Thread by @thetimes

Could you write an Adele song?

Every musician at the wrong end of a critical mauling has at one time or another said: if these critics think it’s so easy to write a song, let them try it.

So our pop critic @WillJHodgkinson did.
thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to…

"Adele’s voice makes grown men and women cry for its ability to capture emotional pain. My voice makes toddlers cry for its ability to cause physical pain."

"Adele’s songs have a sense of yearning, a sadness, yet they’re tinged with hope. In person she approaches global fame as though she’s having a laugh down the pub, but her songs deal with the big subjects: heartbreak, loneliness, growing up and facing the world."

"Her most famous song, Someone Like You, captures all of those things while also being extremely simple. It consists of just a few chords inside the key of A, and the structure has been used by countless songwriters before. The magic comes from the character Adele brings to it"

"While not being able to offer that, I’ve bashed out an equally simple tune, having stolen the melody from an old blues song called Stagger Lee and got it a bit wrong. It’s how all the greats work, I’m told."

Listen to @Willjhodginson's full song here: thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to…