This song is about a scorned lover telling their ex to get out of their life once and for all.
The One That Changed Everything
“Rolling in the Deep” is the first song on Adele’s sophomore project, 21, which came out in 2010. It’s the track that secured her status as a household name – when Adele Adkins became better known as just “Adele.”
The 65 weeks that the song spent on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the slew of awards Adele received were owed in no small part to the cryptically powerful lyrics. Adele delivers them in her signature smokey timber to convey emotions that speak to the listener’s heart.
She wrote the lyrics with her producer and songwriting partner, Paul Epworth, a fellow Englander. Adele has stated that it was thanks to the way Epworth continuously pushed her to strive for more that this track became what it is.
“Rolling in the Deep” is notably more upbeat than many of Adele’s sentimental piano ballads, and her lyrics reflect this driving energy. The intensity builds up throughout the song slowly and soulfully, which makes the final impact all the more powerful.
This isn’t to say that the opening stanza isn’t powerful in itself:
“There’s a fire starting in my heart/ Reaching a fever pitch, it’s bringing me out the dark / Finally I can see you crystal clear / Go ahead and sell me out and I’ll lay your ship bare”
A Relentless Roller Coaster of Feelings
There are strong bursts of emotion throughout practically every line with something new to cry about with each passing verse. This is no exception with Adele’s work, but it’s in the chorus that her vocals officially peak:
“We could have had it all / Rolling in the deep / You had my heart inside of your hands / And you played it to the beat”
Here, she’s singing about what it feels like when you’re a lover who’s been wronged. She’s specifically referencing one of her broken relationships. The sentiment is essentially one of ordering the person out of their life rather than crawling back to them.
Spontaneous Words in a Tense Situation
In a Spin magazine interview, Adele said, “It’s my musical equivalent of saying things in the heat of the moment and word-vomiting. It was my reaction to being told my life was going to be lonely and boring and rubbish, and that I was a weak person if I didn’t stay in the relationship.”
You don’t have to dive deep (or roll deep, as it were) to understand the title’s meaning – at least, not as deeply as you might expect. As she revealed to Rolling Stone magazine, she adapted a bit of slang that people use in the U.K., and in so doing, coined her own phrase and contributed to the evolution of language in song.
The original phrase is “roll deep,” which, according to Adele in that same Rolling Stone interview, “means to have someone, always have someone that has your back, and you’re never on your own if you’re ever in trouble you’ve always got someone who’s going to come and help you fight it or whatever like that. And that’s how I felt in the relationship that the record’s about, especially ‘Rolling in the Deep.’ That’s how I felt, you know, I thought that’s what I was always going to have, and um, it ended up not being the case.”
Lyrics
There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch, it’s bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go ahead and sell me out and I’ll lay your ship bare
See how I’ll leave with every piece of you
Don’t underestimate the things that I will do
There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch and it’s bringing me out the dark
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’ve had it all (you’re gonna wish you)
(Never had met me)
Rolling in the deep (tears are gonna fall)
(Rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside (you’re gonna wish you)
Of your hands (never had met me)
And you played it (tears are gonna fall)
To the beat (rolling in the deep)
Baby, I have no story to be told
But I’ve heard one on you, now I’m gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Make a home down there, as mine sure won’t be shared
The scars of your love (never had met me)
Remind me of us (tears are gonna fall)
They keep me thinking (rolling in the deep)
That we almost had it all (you’re gonna wish you)
The scars of your love (never had met me)
They leave me breathless (tears are gonna fall)
I can’t help feeling (rolling in the deep)
We could’ve had it all (you’re gonna wish you)
(Never had met me)
Rolling in the deep (tears are gonna fall)
(Rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside (you’re gonna wish you)
Of your hands (never had met me)
And you played it (tears are gonna fall)
To the beat (rolling in the deep)
We could’ve had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
But you played it with a beating
Throw your soul through every open door (whoa)
Count your blessings to find what you look for (whoa)
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold (whoa)
You pay me back in kind and reap just what you’ve sown
We could’ve had it all (tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
We could’ve had it all (you’re gonna wish you never had met me)
It all, it all, it all (tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
We could’ve had it all (you’re gonna wish you)
(Never had met me)
Rolling in the deep (tears are gonna fall)
(Rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside (you’re gonna wish you)
Of your hands (never had met me)
And you played it (tears are gonna fall)
To the beat (rolling in the deep)
Could’ve had it all (you’re gonna wish you)
(Never had met me)
Rolling in the deep (tears are gonna fall)
(Rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside (you’re gonna wish you)
Of your hands (never had met me)
But you played it, you played it, you played it
You played it to the beat
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Paul Epworth / Adele
Rolling in the Deep lyrics © Melted Stone Publishing Ltd.
