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Inspiration and composition
"Someone Like You" is a tragic piano ballad and lyrically talks of coming to terms with a broken relationship. The track features a strong vocal performance throughout and has climactic points. According to Aamir Yaqub of Soul Culture, "Talking of a lost love, this an extremely touching track with a vocal performance that makes the narrative almost tangible ... It really captures the experience of the story and puts it across in both a credible and incredible fashion."[2] "Someone Like You" has also been compared to the song "Hometown Glory" from the album 19.[3]
"Someone Like You" was one of the last written for 21. The track, which epitomizes the lyrical content of 21, summarizes the now defunct relationship that the record is all about.[4] Adele has openly discussed the genesis of it saying, "Well, I wrote that song because I was exhausted from being such a bitch, with 'Rolling in the Deep' or 'Rumor Has It' ... I was really emotionally drained from the way I was portraying him, because even though I'm very bitter and regret some parts of it, he's still the most important person that's ever been in my life, and 'Someone Like You,' I had to write it to feel OK with myself and OK with the two years I spent with him. And when I did it, I felt so freed."[5] Adele has said that it was written on her acoustic guitar, quickly, in the wake of the break-up of her 18 month relationship with the 30-year old man she thought she would marry. A few months after their split, he had got engaged to someone else. "We were so intense I thought we would get married. But that was something he never wanted ...So when I found out he does want that with someone else, it was just the horrible-est feeling ever. But after I wrote it, I felt more at peace. It set me free ... I didn't think it would resonate ... with the world! I'm never gonna write a song like that again. I think that's the song I'll be known for."[6] She also said that "I wrote that song on the end of my bed. I had a cold. I was waiting for my bath to run. I'd found out that he'd got engaged."[7]
Adele revealed that she was struggling emotionally when she composed it: "When I was writing it I was feeling pretty miserable and pretty lonely, which I guess kind of contradicts 'Rolling in the Deep'. Whereas that was about me saying, 'I'm going to be fine without you', this is me on my knees really."[4] She discussed further the inspiration of the song: "I can imagine being about 40 and looking for him again, only to turn up and find that he's settled with a beautiful wife and beautiful kids and he's completely happy... and I'm still on my own. The song's about that and I'm scared at the thought of that."[4]
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