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


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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    Apr 19th 2011 !⃝

    my ex, repeatedly told me to listen to this,,, he is a man of 'lyrics' when it comes to talking about things, but was always the other way around,, yes... but this time .... its 'all about me' for once??? he loved and lost and now i'm a screaming banshee! a 'woman turned' and a classic case of 'never know what u lost till its gone forever' and never underestimate the powers of a woman, espo a one thats scorned! never underestimate the sweetest of peeps, hatred is a natural emotion and when pushed and pushed it will rear its ugly face! in a nutshell this song is, all about never taking advantage of your womans good nature, coz one day it will bite you on the bum, never underestimate.xx

  2. anonymous
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    Apr 18th 2011 !⃝

    Well I think no one has getting away with murder when we play emotionally with other people in a positive way I should say that she doesn't want a revenge tell him to watch out if he still continue trying on pissed her of again and it's cheating with another one but she doesn't specified if she caught him or someone told a gossip bout him , right? Scars of ur love maybe he did already some to her and he's still doing the same that she takes it internally and battle with her emotions for not doing something wrong

  3. anonymous
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    Apr 17th 2011 !⃝

    I looked over the lyrics and the song has a simple meaning,
    the first verse - "There's a fire starting in my heart"
    could mean the anger that is building up.
    The term "Fever pitch" refers to excitement but in this case probably means a muse (her anger) thats "bringing me out the dark" (Her anger is bringing her out her depressed state) So, her love basically betrayed her.

    "You had my heart inside of your hand
    (You're gonna wish you never had met me)
    And you played it to the beat"

    Is just a clever way of saying you played me. Playing with my heart - or in another way...he made her feel important and loved.

    Second verse:
    "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"

    This tells me that he cheated on her, and she wants revenge.

    "Rolling in the deep" refers to her anger, that he is the muse, and in the mist of it.

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 13th 2011 !⃝

    I think the most beautiful part of the song is when she says they could have had it all and could have been rolling in the deep. It's a strikingly beautiful expression and indicates the feeling of being submerged in love. I imagine two dolphins rolling in the depths of the ocean. It's an expression of total otherworldly joy. She's saying she was in her element with her lover. As to the part about playing it to the beat, I don't know if she says this or if this is what I imagine, but I see a hand squeezing a heart to the rhythm (sp?) of its beating. He's playing her heart like a percussion instrument, squeezing all the life out of it, just for the fun of it. That's no way to treat your lover's heart. I love this song, and I've been there and thought the same thing.

  5. anonymous
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    Apr 11th 2011 !⃝

    I think a man is trying to win the storyteller's (Adele's) love for money,while Adele truly loves him and is not onto his tricks. Basically a similar story to "Gold Digger" by Kanye West except the man is taking advantage of the woman here instead.

  6. anonymous
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    Apr 9th 2011 !⃝

    This song shows fierce action after a person has did to her and she is looking for revenge like this part of the song wish you never had met me she shows her emotion through this song.

  7. anonymous
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    Apr 9th 2011 !⃝

    I understand that if you watch music videos (most of the time), they have nothing to do with the meaning of the song. For instance, when I listened to Lady Gaga's "Born this Way," I though of it as a song about being proud of who you are, your individuality, and uniqueness... then I say the music video. Instead of seeing the things I expected, I saw her giving birth, and dancing with zombies in bikinis. She blew it for me. Anyways (besides the point), I think Adele really did express the true meaning of this song, in her Music Video. I would have to agree, that "drugs" were associated with her reason to have stong anger towards her betraying lover (whom she is talking about). "We could of had it all" explains that she could have shared a perfect & wonderful live... but it was lost. The music video is very powerful. I think the part with the one dancer (dancing in all that powder), probably is a vision or flashback of some sort. In conclusion, I think the lyrics in her song, are a collection of her inner-feelings, and the term "rolling in the deep" is related to the drugs, whom her ex-lover was using. Thanks! Hope I Helped! :)

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  8. anonymous
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    Mar 27th 2011 !⃝

    The video changes the interpretation

    Adele is singing about betrayal which may be in her personal relationship but the video tells otherwise. This may be about a relationship between two large groups of people.

    In the video we see the perpetrator dressed in desert gear, dancing with a sword on a floor of sand in the beating sun.

    We see lots of glasses with what we think might be ordinairy water but which may be another form of water.

    We see the centaur which has symbolically been associated with Constantine the Great.

    We see a model of a city. Some of the buildings have atypical geometrical designs - an emphasis on mathematical symmetry. The city is destroyed when fireworks explode over the city and burn it to the ground.

  9. anonymous
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    Mar 24th 2011 !⃝

    I believe this song is interpreting the hurt and betrayal she experienced from her relationship.And now she wants him to realise the pain he has caused not expecting anything from him but on the last part of the song she says"you reap what you you've done to it will come around and bite you.......i feel her pain..advice please....what do you do when your b.f has wronged you and treated you like shit n left you like dirt on the street

  10. anonymous
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    Mar 23rd 2011 !⃝

    I’m sure many will disagree with me … but I think she plans to kill him.

    The song stars out with …
    Don't underestimate the things I will do.
    There's a fire starting in my heart,
    Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out of the dark

    This woman is not just heartbroken – she’s pissed!
    Then a little later in the song, in the background you hear:
    (you're gonna wish you, had never met me)
    (Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

    Later in the song, she reveals that Rolling in the Deep … is HELL
    (make your head burn) (depths of your despair) (making a home down there)

    Baby I have no story to be told
    But I've heard one of you and I'm gonnna 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
    The scars of your love, remind me of us.

    Throw your soul through every open door (Whoa)
    Count your blessings to find what you look for (Whoa-uh)
    Turn my sorrow into treasured gold (Whoa)
    You pay me backin kind and reap just what you sow.
    Here is where she reveals that she wants him dead … sorrow into treasured gold … reap what you sow.

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 23rd 2011 !⃝

    Hi, has anybody thought that "played it to the beat" doesn´t mean anything more that he was playing in the rhythm of her heart? (at the time)

    I can really feel meaning of the song as I feel in a very similar situation... but I suppose everyone can find the right meaning for himself :-)

  12. anonymous
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    Mar 17th 2011 !⃝

    I feel like this song is about her being so head over heals inlove with this guy, and he "played her heart to the beat." This song represents me in so many different ways! Basically to me these are my interpretations of the selected phrases..

    "There's a fire starting in my heart, Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark" So this to me means that now she her heart is in a different stage, meaning she isnt so much as heartbroken as she is betrayed, and by her feeling this way it is bringing the revenge to surface so that she doesnt have to feel played.

    "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 underestimate the things that I will do" This part in my thoughts means that she isnt blind to the man she thought he was but very aware of the piece of shit he really is. She is telling him to say what he wants and sell her out, cause dont think for one second she isnt going to fight back. She is also saying, you THINK I wouldnt do anything and just set back and let you feel mighty cause you fucked me over. Your so nieve, because I am not going to let you push me to the ground, and stomp on me even more. Strong Bitches always prevail. :)

    "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" This is saying that she isnt running around telling all these bullshit stories, but she knows that he has, and now she is going to put him through hell, and every second she wants in to think of how he did her wrong, and he had a good thing going but now that he fucked it up, he has to make a home of hell.

    I love this song so much, it has so much meaning. I think Adele is the most amazing and talented artist out there right now! I hope you all find some sort of comparison in the lyrics.

  13. anonymous
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    Mar 17th 2011 !⃝

    (Assuming she's singing about a guy she loved). What the line "played it to the beat" means to me is that he played his hand exactly as she ultimately expected. She was hopeful, yet suspicious, that the one she loved would love her back eternally, but when their relationship reached a crossroads, her love took the cowards path. Doubt entered his mind and he choked. It happens. She believed in her love and wanted to believe in his. They could have had it all. But he played it to the beat. He went the easy way, on the beat. Going off the beat, sticking in during tough times is something he couldn't do. Hope that makes sence written out. That's also why the actual Drum Beat in the song is so loud and dominant, and 'easy to follow'. If love was easy, it wouldn't be so freakin hard!

  14. anonymous
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    Mar 15th 2011 !⃝

    I very firmly believe this is about drugs. Particularly Meth. Watch the music video and listen to the lyrics. This is a story about someone who got caught up in meth, an her slow demise. She is singing to the drug and it is singing back. as if it were a person. There are tons of subtle and some not so subtle references that match up well. From "I can see you crystal clear" as in crystal meth. The glasses of water are also symbolic for a meth addict. The white powder getting kicked up.

    Seriously watch this video and try to look at it from the perspective of a drug addict, remembering the fun of using and the destruction it caused

    "your gonna wish you, never had met me. Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep"

  15. anonymous
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    Mar 15th 2011 !⃝

    I'm sure all of you have heard of the expression "rolling deep" meaning travelling with a big group of people. It's usually a gangster term for someone you shouldn't fuck with!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway



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