What does Rolling in the Deep mean?

Adele: Rolling in the Deep Meaning

Album cover for Rolling in the Deep album cover

Song Released: 2010


Rolling in the Deep Lyrics

There's a fire starting in my heart,
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out of the dark

Finally, I can see you crystal clear.
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare.
See how I leave, with every piece of you
Don't...

  1. anonymous
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    May 27th 2015 !⃝

    I think it means that a guy was playing with her feelings and then dumped her..

  2. anonymous
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    Jan 15th 2014 !⃝

    Its about the devil taking revenge on God, after he was the music Angel and played music together, they used to live together, after he sinned fire consumed him from within and sent him to the dark. That's why he is so bitter and want to revenge by taking people to hell and he knows very well that it hurts god so bad. He is rolling in the deep of hell.

  3. dale.tisdale
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    May 27th 2013 !⃝

    Basically, these lyrics are so poorly written that no one can make any sense of them. It is obvious that the writer has little skill in that the lines are unevenly weighted. This is nowhere more evident in the truncation of the line

    "There's a fire starting in my heart
    Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the dark", which could have been written,

    More easily sang if written:

    "There is a fire that is starting in my heart
    reaching a fevered pitch it brings (pulls) me from the dark"

    There is simply no excuse for such a line as "it's bring me out the dark"

    'it's' is the contraction of 'it is', not the possessive form of 'it' (its), not that the possessive form would make much sense either.

    This is not artistic expression, just poor writing.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. anonymous
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    Feb 12th 2013 !⃝

    Rolling in the Deep" is a nautical term used to denote the condition of utter hopelessness of a situation. Describes the rolling motion of small boats and ships resting on the bottom of the sea, it is a poetic version of Rolling in the Deep blue sea. Used to describe the condition where it is acceptable to suspend rescue efforts . "They just as well call off the search for them boys. That boat is Rolling in the Deep."

    In Adele's version, she is gonna screw that boy so bad he is gonna be rolling in the deep. simple yes

  5. anonymous
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    Sep 13th 2012 !⃝

    I think the actual phrase "we could have had it all rolling in the deep" means if you were good to me and stuck it out...we would be rolling in MONEY together...now that i've made it :-)

  6. anonymous
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    Jun 28th 2012 !⃝

    Ok, heres my 2 cents:
    I believe the dancer in the white powder represents confusion. In the beginning there is a great contrast between the scene (white powder) and the individual (dancer in black). During the video, the dancer swirls the powder into the air, which loses the contrast of the dancer and she begins to fade into the scene. The confusion could represent the individual not being recognised as a unique person and more recognised as an image in a setting. She loses the power to express herself emotionally and no matter how hard she tries to regain that power, its lost and much like the light in the background, her power to express has dimmed and faded away. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the song in my opinion.
    The scene with the plates being thrown at the wall represents meaningless violence and a loss of purpose (which could connect with the dancer, since the dancer loses her purpose and meaning when she creates the confusion between the scene and herself with the powder). When the plates are smashed, they crumble into a mess on the floor. This is quite expressive of Adele's anger. She is throwing her anger and opinion (the plates) at the person through the song. All this is doing is hurting her, this is shown in the end of the song, when Adele can no longer put her opinion forward and she decrease herself using body language. This is the same action as the plates, after all the force has been transferred from the plate to the wall the plate shatters and falls to the ground in pieces.
    Puting this in for an assignment, wish me luck! :)

  7. anonymous
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    Jun 21st 2012 !⃝

    Girlfriend is putting some voodoo on him...damning him to hell.

  8. anonymous
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    Jun 8th 2012 !⃝

    ‘But you played it with your beating’after reading the comments i went through the song lyrics again. i assume this phrase is the key to the meaning.he played her heart with HIS beating , not that he let it to be played in its own.she did her best in love that she did everything he wanted.i personally belive that y she is so pissed is because she eventually became a whole different thing just because of the love she had for him and it depicts that she sacrificed even being herself, and at the end she sees he has been playing her.
    'we could have had it all,Rolling in the deep.'i think this means that she expected a deep feeling from him. i just font find a good interpretation for the part' rolling in the deep' among the readers comments. i tried to cm out with something that explains it.doest enyone think that rolling is used to hint about the phisical intimacy they had? generally any relationship has more responsibility when sexual intimacy is involved. she says they could have had it being"deeply" in love not just the shallow feelin he had for her.
    obviously she is experiencing hatred after his betrayal.and i think she is planning to do something really big to him, could be even to kill him.not just killing , but making him suffer.(you're gonna wish you, never had met me (Tears are gonna fall rolling in the deep)"here rolling in the deep has another meaning which is sarcastic that he ll be suffering and will be in "hell", rolling in the DEEP.
    she wants him to pay her wth her precious love she gave to him, turning it to gold,the song is a strong depiction of a womans love that is betrayed and how poisonous it is then,the more she loved him the more she feels the pain and hatred.
    one of the best songs i ever heard:-)

  9. anonymous
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    May 20th 2012 !⃝

    *There's a fire, starting in my heart. Reaching a fever pitch, and its bringing me out the dark* She is obiously completly raged and is getting to an emotionally hot point (fever pitch) bringing her out of the dark abyss of sadness and bringing her into anger.

    *Finally, i can see you crystal clear. So go ahead and sell me out and i'll lay your shit/ship bare.* She is able to see through him better and discover his real intentions. She then tells him to 'sell her out' or leave because he will soon regret ever hurting her.

    *See how i'll leave with every peice of you, dont under estimate the things that i will do.* She wants him to see how he will be the one hurt in the end even if he thought she was weak. (dont under estimate)

    *The scars of you're love remind me of us.*
    This line indicates that she has memories of the love he gave her.

    *They keep me thinking that we almost had it all.* She remembers how they almost had a perfect relashionship.

    *The scars of your love they leave me breathless* Those scars, are squeezing her emotinally leaving her 'breathless'

    * I cant help feeling, we could have had it all! Rolling in the deep. You had my heart inside your hands. But you played it, to the beat.* She cannot shake the feeling they could have been togheter, and she tells of how he played her.

    *(You're gonna wish you, never had met me. Tears are gonna fall. Rolling in the deep.)* She is out for revenge, to make him not only regret hurting her but regret meeting her. The line 'Tears are gonna fall' means that she wont be the only one with sorrow. He too, will experience the pain she went through.

    *Baby I have no story to be told,
    But I've heard one of you and I'm gonna make your head burn.
    Think of me in the depths of your despair.
    Making a home down there, as mine sure won't be shared.* She has nothing to be ashamed of, as she was fateful and honest, but he has lots to be ashamed of and she wants to remind him that all of this is his fault. 'make your head burn.' When he become sorrowful, she wants him to think of her and hurt more. She wants him to make a home in his despair because hers wont be shared, meaning she is over with him for good.

    And lastly....
    *Throw your soul through every open door
    Count your blessings to find what you look for
    Turn my sorrow into treasured gold
    You pay me back in kind- You'll reap just what you sow.* She means that after he is broken he will numb his way through life, and that he should count his blessings if he seeks happiness. She says that he can laugh now 'turn my sorrow into treasured gold' but that he will pay her back for it by taking all consequences. 'reap what you sow'

    Hope this helped:) had to think ALOT.

  10. anonymous
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    May 18th 2012 !⃝

    For me, this song is not about love but revenge. The anger that she feels with the guy that left her.
    That it's all cool, all ok, but in the end, he'll pay for everything, for all harm caused to her. Also the damage will be so big that he's going to wish he never had met her.

  11. anonymous
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    May 17th 2012 !⃝

    what does the phrase "rolling in the deep" mean??

  12. anonymous
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    May 13th 2012 !⃝

    You know what people, I love Adele n her song but I still don't get it. Now I understand your explanations but the video is confusing. That man was standing in the dark n when light shone on him, it looked like he/she was fighting it. Also the white things like boxes in the video were burnt in the end. What does all this really mean? I guess only God Almighty knows.

  13. anonymous
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    Apr 23rd 2012 !⃝

    This song is about an abusive relationship. He played her to the "beat(ing)" meaning, she gave him her heart and he chose to abuse her.

    "There's a fire starting in my heart
    Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark
    Finally I can see you crystal clear
    Go 'head and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare"

    This suggests that it is her anger that is finally allowing her to see the abusive relationship clearly. Not her love, which motivates her to stay and fix it.

    Also, abusers often go on a smearing campaign against their targets--they spread rumors and basically try to paint the picture that the failure of the relationship was because of the target's flaws--so her lyrics about "sell me out" suggest that she is angry at his emotional blackmail, and that she will retaliate if he smears her reputation.

    Again, "Baby I have no story to be told,
    But I've heard one of you and I'm gonna make your head burn." She is saying that she is guilt free, but he is the abuser so if he attempts to smear her, she will tell the truth about him.

    The rest is pretty self-explanatory. Abusive love is hard to get over, and targets go back over and over again because often the abuser has some aspect of their personality or relationship that is "too good to be true." The hardest part of leaving an abusive R is realizing that the love was an illusion of false hope and manipulation.

    She is grieving the lost hope and love she had--the way that she loved him, and they could have had it all, but instead of loving her back, he abused her.

    "Rolling in the deep": is the most vague phrase, but it could suggest that behind her anger at him, the old hopes and dreams are "rolling in the deep" of her mind and heart.

  14. anonymous
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    Apr 22nd 2012 !⃝

    love.

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 17th 2012 !⃝

    To me it basically means that she loved him with all of her heart but he played with her emotions and she was hurt which she thinks he's gonna regret all the chances he ever got with her in the past.

    He had her heart and broke it.So there's a fire running in her heart.




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