It has been said that in order to write a good love song, you have to have your heart broken first. That may not always be the case, but the fact is, there is always a lot of emotion going into any best-selling song, and that is certainly true with the song Easy on Me by Adele.
The British superstar has recently released her first new song in six years, and her album 30 has already become a best-seller, despite having been out only since November 19.
What Is Easy on Me About?
The song Easy on Me is about divorce, in a way. In 2019, Adele separated from her husband, Simon Konecki, after being married to him for 11 years. As with most people who go through a divorce, she went through a lot of turmoil after the marriage broke up, and she described a lot of that turmoil in many of the songs on this album.
Specifically, though, the song Easy on Me is aimed at her young son Angelo, as she asks him to go easy on her after she decided to leave the marriage and cause such an upheaval in his own life. In this rolling, piano-led tune, she attempts to explain to Angelo why she did what she did, in hopes that as he gets older, he will start to understand why she had to do this.
No divorce is easy, especially on the children, but Easy on Me is a heartfelt plea to her son to try and go easy on her as he inevitably learns the truth about his parents’ separation and divorce. “I just felt like I wanted to explain to him, through this record, when he’s in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness.”
Adele’s son has asked her many questions about the split that Adele admits she has no answers for, which is yet another reason why she wrote the song. Just like many singers and songwriters, Adele expresses herself through her music, and Easy on Me is a way to ask her son for his understanding and grace after such a tumultuous event. She hopes that as Angelo gets older, he’ll begin to understand why the marriage didn’t last and why she chose to carve out a new path for the two of them.
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The Lyrics Say It All
And if you listen to the lyrics of Easy on Me, it explains a lot of her feelings about the divorce and what she was thinking while it was taking place. For example, here are some of the lyrics in the song:
There ain’t no gold in this river
That I’ve been washin’ my hands in forever
I know there is hope in these waters
But I can’t bring myself to swim
Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
Didn’t get the chance to feel the world around me
I had no time to choose what I chose to do
So go easy on me
There is also an accompanying music video that is well made, which shows her driving a truck filled with furniture to a brand-new home. The video is shown in black and white at first but changes to color as she gets closer to her destination. Most of all, Easy on Me shows Adele’s vulnerability as a mother who is asking for kindness and forgiveness from her son. She even admits her own shortcomings near the end of the song, with lyrics that say:
I had good intentions
And the highest hopes
But I know right now
It probably doesn’t even show
The album 30 is Adele’s fourth studio album. It is already the highest-selling album so far this year in the U.S. and shot to number one just three weeks after being released in the U.K. Another song on the album, To Be Loved, is still difficult for Adele to sing because it is so filled with emotion that she herself has declared that she will “never sing it live.”
And like her previous albums, it is the fact that fans can relate to her music that makes that music so good. Simply put, millions of people around the globe can relate to the pain of divorce, especially as it relates to their children.
Easy on Me was actually the first song that Adele wrote for the album 30, and she took a six-month break afterwards. She told one British magazine that, “I was like, ‘OK, well, I’ve said it all.’” And what did Adele herself think and feel after the song was written? “It’s not like anyone’s having a go at me, but it’s like, I left the marriage. Be kind to me as well.”
When fans first heard the song Easy on Me, they weren’t sure what to think about it. But the more they learned about what Adele has gone through in the six years since her last album, the more they came to understand what the song was all about.
No one will be able to deny the vulnerability and the raw emotions included in the song, and it becomes obvious quickly what she was going through when she wrote it. When it comes to tear-jerkers and songs about sensitive subjects, Easy on Me is definitely one that you will not soon forget. It is simply unlike other songs about divorce, which are sometimes trite and don’t always get the point across. This one is definitely different from the rest.
Conclusion
With such heartfelt, down-to-earth, vulnerable lyrics, not to mention the beautiful notes that go with it, it isn’t difficult to understand why Easy on Me became such a huge hit almost immediately. To be sure, Adele has put her heart and soul into this beautiful and touching song, and fans have reacted accordingly. In fact, even if you’ve never listened to Adele’s songs in the past, you owe it to yourself to buy this album and listen to every song, especially Easy on Me.