So you see? There ain’t a lot of artists that make it to almost everyone’s playlist. As I have noticed, people who love Rock and Roll music hesitate to include club-banger songs on their music players. The same is true with lovers of Pop Music who refuse to put some classic ballads in their music lounges. Rare are singers whose songs are mainstream but are celebrated, listened to and played repeatedly in all formats. Rare are singers like these that are true artists. Rare are these blessed artists.

Rare is Adele.

 The first time I heard an Adele song was song was I think in 2008 in the movie Wild Child starring Emma Roberts. Emma and her love interest were riding a car while strolling in the outskirts of a countryside in England. As far I can remember, the song was very soothing and nostalgic while the singer’s voice sounded peculiarly timeless and soulful at its roots. I made some time to find the song in the internet and I finally stumbled upon Chasing Pavements – Adele. That was the start of the fondness that I have with Adele and her songs. I even think that Adele will be a classic where future generations will still go back to dig her artistry and music.

Here goes the list of my Top 10 most favorite Adele songs. 2 are from her debut album 19 and 8 are obviously from her monster second album, 21.

10. HE WON’T GO

                With one of the longest intro before the lyrics, this song gives quite some time to listeners for flashbacks. This is a song of honesty and admittance that it letting go of someone is not as easy as chewing a marshmallow. The mix of the instruments and the blend of Adele’s voice will make you imagine sitting inside an old bar watching Adele smile at you while performing this song on stage.

Strike-out lyrics: “If this ain’t love then what is? I’m willing to take a risk.”

9. ROLLING IN THE DEEP

                Everybody’s anthem. One of the frequently, if not the most, covered songs on Youtube. Performed so many times in stages the whole world was watching. This song is obviously awesome but it took me a little while to fully appreciate it. I don’t know why. It was Haley Reinhart’s performance of this in American Idol that finally awakened my senses to pay full attention to the carrier single of Adele’s second album.

Strike-out lyrics: “Pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow.”

8. TURNING TABLES

                This melody is the song that I want to play if ever I’d be given a chance to be inside a yacht during a sunny summer afternoon in the Caribbean. This is one of the songs in 21 that stand out
even if you only to the album snippets. And when Gwenyth Paltrow made a rendition of this in Glee, the song’s potential was fully highlighted.

Strike-out lyrics: “Next time I’ll be braver, I’ll be my own savior standing on my own two feet.”

7. CHASING PAVEMENTS

                I have said so much about this song. Adele really won’t be Adele without this song. And an Adele fan is not a genuine fan if he doesn’t know how Adele started with this song and how good its music video is.

Strike-out lyrics: “I’ll never say enough ‘cause it was not said to you and that’s exactly what I need to do if I end up with you.”

6. TAKE IT ALL

                Imagine playing this song on the best speakers out there while you’re alone standing behind the window glass of the 78^th floor of an 80-storey hotel in Las Vegas watching one of the world’s best skylines at night with maybe a wine to accompany you. While you think of all the hurt that you have been through and say “just take it all with my love”. There’s just so much sorrowful emotion in this song that is empowered by Adele’ lazy vocals and cozy feel.

Strike-out lyrics: “Don’t look back at this crumbling fool, just take it all.”

5. SET FIRE TO THE RAIN

                To say that the figures of speech used in this song are impressive is such an under-rated statement. There’s so much to explore in this song. Though we know that Adele speaks of heartbroken soul in her songs, this is one of the few which try to fight the emotion back. And even if I know that the melody of the song is good, I feel that the background instruments are in random. Just like they’re played without caring about the lyrics. And what’s weirder is that, they are still in harmony.

Strike-out lyrics: “My hands, they’re strong but my knees are far too weak.”

4. MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE

                Whoever sings this song can feel the connection between the sentiment and the lyrics. Remember Kris Allen’s rendition in American Idol? That was actually my first encounter of this song. Even if I love the Kris Allen’s version more (because I can relate more to that one), Adele’s music video of this song is a living reminder that she is a born tearjerker. This I think is Adele’s most romantic song.

Strike-out lyrics: “And there’s no one there to dry your tears, I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love.”

3. DON’T YOU REMEMBER

                Of all her songs, this will single out as the most bittersweet, most pitiful, and most begging acoustic Adele song ever. The lyrics of this song are like those that someone would write if they were given the last chance to reach to somebody they used to love for them to come back, reminiscing some  precious memories they hope won’t die in vain. Moments which are hard to let go. I remember a roommate borrowing my phone then he played this song from 6 pm to 6 am. And he didn’t do anything other than staring at the ceiling of his room. J

Strike-out lyrics: “Don’t you remember the reason you left me before? Baby please remember me once more.”

2. SOMEONE LIKE YOU

                I first saw a video link in Facebook about Adele performing this song live in Britain few years ago then it skyrocketed to number 1 in UK Hot 100 chart. After downloading and listening to it for the first time in a state where I wasn’t supposed to pay much attention to any song since I was busy surfing the net and I was in a net café, I remember myself getting stuck with every word of the lyrics and appreciating the song’s entire package. I even borrowed a laptop with loud speakers just to get me through the entire sem break season where I didn’t go home and I was so alone in the dormitory. Literally. I remember those days of thinking about a huge emotional problem when all day is spent on laying my head on the table beside the laptop while playing with the light of my lamp shade as it rains hard outside and I am trying so hard to resist an ecstatic vibrato and a half-forced half-naturally occurring falsetto only Adele can do. And for the record, I love the live version more than the studio one.

Strike-out lyrics: “I hope you’d see my face and that you’d be reminded that for me, it isn’t over.”

1.  ONE AND ONLY

                If Adele were to sing in front me, this is the song that I want her to do. I love everything about this song. The intro that sets the bar high. The dragging verses that make you sway. The angry chorus where Adele seems to sing her heart out. The message of the song that somehow mocks on an oblivious lover’s arms. This song has it all. It doesn’t bore me every time I hear it. Elise Testone’s and Christina Grimmie’s are the best attempts of covering the song but none comes close to the original. How can Adele be so pure? How can she be so special? She’s definitely and congenitally phenomenal.

Strike-out lyrics: “To prove that I’m the one who can walk that mile until the end starts.”

How about you? What Adele song pierces through your very soul?