On Adele's official blog site, she quotes " ‘Hometown Glory’ – a stunningly evocative picture of “all my fondest memories of London”." She wrote the song "Hometown Glory in about 10 minutes after her mother tried to get her to leave London for a "university." Adele had been born and raised in London to a single teenage mother, and started singing at the age of four. At age 11, she and her mother moved to West Norwood (south London) which is the setting for the song "Hometown Glory."
Although we have seen that the city can have hidden secrets of poverty, I see Adele portray the city in a positive view, where dreams are discovered and memories are made. In her first stanza, she mentions that she is "aint lost, just wandering" means to say that she does not follow the stereo type of walking the same path everyday to work and fitting inside of her status in society. People my judge her and ask if she needs help finding her way back, as we see when she says, "is there anything i can do for you dear? is there anyone I can call?" Adele is not lost, she is striving to become something great and is seeing what is like to live the life of someone who is successful in the city.
After seeing the "wonders of [her] world" it fascinates Adele to see all of the different kinds of people in the city because "two worlds collide". Adele sates that even though "you get the people and the government [where] everybody [is] taking different sides" at the end of the day, the city is united. She is proud of where she is from.
After seeing the "wonders of [her] world" it fascinates Adele to see all of the different kinds of people in the city because "two worlds collide". Adele sates that even though "you get the people and the government [where] everybody [is] taking different sides" at the end of the day, the city is united. She is proud of where she is from.
I've been walking in the same way as I did
And missing out the cracks in the pavement
And tutting my heel and strutting my feet
"Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I could call?
No, and thank you, please madam, I ain't lost, just wandering"
Round my hometown, memories are fresh
Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders and now
I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque
I love it to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades
I like it in the city when two worlds collide
You get the people and the government
Everybody taking different sides
Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Shows that we ain't gonna take it
Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Round my hometown, memories are fresh
Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders of my world
Of my world, yeah, of my world, of my world, yeah
[- From :http://www.elyrics.net/read/a/adele-lyrics/hometown-glory-lyrics.html -]
http://www.adele.tv/biography/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_%28singer%29#2006.E2.80.9308:_Career_beginnings
And missing out the cracks in the pavement
And tutting my heel and strutting my feet
"Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I could call?
No, and thank you, please madam, I ain't lost, just wandering"
Round my hometown, memories are fresh
Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders and now
I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque
I love it to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades
I like it in the city when two worlds collide
You get the people and the government
Everybody taking different sides
Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Shows that we ain't gonna take it
Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Round my hometown, memories are fresh
Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met
Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders of my world
Of my world, yeah, of my world, of my world, yeah
http://www.adele.tv/biography/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_%28singer%29#2006.E2.80.9308:_Career_beginnings
This is a really beautiful song and I have listened to it very much. I like the message that Adele is trying to get across about how so many people wanna leave the town that they grew up in and get tired of being there all their lives growing up. My interpretation of the song isn't so much that people dreams are getting fulfilled in their hometown, but something more allegorical for Adele; her mother was trying to get Adele to leave her home to send her to get a good education, yet she felt such a connect to where she grew up that she enjoyed seeing the people there and how they all interacted. the contrast of "taking different sides" and "two worlds collide" and "we are united" creates a beautiful picture of people from different backgrounds and ideas can come together to make a beautiful image of a city. I much appreciated your perspective and you have added a new aspect to the song that I had yet to think of. This was a great post!
ReplyDeletei love the lyric you isolate about not being lost, despite one' wandering. i think this beings up a very important idea in terms of how we "see" cities in different ways. there is the aerial view that jay-z aspires to but also the corner view that he came from. what one might see "just" wandering around the city is different from how one would see it with a clear destination. it strikes me as almost like trying to be a tourist in your hometown...
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