Every Adele Song, Ranked

The young wisdom of Adele has always been something she just got, this ability to craft the complexity of emotion into these timeless ballads it’s hard to believe hadn’t already been written, as though they had been waiting for her all along. “When We Were Young” may be the most wrecking of her parlays into this notion, not because it recounts any particular instance of heartbreak but because in under five minutes, she spins the existential crisis-inducing topics of time and aging into what feels like a snapshot of our own past, present, and future. “Let me photograph you in this light/In case it is the last time that we might/Be exactly like we were before we realized/We were sad of getting old, it made us restless,” Adele offers on a ravaging chorus coming from the queen of marking each passing album and era with an age — unable to escape to confines of time. It’s as much about all of the people we have and will ever love and the ones we’ll never have a chance to as it is about the ever-changing versions of ourselves and how we’re forever changed by each other. —L.P.

There are a handful of songs in music history where an emotional response can be elicited by just the first few notes. Adele’s 2011 single “Someone Like You” is one of them. The simple piano ballad was co-written with Semisonic’s Dan Wilson and is one of the biggest heartbreakers in pop history, a gorgeous combination of Adele’s effective lyricism and even more persuasive voice. On the single, she mourns the end of a relationship, not quite yet having come to terms with the loss of someone she loved so much. She goes on the defensive: showing up and claiming, in spite of herself, that they are replaceable. It is one of the best breakup songs of all time, and its emotionality was most perfectly captured in a Saturday Night Live sketch where each character immediately sobs upon hearing the song’s opening piano strains. —B.S.

30 is by far Adele’s best album in an already pristine discography, and by no short feat is “I Drink Wine” the best song on that album. Written to express remorse for not being as present for a close friend as she would like to be, Adele reflects on her limitations as a person who is plagued by insecurity, regret, and fear. All she wants is to love and be loved with no strings. She called the song her tribute to Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s great Seventies collaborations, a piano-driven track that is equal parts love song and pub singalong. The track ends with a voice memo recorded for a different friend, a naked and honest moment from one of the most famous people in the world. And as a bonus? There’s a 15-minute version of “I Drink Wine” sitting out there and originally placed on 30 before some label feedback. This repeat-worthy song could easily go for an hour, and it still wouldn’t be enough. —B.S.

Adele was hardly a rookie when she dropped “Rolling in the Deep” — but this is the hit that made her a legend, as far as the whole world was concerned. Reeling from the “rubbish relationship” that inspired her breakthrough 21, Adele poured all her pain into this smash. “Rolling in the Deep” sounded like nothing else on the radio in 2011, but right from the dramatic opening moments, you could tell this was a song — and an artist — here to stay. Despite the downbeat vocals, the music is pure exuberance: that gospel-into-disco chorus surge, the church handclaps, the Nashville country-blues guitar. The ultimate compliment? Aretha herself covered it. “Carole King is the last person [before Adele] who wrote the kind of lyrics women immediately could relate to,” Aretha Franklin told Rolling Stone. “I love to hear a schoolgirl on the school bus yellin’, ‘We coulda had it all!’” —R.S.

Is there a stronger flex than taking a word as common and universal as “hello” and taking ownership of it? Only Adele can. The four years following the release of 21 felt like a lifetime back then, and her 2015 return with blockbuster follow-up 25 was long-awaited and much-needed. “Hello” was the first single and a cheeky nod to not only our waiting but to her past: friendships, relationships, regrets, and younger self. She says “hello from the other side” of adulthood, older, wiser, and world-weary after the experiences of her youth. The song itself is a massive, ambitious showcase of Adele’s star and vocal power. Her voice glides over her songwriting partner Greg Kurstin’s multi-instrumental talent, as he plays every instrument on the track. It was an explosive return that paid off well: “Hello” quickly skyrocketed up the charts and eventually became Adele’s biggest song yet. —B.S.