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Adele · S3 E1
Chasing Pavements
The first single that goes to radio. Nobody can define the genre. She doesn't care.
Late 2007, a pavement outside a London nightclub. Adele has just discovered her boyfriend is cheating, punched him in the face, and is now running down the street after him, crying and shouting, when a thought crosses her mind: this would make a really good song.
Adele, "Chasing Pavements" (official music video, 2008). The video shows people frozen mid-movement on a street, caught in the act of chasing something they'll never catch. Directed by Matthew Cullen, the imagery is a literal translation of the title: bodies sprawled across the pavement, reaching for each other but never quite connecting.
Chasing Pavements
Co-written with Eg White in a single session, the production by Jim Abbiss builds from a spare piano intro into a full arrangement with strings and drums. But Adele keeps the vocal intimate throughout, resisting the temptation to belt even as the instrumentation swells. The genius of the lyric is in the central question: should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements? She never answers it. The song ends exactly where it began, still running.
The Nightclub
The story behind the song is absurdly Adele. She's at a club in central London, discovers her boyfriend has been unfaithful, punches him, gets thrown out, and starts chasing after him in the street. Somewhere between the running and the crying, she realizes the image of someone chasing a pavement that leads nowhere is the perfect metaphor for a doomed relationship. She calls Eg White the next morning.
TAP TO REVEAL: What confused American radio programmers about the title "Chasing Pavements"?
“"I was running down the street chasing after this boy, and I thought, I either look really cool right now or I look like a complete idiot. Either way, it's a tune."”
What Grammy did "Chasing Pavements" win at the 51st ceremony in 2009?
Stronger Than Me, Amy Winehouse
From Amy Winehouse's debut album Frank (2003), the record Adele has credited with making her pick up a guitar. "Stronger Than Me" is the opening track: a jazzy, assertive declaration from a young woman fed up with a weak man. The parallels with "Chasing Pavements" are impossible to miss. Both are written by twentysomething London women turning relationship frustration into art. Winehouse's album opened the door that Adele walked through.
Stronger Than Me, Amy Winehouse (2003)
Read the lyrics while you listen. This is the opening track of the album that made Adele want to be a musician. The attitude, the London accent, the refusal to be polite about a relationship that isn't working: Adele took all of it and made it her own.
Chasing Pavements
The single is a hit, the voice is undeniable, and now a debut album needs to follow it. Next episode: recording 19 across studios in London, with a teenage singer who finishes the whole thing in weeks because she doesn't know albums are supposed to take longer.
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