This song marked the return of Adele after a four-year break – and what a salutation it was. Hello smashed all sorts of records including the most amount of plays on YouTube (27.7 million achieved in just 24 hours and 100 million views in the shortest amount of time). It went to number one in 28 countries.
Strangely, despite Adele's huge album sales, Hello is only her second number one single in the UK following Someone like You. Her return has been marked by huge sales of her albums, but also by 10 million people trying to buy tickets to her concerts in the USA alone.
The song is accompanied by a video made by Canadian artist Xavier Dolan. There is a cinematic quality to the short film which is reinforced by the scale of the song itself, but it also breaks new ground as the first music video filmed in the IMAX format. Despite using cutting edge technology, some of the reaction to the video focused on Adele's use of a flip phone – a now defunct form of mobile phone design.
The music video sheds light on the time-bending narrative behind the song, featuring Adele trying to phone her younger self.
Hello from the other side
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart any more.
As has become normal for Adele's songs, there is a tone of regret and self-examination and a longing for a lost youth.
With a powerful hook of a chorus and Adele's unparalleled vocal skills, it's no wonder this song was a hit. But the central idea of an apologetic warning call from your future self is an interesting one. In a fast-paced culture, the idea that there are consequences for our life choices is sobering. The pop world is full of songs about living in the moment, following your desires and finding instant gratification. But Adele strikes a different tone. Against the optimistic major key of the consumer lifestyle, Adele offers us a reflective minor key.
Hello, it's me
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time's supposed to heal ya
But I ain't done much healing
Hello, can you hear me
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be
When we were younger and free
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet
There's such a difference between us
And a million miles
As we enter the second half of this decade, what message would you send back to a younger you? What message would you want your sons and daughters or your nephews and nieces to hear? How can reflecting on your life lived so far help you to live differently into the future?
Adele's Hello reminds me of the words of Proverbs, much of which is framed as advice from a wiser older person to a young person.
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding –
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:1-5).
What if God wants to say "Hello" to us from the other side, from the outside of time itself, to help us reorientate our lives so we are able to live well in the future?
What if God saw our history not as a lost cause but as something that could be restored, redeemed and redirected? What if there's a hope of a second chance for all of us?
Perhaps listening again to Adele's song could be a gateway to discover that with God your future doesn't have to be dictated by your past.
