ in lost the /s/ assimilates to /dʒ/,
taking over similar characteristics to end up as the affricate [ʃ]. This phenomenon is
called yod coalescence and occurs in non-standard RP (Wells 1982b, 331). These
features though are as so often inconsistent. Among glottal stops and L Vocalizations
their respective RP variants do appear, too, which is not the only other variety because
some GA features like the deletion of the glide in diphthongs that were discussed earlier
are also present. A very idiosyncratic realization is the production of [lɔv$] for love,
which is probably due to syllabic or melodic reasons. In summary, “Hometown Glory”
is a mixture of many different pronunciation patterns. However, one needs to consider
that this is an extreme case and not the standard, which is also no proof for any kind of
difference in Adele’s linguistic behavior between 19 and 21.
Despite its little extent, deviation in lexical features can also be detected. The
lexeme ain’t does not appear once in the interview and is therefore not very likely to be
7
part of her speech style. Should it be included in her speech style against all odds, it
might occur only in informal situations although her speech style seems to be very
informal even in the interview. Ain’t appears in some songs as can be seen above, but it
is in general considered a feature of the Southern accent in the United States. Thus,
Adele’s speech style and singing style do not only differ in pronunciation, but also in
lexical corpus.
4.3 Reasons for Style Shift
Though there are more than several differences between Adele’s speech style and
singing style, the number of features from non-English varieties is relatively small.
Only three features of Americanisms were detected: the deletion of the glide in the
diphthong /aɪ/, which is then also known as the confederate vowel (Underwood 1988,
421), the alveolar flap and the use of ain’t. All other differences result from the shift to
the standard RP instead of adhering to her popular London accent. However, the
question why the style shift occurs is yet to be answered.
According to Trudgill’s preferred explanation for linguistic modification, singers
and bands shift in style because they identify with a certain group when they perform.
Growing up primarily with American rhythm-and-blues music by Etta James
(Cunningham), Adele may have adopted her way of singing into her own singing style.
If this were the case though, one would presumably detect more than three
Americanisms. Consequently, this theory may contribute to the development of Adele’s
singing style, but it cannot solely account for the process due to insufficiency. Beal’s
argument that the style shift occurs because of divergence from contemporary
mainstream music is unsatisfactory as well, since there seems to be no reason for such
an attitude. The Arctic Monkeys reject pop music and focus on indie rock, but Adele
has a lot of success with pop music and does not seem to disagree with it. Be that as it
may, Simpson delivers the key reason in his study when he says that the USA model –
the GA features English bands and singers adopted according to Trudgill – is still alive
and kicking, but has lost its influenced compared to contemporary music decades ago.
Trudgill’s features have been part of rock and pop music ever since it started to become
commercial and globalized. They are incorporated in the very basis of music that has
8
been prevalent until now. Of course, they keep losing their effect as time goes on, which
is why the number of features passed on becomes smaller and smaller, but the
quintessential statement is that they are still present – seemingly invincible. The features
that have gotten lost over time were replaced with features specific to the origin of the
artists, which in England is RP.
However, Simpson also claims that some English bands tend to integrate local
accents into their singing style. Oasis did so with the Scouse accent even though they
are from Manchester (Simpson 1999, 363) and the Arctic Monkeys with their Sheffield
accent (Beal 2009). This, too, was detected when Adele’s song “Hometown Glory” was
analyzed, proving that conscious application of the latter is possible. Hence, the level of
pop music is no longer exclusively global because the focus can also shift to a local
level.
5. Conclusion
For the comparison between Adele’s speech style and her singing style a corpus
consisting of six songs and one interview was used, showing that there is a great
difference between the two, which is due to Adele’s popular London accent on the one
hand and her mixture of Received Pronunciation with Americanisms as well as some
features unique to Adele on the other hand. The main issues are alveolar flaps, glottal
stops and the usage of the confederate vowel instead of the diphthong /aɪ/. Taking into
account the research on the topic so far, this study maintains that the reason for the style
shift is the implemented USA model that has been predominant in pop song
pronunciation over the last decades. Other theories by Trudgill, Simpson and Beal may
hold true to a certain extent, but they are not persuasive enough to explain a shift of
such complexity.
With the ongoing reduction of the USA model features in pop music, it is rather
difficult to determine how pop song pronunciation will develop in the future. Since
more and more English artists make use of certain regional dialects in their singing style
and less American features persist, pop music may soon be a heterogeneous mixture of
singing styles with different accents, other pronunciations and registers. This patchwork
quilt may end up turning tables on former tendencies.
9
Works Cited
Adele, 19, XL Records, 2008, CD.
Adele, 21, XL Records, 2011, CD.
Adele – 21 Track by Track Interview, YouTube video, 14:34, posted by
BradCreatedDisco,
February
2,
2011,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDdMdXDc4ok
Beal, Joan C. 2009. "You’re Not from New York City, You’re from Rotherham: Dialect
and Identity in British Indie Music." Journal of English Linguistics 37 (3):223240.
Cunningham,
John
M.
"Adele."
Britannica.
Accessed
February
18,
2014.
http://www.britannica.com.ubproxy.ub.uniheidelberg.de/EBchecked/topic/1811211/Adele.
Giles, Howard, and Philip Smith. 1979. "Accomodation theory. Optimal levels of
convergence." In Language and Social Psychology, edited by Howard Giles and
Robert St. Clair, 45-65. Oxford: Blackwell.
Le Page, Robert B. 1978. "Projection, focussing, diffusion." In Society For Caribbean
Linguistics Occasional Paper No. 9. St. Augustine, Trinidad: Society for
Caribbean Linguistics
Simpson, Paul. 1999. "Language, Culture and Identity: With (another) Look at Accents
in Pop and Rock Singing." Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and
Interlanguage Communication 18 (4):343-368.
Trudgill, Peter. 1983. "Acts of Conflicting Identity. The Sociolinguistics of British PopSong Pronunciation." In On Dialect. Social and Geographical Perspectives.,
edited by Peter Trudgill, 141-160. Oxford: Blackwell.
Underwood, Gary N. 1988. "Accent and identity." In Methods in Dialectology, edited
by A. Thomas, 406-428. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Wells, J.C., ed. 1982a. Beyond the British Isles. 3 vols. Vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Wells, J.C., ed. 1982b. The British Isles. 3 vols. Vol. 2, Accents of English. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
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Appendix: Transcript of Adele – 21 Track by Track Interview
“Rolling In the Deep” is the first song on the album and the first single, and I guess it’s
sort of my musical equivalent of saying things in the heat of the moment and wordvomiting. It was my reaction to being told that my life is going to be boring and lonely
and rubbish and that I was a weak person if I didn’t stay in a relationship, so, yeah, I
was very insulted and wrote that as a sort of fuck you.
It takes a lot of shit to get me upset and crazy, so when I’m about to get angry in my
heart I can really feel my blood flowing around in my body.
So I went with Paul with it to Paul Epworth and it was exactly the kind of thing he had
in mind to do with me, I suppose. I didn’t … I wasn’t really expecting anything out of
the session just because he’s known for being very indie and I’m known for being very
pop, so I wasn’t sure if it would work too well but ended up being a match made in
heaven, really. He’s one of the most amazing writers and producers I’ve ever worked
with. He’s got so many ideas and just brought a lot out of me, brought my voice out as
well. There’s notes that I hit in that song that I never even knew I could hit.
You can really tell when you hear a Ryan Tedder song, which I liked, but I wanted to
come out with something that would surprise everyone when it was us two put together,
so we came out with this sort of bluesy, pop stomping song, really.
I’d been working on my first record when I’d come home and try and relink with all my
friends and catch up or I’d go out for lunch or whatever or go for a night out and like
my friends would be like, “So I heard you’re seeing blah blah, hope you’re not seeing
him ‘cause I heard he fucked her and I heard … but I heard you’re with him” and all of
this stuff, you know. And just like my own friends were gossiping about me, do you
know what I mean, it’s got nothing, I think some people might think ‘cause it’s called
“Rumor Has It” – it’s quite funny – some people might think it’s about blogs and
magazines and paper, but it’s not. It’s about my own friends making up or believing
stuff that they hear, you know and I just … I was pretty mortified, really.
“Turning Tables” is the second of the two tracks that I wrote with Ryan Tedder. At the
Grammy’s in 2009, we were both staying in the same hotel, and I got in the elevator
with about a hundred heart balloons and then Ryan got in as well and all he could hear
was my cackle, which has become a bit infamous. And he was kind of searching
11
through the balloons to find me and we were like, “Amazing, we’ve definitely got to
work together now.” I arrived and I was quite upset, so I was kind of in the middle of all
the rubbish that was going on at home and I turned up and I was just going, “Who the
fuck does he …,” I didn’t know Ryan at this point by the way, you know, “Who the
fuck does he think he is? He always fucking turns the tables on me.” And then he took
that “turning tables”, you know, he’d kind of come up with a phrase, which I loved.
It kind of got to the point where I managed to step out of kind of the bitter mode that I
was in when I was writing the record and suddenly felt … and I was kind of analyzing
all my songs and looking back at the lyrics and listening to the vocals and all that, and I
suddenly got really ashamed and disgusted with the manner that I was betraying
someone who is really important to me and I felt really bad and I kind of felt really
childish that I’d made him out as being a complete twat in all the songs.
I just thought I‘m kind of reminiscing of how at the beginning my skin would tingle any
time he ever touched me, and I’d wait by my phone and be like going crazy ‘cause he
didn’t text me back within ten seconds and stuff like that. And I was sort of thinking
about that and it was kind of … and I bet he doesn’t remember why he loved me, you
know, so it’s just kind of like that.
I find country music really exciting, so I know actually fuck all about it, so every day
I’ve been hearing something that I love, that I don’t know of, so it’s kind of … I feel a
bit like I’ve been discovering music again for the first time.
Yeah, it’s just about the contradictions that are in relationships, really. One person says
this; the other person says that, but it’s that; it’s nothing that … you know, it’s kind of
like that, really, and I was really, really heartbroken when I met who the song’s about,
and he kind of brought me back to life and put me back together, and he was a dickhead
as well, anyway.
It’s about two friends of mine that I met after the first record. I was home, I was living
on my own and I’d settled into my new flat and sort of had no normal friends in my
area. It was all kind of work friends or someone I met through work. I met these two
through our love of dogs and shortly after, a couple of weeks after, I found out that he
was a heroin addict and was kind of making his … kind of on his journey to go into
rehab. Their bond with each other that kind of overrode or overcame everything that
was going on really, really touched me and really, really moved me, and I’m so proud of
12
them both and I’m proud of him. He’s been clean for over a year now and, you know,
it’s just … it’s quite exciting kind of seeing a new life happen when you’re kind of a 30year-old.
“Take It All” is written with Eg White, who is … who I did “Chasing Pavements” and
“Melt My Heart to Stone” and “Tired” with on the first record. I kind of remember how
“Take It All” came. He played a chord and then I just started singing it and, you know,
it’s about my devotion to someone and they’re not caring really and taking a piss out of
me and like kind of exploiting me, I guess, in a way. But literally, it was … as I sang it,
the lyrics happened. It wasn’t sort of sitting there writing about it. It’s literally like …
imagine sitting down with someone and saying that this really isn’t working ‘cause
you’re making me look like a mug. It literally was like that, but in a song. I was like,
“Oh, what a sad story,” or something.
It’s almost like … imagine walking down the street with my iPod and being like “Yeah,
that’s good.” Soundtrack to my life. Every time we kind of added something new to or
wrote a new part we were just like … got really excited ‘cause we were happy.
“One and Only” is another happy song and it’s not about the same guy that the record’s
about. It’s about someone I’ve known for years and we’ve always really liked each
other and never been together even though I’m pretty convinced I’m probably going to
marry this guy in the end. And when I wrote the middle eight, it was really cheesy. The
night before I wrote the middle eight, I watched Never Been Kissed by … with Drew
Barrymore in it and, you know, in the end, when she describes being kissed as the
whole world slows down and goes in slow motion, everything else goes blurry and the
only thing in focus is her and that fitty guy that whoever’s playing that other character,
and I kind of see it like that and whenever I hear the bridge, it really is sort of like that.
It’s quite epic and … I mean I don’t think Never Been Kissed is a particularly epic
movie, but like, you know, it’s kind of that … I can just imagine being in Trafalgar, still
why be in the middle of Trafalgar Square kissing someone, but … and the whole world
slowing down and being it a bit like a fairytale, so it’s a bit, yeah, it’s a bit of a sort of
daydreaming song, I suppose.
My first concert ever was The Cure in Finsbury Park, my mum took me. It’s such a
touching song, and it’s all one take, and it’s very raw, and I’m really sad in it ‘cause I’m
missing home and the whole experience of being in Malibu with Rick Rubin was a bit
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overwhelming and, not in a sad way, but it was just … I felt quite heavy sort of, you
know, by it all and that song sort of set me free a little bit, and I sang it for my mum,
and it’s a really stunning recording. I’ve never … it’s like really is Rick Rubin that
song, do you know what I mean, the recording is just … the sounds, everything of it.
It’s just amazing the way it’s all “miced”, and my voice had gone as well, but, which I
was a bit kind of paranoid about, but it actually suits the song really, really well.
“Someone Like You” is the last song on the record and it was … again, I guess, I kind
of got a little … when I was writing it, I was feeling pretty miserable and pretty lonely,
which, I guess, kind of contradicts “Rolling In the Deep”, where I was like, “I’m going
to be fine without you”. This one was me kind of on my knees, really. Yeah, I mean that
relationship the entire record’s about that is really summed up in “Someone Like You”
has changed me in a really good way, kind of has really made me who I am at the
moment, you know. And I’m sure there’ll be another relationship, well I hope so
anyway, that helps change me and define me as well, but I can imagine being about
forty and looking for him again and turning up and he’s settled and he’s got a beautiful
wife and some beautiful kids and he’s completely happy and I’m still on my own.
That’s kind of … it’s kind of about that and it’s … I’m quite scared of the thought of
that, you know, it’s kind of all in that. On that eh I sound a lot younger and I sound
really naïve and childish and innocent and dumb on it, I think, even though a lot of
people always think that it’s mature and that I’m wise beyond my years. I don’t at all
think I was. And on this one, you know, I kind of … I know a bit more about myself
and I accept things now like rejection, I’m fine with it. I’m an adult. It upsets me, but I
can deal with it, you know. I mean, it’s not … it doesn’t make me question myself that
much even though should make me question it, but I think this entire record is a bit
more kind of grown up and mature and sincere and like that lyric that you just said from
“Someone Like You” “I wish nothing but the best for you”, it’s kind of stubborn, I’m
being stubborn, even though I’m saying it. You can’t really hold grudges forever ‘cause
it weighs you down and that’s something that I’ve only learned in the last year, while
I’ve kind of been recovering from everything that happened. And I feel better for it. I
feel lighter and healthier for not dwelling on things too much, really.
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