“Nicole Kidman” is about feeling like a movie star. Not literally becoming Nicole Kidman. Feeling like her. For ADÉLA, Nicole Kidman represents glamour, confidence, sexuality, control and old-fashioned movie-star presence. The inspiration was surprisingly literal.…
“No Surprises” is about wanting to escape the exhausting machinery of modern life. Work. Bills. Routine. Political disappointment. Emotional exhaustion. The song imagines somebody who has reached the point where they no longer want excitement.…
“Bass Persuades” is essentially Miley making an argument for getting out of your head and back into your body. Stop looking at the phone. Stop analysing everything. Move. Dance. Let the music convince you. That’s…
Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” is about something surprisingly specific: the new girlfriend of an ex contacting you because she has started experiencing the same troubling behaviour you experienced. Instead of treating the new woman as…
“Choosin’ Texas” is about the painful moment when a woman realises the man she loves is emotionally choosing somebody else. And apparently that somebody else is from Texas. The premise sounds simple, but Choosin’ Texas…
“Brandy” is about loving somebody who will never choose you over the life they want. Brandy works in a harbour town. Sailors admire her. But she loves one particular sailor. Unfortunately, he loves the sea…
“Time After Time” is about loyalty when a relationship feels uncertain. Someone is drifting. Someone is waiting. And despite the confusion, the central promise is simple: when you need me, I’ll still be here. That…
The Fugees didn’t originally sing “Killing Me Softly”. Neither did Roberta Flack. The first released recording came from Lori Lieberman in 1972. And behind the song is another famous musician: Don McLean. Lieberman has said…
If you’ve seen people showing off engagement rings to Randy Travis’s “On the Other Hand” on TikTok, there is a slight problem. The song isn’t celebrating an engagement. It’s about a married man being tempted…
“It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over” is Lenny Kravitz trying to save his marriage. That makes its dreamy, romantic sound considerably sadder. Lenny Kravitz wrote the song while his relationship with actress Lisa Bonet was…
