David Fermers Lyric Lane: „Set Fire To The Rain“ von Adele
Adele is the star of the moment. The 23-year-old Londoner was the big winner at this year’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, winning six prizes. Perhaps more importantly than the prizes, Adele also made her live comeback at the ceremony, singing live for the first time since she had an operation on her throat last year. In her acceptance speech, Adele thanked the doctors who saved her voice when they took out a polyp that was stopping her from singing. Without modern medicine, Adele might not be able to sing today.
Alongside Best Song of the Year for „Rolling In The Deep“ (see Lyric Lane/February 2011), Adele won the prize for Best Album of the Year for „21“. There are thirteen songs on the album, all of which show what a wonderful voice Adele has. But the story she tells in one of her songs, „Set Fire To The Rain“, could also be the story of her comeback to the stage. It’s a love story about a broken woman finding hope again, and about her fear of being hurt, but it could also be the story of a woman who is scared of never being able to sing again. „I let it fall, my heart / And as it fell you rose to claim it / It was dark, and I was over / Until you kissed my lips and you saved me ...“
Of course, we all know it’s impossible to „set fire to the rain“, a powerful image, but why does Adele do it? She tells us before: „My hands, they were strong / but my knees were far too weak / to stand in your arms / without falling to your feet“. In other words, Adele was at rock bottom, too weak to know what she was doing, and because „there’s a side to you / that I never knew“, because „all the things you’d say / they were never true“, Adele had to end the relationship before it went on. She did so by setting fire to the rain, and she „watched it pour as I touched your face / Let it burn while I cry / ’Cause I heard it screaming out your name“. There can be few greater fears than the fear of a singer losing her voice. Let’s hope this never happens to Adele and that she continues to sing for many years to come and wins a few more Grammys.
Vokabeln:
throat = Rachen,
acceptance speech = Dankesrede,
to save = retten,
to set fire = anzünden/in Brand setzen,
to claim something = auf etwas Anspruch erheben,
to hurt = verletzen,
weak = schwach,
rock bottom = Tiefpunkt,
relationship = Beziehung,
to pour = schütten/fließen,
to burn = brennen,
fear = Angst
