My ADELE-ation Turns Into My Need for a 12-Step Program for My ADELE-iction

Sometimes it just hits me. When I look around me, see so much difficulty and strife in my own life, in my friends and the lives of others, in the country and the world, art always brings me around.

Adele's sophomore album 21, the #1 album in America, has brought me around. I remember hearing Tapestry and thinking that Carole King was singing to me, that she related to only me. I feel that way about Adele's musical masterpiece. Every song sings to me, and obviously countless others.

I think I have gifted 25 copies so far and more on the way. The gift that keeps on giving. Music transforms the often grim realities facing the world and propels me into a different feeling and then into a different attack on the problems that surround all of us. Love is at the center of her songs and it brings it all to the fore -- familial love, romantic love, platonic love.

I am quite stunned by her maturity being only in her early twenties, but age notwithstanding, the human connections she sings about resonates and challenges me and I hope you.

I recently heard Dr. Gabor Mate speak about addiction and parent's losing their connections with their children and about the amount of stress in families and how stress affects children. I suggest reading his work as he speaks of a common sense reality, like Adele of love lost and found, mistakes made and repaired. New music like this makes me so glad to be alive and to be able to experience the immense joy it brings. Simple. Profound. Truth. Love. Family.

 

 

 

Comments

[haimchaim]

10:57 AM on 03/12/2011

Jamie Lee u may feel left out or let down again by someone in your family whom u thought u could trust or rely on .. don't let negative feelings get in the way of your happiness ..

[kimmarie]

09:06 AM on 03/12/2011

Yeah,
She's special-
She got some extra sauce-
She got basted a little longer-
They used the best flour.

[Millie Lencioni]

09:09 AM on 03/10/2011

This is what has been missing in the music industry, an artist that can really sing! The fluff that has been passed off as "singers" has left much to be desired. Once you listen to Adele, you will never forget that voice.

[darbbrad]

08:16 PM on 03/09/2011

Adelele is quite amazing look for the Walmart sound stage videos on you tube. They are amazing!

[pxgabriel]

04:29 PM on 03/09/2011

She is fantastic.!!!

[Healy]

04:12 PM on 03/09/2011

I'm in total agreement. I found Adele's music only a few months back, and she is a genuine talent not to be missed. Thanks for getting the word out there about her and her music. Adele projects what the current generation of auto-tuned pre-packaged performers lack: true talent and authenticity.

Adele is the real thing. Just great.

Robert Healy

[Craigon Lennon]

02:47 PM on 03/09/2011

i can't praise (or listen to) adele's 21 enough! i listen to it in the car, at work, in the shower.

[trixie1]

02:40 PM on 03/09/2011

I love Adele!

[Starwalker3]

01:51 PM on 03/09/2011

21 is an amazing album - from rocking beats to sultry whispers - it just moves through your emotional centers and puts a smile on your face.

[Gerard Coleman]

01:24 PM on 03/09/2011

I couldn't agree more! Adele is the soul singer of the new millennium. And we need more love in the world, less greed. *sigh*

[Suze78]

01:18 PM on 03/09/2011

Love the new album. Adele sings a cover of The Cure's "Lovesong" -- it was a little disconcerting when I realized she wasn't even born when that song came out!

[Paul Walters]

01:16 PM on 03/09/2011

Yes, Jamie Lee, I too am an aging boomer and I too liked Adele each time I heard her for the "first" time. I commented on the NPR website and then forgot about it. Then I found her again while surfing i-Tunes and discovered I had made the exact same comment twice. So not only do my boomer reflexes engage automatically when I hear a song that, albeit new, hits that "Carole King" sweet spot, I have a sufficient degree of mild cognitive impairment to forget that I said the exact same thing the last time I heard her! Funny, did you feel the same way about Joss Stone, too?

No matter....AGING BOOMERS ROCK!

[oafishcad]

01:11 PM on 03/09/2011

It is a great album. But I sure am glad she's not my girlfriend. Geez what drama. I forgot how stressful not being married is.

[Jane C]

01:01 PM on 03/09/2011

Dear Jamie, Great talent from Adele, She's simply Great, she hits the emotional and true life points as well as the notes! Thank you,

About stress in families I love what you said back along in your Everyday Heroes video about the heroic work of Burn nurses. Please look over my facebook page (jinjajane) I am a volunteer film maker. You will see a great way everyone can remove stress, pain and disfigurement from their lives for free in the first minutes after burn accidents or injuries.

Thanks again, great blog! I just listened to "Someone Like You" and "Turning Tables" new to me until today.

[sadmac]

12:43 PM on 03/09/2011

Adele is timeless. Her music will age with the same beauty as all the classics and never sound dated. Another artist who Adele fans might like is an up-and-coming band out of NY called Luck & Senses. They're music is all positive sans schmaltz and features an Adele-like sultry songstress! Highly recommended.
http://www.reverbnation.com/lucksenses
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luck-Senses/157271817616200