What does Rolling in the Deep mean?

Adele: Rolling in the Deep Meaning

Album cover for Rolling in the Deep album cover

Song Released: 2010


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Rolling in the Deep Lyrics

There's a fire starting in my heart,
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out of the dark

Finally, I can see you crystal clear.
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare.
See how I leave, with every piece of you
Don't...

  1. anonymous
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    May 31st 2011 !⃝

    Your gonna wish you, never had met me. Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep.
    Rolling in the deep is the level of their enmeshment, they are bonded very deeply. And he has recently betrayed her deep in her heart, soul, body, mind, and spirit. She cries everyday because they could have it all, rolling in the deep, but he is a selfish, narcisstic, abusive man. She sees him crystal clear for who he really is and she knows way deep inside her core that she did everything a devoted lover should do and she has no stories to be told. He can say nothing bad about her.

  2. anonymous
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    May 31st 2011 !⃝

    Your gonna wish you, never had met me. Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep.
    Rolling in the deep is the level of their enmeshment, they are bonded very deeply. And he has recently betrayed her deep in her heart, soul, body, mind, and spirit. She cries everyday because they could have it all, rolling in the deep, but he is a selfish, narcisstic, abusive man. She sees him crystal clear for who he really is and she knows way deep inside her core that she did everything a devoted lover should do and she has no stories to be told. He can say nothing bad about her.

  3. anonymous
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    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    I belive this is a song about a women who has left an abusive relationship and cried many tears.

    "There's a fire starting in my heart" meaning now that she has gone through the healing process and has come to terms with the fact that the was she was treated was not her fault. She can stand up tall again, see the world through a different light and move on happy and successful.

    She can do anything!

    "Finally, I can see you crystal clear" She finally understands her ex's manipulative ways, knows when he is lying, realises what he does is wrong.


    Now that she has it all, is happy and successful and loving life she thinks back to when they were together and thinks if he wasn't so abusive, and dysfunctional they could have had it all.... together.

    "you played it to the beat" your a typical abuser.

  4. anonymous
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    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    She will haunt him from the heavens.
    He has killed her......

    He will reap what he sowed.

  5. anonymous
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    May 25th 2011 !⃝

    if you watch glee and see the episode where they sing this, you'll know. but dont randomly watch that episode or you won't get it.

  6. anonymous
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    May 24th 2011 !⃝

    When I hear this song it always reminds me of the anger after the initial devastation when a relationship ends. Like, "there's a fire starting in my heart", talking about the slow rising anger and when it finally reaches a "fever pitch" bringing her out of her "dark" misery.

    She can see his (if we are assuming its a love song) "crystal clear" image, and she's almost daring him to say bad things about her, to "sell her out". The anger of wanting to hurt the person as much as he's hurt her with,"I'll leave with every piece of you".

    The lyrics depicts a woman on pain, lashing out at the person who made her this way. Her feeling powerless leading her to warning others or specifically him to not "underestimate" her.

    Then I think after the initial anger that pours out of her, she starts feeling regret and the loss of their love. The "scars" of their relationship, their moments together reminding her of the good days and she starts thinking of them almost having "had it all."

    Then I think she thinks about the current situation, where things have all gone south. I assume if holding the lyrics as a fact, he might have been spreading rumors about her. That's why her telling him that, "I have no story to be told" however, she's heard one of him (heard one on you and I'm gonna make your head burn) and she's going to make him regret he ever opened his mouth. That she is going to make him think about her in the "depths of your despair."

    Basically, the lyrics tells the listeners a story about a broken hearted girl who gave everything to a boy but now she is really angry at him because he's taken advantage of her by first gaining her trust and heart and selling it out (Turn my sorrow into treasured gold.)

    If you really want to think about it, this doesn't even have to be about romance. It could might well be about a close friend that she shared a deep relationship with having only the friend to betray her by feeding media/her enemies (insert whomever she dislikes)her pain.

  7. anonymous
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    May 23rd 2011 !⃝

    I absolutely love this song! I think this song portrays a loss that happens in life. It relays passion, trust, love,and devotion that may have been torn/broke, but not necessarily a lost lover. Amazing, her voice is moving...

  8. anonymous
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    May 22nd 2011 !⃝

    Well Adele's song sounds like she could have some influence from Creole/New Orleans culture. The music mixes a familiar country sound that gets an audience to prepare for a love-lesson lyric while introducing rock beat and music that engages a lot of emotion!

    At the beginning, Obviously Adele is mad at an ex lover as she sits in a chair seemingly in the attic/room of an older house. The many filled glasses could represent clarity, or alcoholism to send a subconscious image to a maybe heart-broken and already torn audience. I wouldn't be surprised if Adele is also taking comforting sips for herself. But the glasses do beat to the drum and could have many other meanings. As Adele goes on to describe what could have been of their relationship, she reveals that he played with her love and now he will be the victim and has hell to pay. Now, there is imagery of a (ninja)skilled fighter in a room of.. dust! Although he features some pretty technical dance moves in the "powder room," this could mean her lover is having to battle an addiction to cocaine, BUT can also send yet another message to her audience to also take a sniff. Some people could agree with Adele to resort to drugs after a bad relationship.

    Adele hates her ex! If you follow Creole culture and a little religion behind it, some practice the belief to have power over someone that has betrayed them. So now Adele has turned the tables and probably wants to send her ex to hell. Images of broken dishes against a board could mean Adele is so mad, she is breaking dishes as a past time now. Breaking dishes is serious and I imagine it to relieve a lot of energy. But those two lights: a red one and a white one, places me in a bar! Alcohol, drugs, and needing to relief emotions of a hateful relationships could lead young adults into a bar. Why not?

    Things are beginning to boil. A scene of a paper-made city is showing, but if you observe closely, a star-shape and a boulder-shape sits among the buildings?? This may mean during all the time these events are happening, the end of the world is near. I mean, this is a 2011 video!! So a lot of emotions are taking place with the addition of the end of the world. Finally, sparks flash above the paper city and it ignites, slowly-- like a burning cigarette. So now just take a smoke, while things burn and simmer and you might feel better??

    In conclusion, love-hate-revenge are the themes of this song and video. But I do not agree with Adele and producers to instill these images into her viewers, who need to deal with adult matters the Right Way. Yet, "they" want a revolution. Let it Roll.

  9. anonymous
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    May 21st 2011 !⃝

    This song is actually about a B52 pilot who served in the Laos during the late 1960s. It discusses his childhood, growing up on an Indian reservation in rural Oregon, how his grandfather died fighting the American army, how his father died on Iwo Jima, and now how he is carrying out the will of the government responsible for oppressing his people. There is also a subtext of irony at the fact that he is a member of an oppressed people, yet he is now oppressing another people across the globe.

    This is all expressed through a hypothetical love story between the pilot and one of the victims of his bombs- how they have more in common than he does with his comrades and how, were it not for the forces of imperialism- "rolling in the deep"- they "could have had it all."

  10. anonymous
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    May 21st 2011 !⃝

    I was trying to understand the meaning of the lyrics and while reflecting on it, I came across your forum..
    so after reading some of your comments, I'm still not sure what "rolling in the deep" means..


    could it be that this expression is used in two ways and that it is thus a little ambivalent?
    1. Adele herself says "We could have had it all ... rolling in the deep" and maybe rolling in the deep here means something positive like: endlessly, eternally floating/rolling in deep emotions.
    2. The background singers sing : Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep

    here "rolling in the deep" is maybe to be understand in a different way, a more concrete way: she or he will be crying and the tears are rolling in the deep .. like rolling down the cheeks, expressing deep despair to have lost the beloved one.

    what do you think?

  11. anonymous
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    May 21st 2011 !⃝

    Though originally sung by John Legend, the way that Adele's music video and emotions interpret the song, it is about how she feels after the relationship ends. Outwardly, she is sad and sits, singing, crying and wishing the relationship had progressed, blaming him for it not working out. "We could have had it all". Inwardly, she is angry and would throw plates, destroy his heart like he did hers. "...wish you hadn't met me" "Tears are gonna fall" (his tears) which is sung in the background. Fire and fever, which usually refer to passionate love now refer to secret anger and hatred. The song mostly refers to rolling in the deep, even though there is no mention of water, it is implied. "...depths of despair..." Upset water usually refers to turmoil. She wants him to suffer the turmoil she feels. The sword dancer I believe represents her inner self that dances in the 'waves', that spins in confusion and agony, that strikes out in anger. "Played it to the beat" could mean that he enraptured her, had her love, and tricked her. A stopped heart will recommense using CPR, as it recognizes the familiar rhythm. Perhaps this refers to an action that is new or different or synthetic/manual but because it matches or sounds right, the organ/person might be convinced that it is right or is natural. Eg. a lie that contains some truth is easier to believe.

    "We could have had it all" Had you not done what you did, we could have been happy together. But now you won't be.
    THe song is revenge driven, and though it increases in intensity throughout the song, it dies, as though she will not come through with the revenge. They were loose thoughts, and an inner desire to get even that escapes through the music video, but not in reality. THe town burns to show what will happen to his life, and what may have already happened to hers because of him. THe drummer is visible above the other instruments because the beating gets louder and increases in intensity and she gets angrier and sadder.

    The lyrics always secretly refer to water (tears, crystal clear, depths, dark...etc) and music (beat, pitch).

  12. bmis86
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    May 19th 2011 !⃝

    Okay. So this is the way I view this song.
    Obviously its a long about a broken relationship.

    Lyrics: "There's a fire starting in my heart, Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out of the dark"
    My View: She has been heartbroken for a long time, and finally gradually the sorrow has been made into anger thats reaching a fever pitch, and is the reason why she has been able to rise from the sorrow = bringing me out the dark. The fever pitch to me resembles that she now is so angry that she wants revenge.

    Lyrics: Finally, I can see you crystal clear.
    Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship there.
    See how I leave, with every piece of you
    Don't underestimate the things that I will do to you.
    My View: Her anger and need for revenge is making her, in her opinion, seeing her past lover crystal clear. She is basically saying (with some arrogance and pity-fullness) that he can go ahead and do whatever he wants to say and do, coz she will strike him and leave him with nothing when she is done.

    Lyrics: 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...
    My View: The way I see this part is that even in her revenge-state, she still gets these melancholy thoughts of them together, like its a "shame" that it had to come to her having to eradicating him. So even though she has this new mind set with anger and revenge, these throughts come up and "lave her breathless".

    Lyrics: We could have had it all... (you're gonna wish you, never had met me)...
    Rolling in the Deep (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
    My View: This is kind of her telling and blaming him that things endded the way they did. Coz they could have had it all, but now she is "rolling in the deep". This could almost be the crazy ramblings of a woman so scorn that she will kill herself or him - her feelings are making her go into dark places.

    Lyrics: Your had my heart... (you're gonna wish you)... Inside of your hand (Never had met me)
    And you played it... (Tears are gonna fall)... To the beat (Rolling in the deep)
    My View: She gave him her heart, and he played/cheated her SO well "to the beat" so she never saw it coming.

    Lyrics: Baby I have no story to be told,
    But I've heard one of you and I'm gonna make your head burn.
    Think of me in the depths of your despair.
    Making a home down there, as mine sure won't be shared.
    My View: This part makes me think that he cheated on her and she didnt know until now. She has no story to tell, but she heard one of his betrayal, and now she is gonna make his head burn. And she will never take him back, hence make a home in his despair and she wont share hers.

    Lyrics: Throw your soul through every open door (Whoa)
    Count your blessings to find what look for (Whoa-uh)
    Turn my sorrow into treasured gold (Whoa)
    And pay me back in kind- You'll reap just what you sow.
    My View: This is what she is gonna do with him. She is gonna throw his soul through every open door, so he better count his blessings. That way she will turn her sorrow into treasured gold, and he will get what he deserves.

    Generally: All the way through the song, I get the image of a woman really really brokenhearted, so much, that the only way she could find a way to stand up again, was to fuel that sorrow into anger and revenge. There is kind of a "its too late - but I wish it wasnt" melancholy mood, like she is thinking "WHY couldn't you just have not cheated and stayed - so I didnt have to roll in the deep" Coz we could have had it all.

    So..this was my interpretation of this song. I think its a great great song, i love it! My favorite part is the bridge, "the scars of your love..." and so on.

  13. anonymous
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    May 18th 2011 !⃝

    Her vocals knocked this song out of the park - Fantasic delivery...what power! The pain of betrayal is clear as the glasses of water vibrating to the beat! I'd love to use the song if they make a movie out of my book.

  14. anonymous
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    May 17th 2011 !⃝

    Adele actually said in an interview it was a heat of the moment reaction to "someone saying that her life was boring, lonely and rubbish and that she was always the weak person in the relationship". So she wrote this song as "a kind of fuck you", in her words. :) So I think the "played it to the beat" is about how the guy had her heart and played it his way, symbolising that he's in control and that Adele was the weak one.

  15. men7al77
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    May 17th 2011 !⃝

    rolling deep

    Shes NOT TALKING ABOUT BOYFRIEND.watch the video please.The white powder is meth and her worse addiction and lover is the drug is ROLLING IN DEEP".She was married to her drug the part of drugs is"Think of me in the depths of your despair.(her drugs)
    Making a home down there, as mine sure won't be shared.(she to attached n does not want to share drugs)
    HER LOVER is dope,sorry people to ruin it for your lovestory.but look it at drug side cuz,it sounds like a lover but,in reality is her drug her lover and who broke her down and she had to leave it for some reason to move forward.





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