That's the thing--"dumb" is almost beside the point. I don't even much like the song, but it does somehow sneak in and affect me. I'm afraid the appeal to the video is just an excuse, because I wasn't even really watching it the first time I played it.

Well, I'm what might be called a sucker for sentimentality, but this was just irritating.

I was about to say ok, it's just me, but then I remembered the whole reason I was trying it in the first place was that it affects a lot of people. Well, I congratulate you all on your good taste.

I can lay no claim to good taste, but given the build up I was surprised (given my propensity to tears) to find that this particular song just doesn't grab me that way.

I do like the song. Sorry, there is one on every blog! Does it move me, well, not that much, but it is touching. Yes, of course she is dumb that is the point. People in love are not in their best cognitive mode.

I don't like the song much and it doesn't much affect me, but lots of songs do b/c I'm very sentimental myself - to my annoyance. But I really detest the mash up she does with this song and another one called Rumour Has It. That's b/c in the first song she's singing to her former boyfriend who is now a married man and in the second she's gloating over the fact that he's leaving his new woman and wants to come back to her. Separately they're okay but together they're obnoxious. Thankyou for providing me with the forum to get that off my chest!

I only recently heard of Adele. I don't really understand her massive popularity, but I do think she has an unusually good voice. I like the song you link.

I heard that she recently had surgery on her vocal cords, and when she performed that same song at the Grammys last week I notice that she backed off on the intensity. I hope that she can now afford a good voice coach, and that she won't tour too much. She needs to take care of her instrument.

I haven't heard that mashup thing you mention. Don't especially want to.

I'd say that Grammy rendition is noticeably inferior to the one in the official video. She does sound flat at times there, which I didn't really think about in the other one. Whether that's an effect of the surgery or that she wasn't at her best or that she's somewhat dependent on help in the studio, who knows?

I seem to have gotten over my initial reaction, btw.

Another good thing I'll say about her is that she doesn't have the air of extreme narcissism that a lot of female pop stars do. Seems much more genuine and likeable.

I agree with Craig - it is her voice. It is not a catchy tune. I have no way of knowing whether she is flat or not (so should not be expressing an opinion). But the way she conveys emotion with her voice is touching.

Interesting about Florence + the Machine (as they insist on writing it), Rob, as I happened to catch them on Austin City Limits a week or two ago. I was curious because they seem to be highly regarded by the critics. I didn't really note specific problems with her singing, but did have a general impression of...trying to think of a word...unevenness or patchiness, I guess. One of those big strong but brittle, almost metallic, female voices that appear from time to time. Trying to think back on it, I believe it was the quieter and more subtle passages that seemed sort of shaky. I much prefer Adele's voice.

"...exactly where the congregation's hands would go up." Heh. I suppose "contrived" is natural, in a sense, but we aren't supposed to notice it. What's interesting to me, and really was my main point, is that the contriving (whether conscious or not) used specific analyzable ingredients, and that it worked on a lot of people, including me. However, I don't think it was *only* the musical structure--I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have responded if it had been some mediocre voice like Madonna's or Britney Spears'.

Wow, that's bad even for a pop star. What a dirtbag! "rubbish relationship" is clinically accurate in this case. But the story seems to say it only lasted four hours?! I guess, though, these are modern folks so the "relationship" could have been going on for some time before she mentioned love.

That's quite an armload of Grammys she has there.

In general I'd agree with that. I'm trying to think of a really all-out loud female singer whom I like a lot, and nobody is coming to mind...I may be overlooking someone. Kate Bush belts it out sometimes but she just has a huge range, not only in pitch but in dynamics. Personally I never found Karen C's voice to my taste but that's just my taste--it was certainly a good one.

Oh wait, Tarja what's-her-name of Nightwish and Vibeke Stene of Tristania...but that's a whole different kind of music.

I think Florence has captured some of the vibe of the early Kate Bush when it comes to overall sound. The 'Ceremonials' album, the most recent one, is very good indeed. But she seems unable to match the vocal quality on the recordings in her live performances. She's an engaging performer, however, and I imagine that to her fans this more than makes up for the vocal shortcomings.

Compare, for instance, the studio version of "Shake It Out" with the live performance on SNL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs&ob=av2e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtnxsIBVm5s&ob=av2n

Now it could be that she was just having a bad night on that SNL occasion, but other live performances I've watched have been disappointing as well. Which is a shame, because I really do love the album!

Thing is, you don't get that drop-off in Kate, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, or even Dolores from the Cranberries (who doesn't have half the voice that the others do, but who does sound live like she does on record.) I don't expect much from live pop either, but when a pop act is built around vocal quality and then that quality doesn't live up...don't like that.

My student wrote about this empirical analysis of Adele in his essay today!

Heard this song on the piped-in music in a store today and it caught my ear. I was surprised to see it was from an album I was familiar with, having borrowed it from a friend when it came out in 1999(!) The song must not have made much of an impression on me back then, as I didn't remember it at all, but now it strikes me as a pretty nifty little pop number.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYyt1mhuoxY

Yeah, I found it catchy, esp. the little bridge bit before each chorus, and the style is interesting. It flirts with a sort of "new country" sound at times, but never actually makes the move, so to speak.

Yes - he connected it to theology