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Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Rolling in the Deep Deconstructed Skip to: Audio/Video General Information At a Glance Structural Analysis Sectional Analysis Waveform Primary Instrumentation, Tone & Mix Benchmark Analysis Theory Overall Assessment Hit Factor Assessment Conclusion Why it’s a Hit Take Aways Audio/Video Back to Top General Information Back to Top Artist: Adele Song/Album: Rolling In The Deep / 21 Songwriter(s): Adele, Paul Epworth Genre: Pop Sub Genre: Soul, Blues, Rock At a Glance Back to Top Length: 3:48 Structure: A-B-A-B-A-B Tempo: Mid – Mid/Up 1 / 16 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com First Chorus: 1:00 (26% into the song) Intro Length: 0:05 Outro Length: n/a Primary Tone (Electric/Acoustic): Acoustic Primary Instrumentation: Piano, Acoustic Guitar Lyrical Theme: Love/Relationships Primary Lyrical P.O.V: 1st & 2nd Person Song Title: Once on the 2nd line in each chorus and once on the 2nd line in each section of the background vocals in the chorus. Structural Analysis Back to Top At-a-Glance Section Length (Length of each individual section within the song) In regard to individual section length, “Rolling In The Deep” is structured quite symmetrically, with the pre-choruses, choruses and verses each landing at 0:19, 0:18 and 0:18 respectively. The exceptions to this are the double first verse and double second and third choruses. Note that the final (third) chorus of the song is the only section that is not symmetrical to the other choruses. This is due to the extended vocal segment at the end (i.e. instead of ending it “And you played it to the beat”, it’s “But you played it, you played it, you played it to the beat.”). It tacks on an extra few seconds to the section. Structure Timeline (Shows when each section hits within the timeline of the song) 2 / 16 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Total Section Analysis (Total time consumed by each section and its percentage of the total song) When a song contains an exceptionally strong chorus, it’s no surprise that it will most likely comprise the largest percentage of the songs overall structure. “Rolling In The Deep” is a perfect case-in-point, seeing the three choruses contained within the song account for 49% of the song’s total composition. The three verses follow at 32%, and the two pre-choruses account for 17% of the total song. The intro section (and I use that term loosely – see the “Intro Analysis” section below for more info) only accounts for 2% of the entire song. Momentum/Intensity Factor (Evaluation of the intensity of each section within the song timeline on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the most intense) 3 / 16 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com “Rolling In The Deep” is characterized by simmering tension that builds in momentum and intensity as the song progresses. An interesting way to look at it is to equate it to shifting gears while driving a car. You increase the power and drive until you get to a peak level (i.e. chorus), then shift gears to bring things back down but in a higher gear than you first started (i.e. the second verse has more momentum than the first verse). This flow continues until the car goes coasts in neutral for a bit (i.e. during the “breakdown” chorus that comes right after the third verse), before slamming right back into top gear for the balance of the ride (the final chorus and out). “Rolling In The Deep” kicks off with a single strumming acoustic guitar for five seconds before launching into the first part of the first verse, characterized by a bluesy/soulful vocal from Adele and a continuation of the strumming acoustic guitar that was present during the brief intro. Once we enter the second half of the first verse, the intensity is kicked up with the introduction of kick drum quarter notes at 0:23. This momentum is maintained throughout the balance of the section before proceeding into the pre-chorus. At 0:41 we enter the pre-chorus, where we see the tension and momentum kicked up a notch, brought on by the addition of the bass line eight notes, piano, percussion and Adele’s more “driving” vocal delivery than was present during the verse. The momentum continues throughout the section before coming to a head with the drum fill at 0:59. At 1:00, the momentum and intensity levels are maxed as we hit that powerful chorus, characterized by a soaring, emotionally charge vocal from Adele, higher instrumentation levels (specifically the bass line and piano), background vocals, percussion and the addition of the snare drum to the mix. The piano is up front in the mix, accentuating the driving, dark vibe of the section. At 1:18, we head into the second verse, which is differentiated from the first verse by the inclusion of the piano and claps. The claps give the section a bit more drive than it had the first time around, and the piano helps to accentuate the tension with how it’s timed in relation to the beat. At 1:27 we enter the second half of the verse, where we see the snare now more prominent in the mix, kicking the intensity levels up even further. At 1:36, we head back into the pre-chorus, this time coming in more intensely than the first pre- chorus, characterized by a more driving beat, the addition of percussion and background vocals. We then hit the 2nd chorus at 1:55, which is on par intensity-wise with the first chorus. 4 / 16 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com The only difference is that it’s a double chorus. At 2:31, we enter into the third verse, which has a more driving beat than the previous two. This is primarily brought on by how the claps are positioned within the section. During the 2nd verse the claps fell on the kick drum beat. This time around they fall in between the kick drum beats, giving the section more of a propelling drive. At 2:49, we hit a departure from how the song was flowing up until that point, seeing the momentum being brought down to a simmer. You can consider it like a chorus with a bridge feel (i.e. nothing new in the story line to consider it a true bridge, but the shift in momentum provides a departure from the flow present the rest of the song), and is characterized by the mournful, longing vocal from Adele, background vocals, piano and claps (during the second half). At 3:07, we slam back into the full chorus, which grows in intensity during the second half of the section, brought on by levels that are up a notch from what they were during the previous chorus sections. At 3:48 the song ends abruptly. Sectional Analysis Back to Top Intro: 9/10 We can look at intro to “Rolling In The Deep” in one of two ways: Consider that “Rolling In The Deep” has a 5 second acoustic guitar intro. Consider the 5 seconds of lone guitar to be part of the first verse, therefore not counting as a “proper” intro section. For the most part while analyzing songs, I define a “proper” intro as a section that is independent of any other section within the song. That being said, even though the lone acoustic guitar intro carries right over into the first verse, it does set the tone and vibe of the song for 5 seconds before the vocals come in. The fact that you can also hear some studio chatter and studio buzz does a great job of instantly giving the song a “live” vibe, and you feel that you’re about to hear something that is really going to be “organic” in nature. All in all, these small things work perfectly together to briefly set the scene and tone for what is to come. Verses: 9/10 The verses in “Rolling In The Deep” are characterized by strong, memorable melodies, scathing lyrics, great vocal phrasing, an evocative vocal delivery from Adele and instrumentation that perfectly accentuates and brings to life the emotion that Adele conveys in her lyrics: Lyrics: From the opening lines “There’s a fire starting in my heart… Reaching a fever pitch and it’s bringing me out the dark”, you know right off the bat that you’re in for something evocative and intense, and it hooks you in right from the start. In each of the 5 / 16 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com three verses, Adele hammers home the bitterness in scathing fashion that she feels toward this person, and conveys it with raw emotion and imagery that connects and holds your attention throughout. Vocals/Melody: Adele’s raw, edgy, evocative vocal delivery PERFECTLY communicates what’s going on in the lyrics. You feel her pain, and it envelopes you on an emotional level that sucks you into and engrosses your attention in the song. She’s singing from the soul – you know it, you can feel it, and you BELIEVE it. The melody is also well phrased and memorable in nature.