"Hello, it's me. I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet to go over everything. They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing."
This morning on the radio, the on-air talent bantered back and forth regarding a report that said the number of women calling their exes has soared since Adele released her song, "Hello."In the song she anguishes over the destruction of her ex-lover's heart at her very own hands and she longs to apologize for doing so. Yet her ex never picks up the phone when she calls. She reminisces about a time when they were young and carefree but likens their breakup to the world falling at their feet. And now, it is too late to apologize.
From this tragic memory, the smooth and seemingly sacred bellow of Adele's voice creates a ballad that lulls the listener into a place of comfort and nostalgia. The music connoisseur cannot resist the temptation to trace through the mind's Rolodex of past loves and wonder where they are and if they ever wonder.
The level of conceit with which we operate when we assume that we obliterate the life of another simply by leaving is preposterous. We assume that we are the single most life changing event that our ex or exes have had. And then, we feel compelled to apologize. But for whom? Probably for ourselves... because we feel so profoundly bad for having done something we wouldn't wish on our worst enemy. Maybe...
While the lyrics make me cringe a bit because they are laden with selfishness, I love the sound of the song. I will admit, I ran through every breakup from minuscule to colossal in my memory bank. I hold some regrets from my past but I don't want to call and say I'm sorry. There is one, however, who I would like to see and talk to for a while. I have no idea where he is or how to find him. We endured a very trying time together. I survived. I am not sure what happened to him.
"Hello from the other side..."
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