Set Fire to the Rain
"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, 21 (2011). The song was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by the latter. It became Adele's third consecutive US number-one single from 21 and reached the top ten in most of other foreign markets. It is a pop power ballad with lush instrumentation and a swelling string arrangement, in contrast to the understated production of most songs on the album. The song has received acclaim from various critics with many complimenting on Adele's vocals. "Set Fire to the Rain" was voted by readers of Billboard as their favorite number one hit of 2012.[2] Though no official music video was released for the song, a live performance from the DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall was uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube. This rendition won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.[3]
"Set Fire to the Rain"
4 July 2011
2010
4:02
Fraser T. Smith
Background and composition[edit]
"Set Fire to the Rain" was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by Smith.[4] "Set Fire to the Rain" was released as the third US single from the 21 album on 21 November 2011.[5]
"Set Fire to the Rain" is written in the key of D minor with a tempo of 108 beats per minute, following three chord progressions. Adele's voice spans A3-D5.[6] The song describes the contradictory elements of a relationship, and the impossibility of letting go which is displayed in the lyrics "You and me together, nothing gets better / But there’s a side to you that I never knew, never knew / All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true / And the games you play, you would always win."[7][8] One of the most pop-influenced of the album,[9] the song is characterised by John Murphy of musicOMH as a "power ballad".[10] In contrast to the understated production of most songs on the album, the song features lush instrumentation and a swelling string arrangement[7][11] over a mid-tempo rhythm, creating a wall of sound[11][12] for the singer's mourning vocals. Dave Simpson of The Guardian in an article revealed that Adele got inspiration for the song "when mah lightah stopped workin' [sic]" in the wet.[13]
Chart performance[edit]
"Set Fire to the Rain" was very popular in Europe, where the song charted within the top 10 of Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland and topping the charts in South Africa, New Zealand, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands.[21] The song debuted at number 79 on the UK Singles Chart[22] and it moved to number 44 the next week selling 6,286 copies.[23][24] It later peaked at number 11 on the chart on the week ending 16 July 2011 and it stayed on the same position for two weeks selling another 24,978 copies.[22][25]
Before being released as a single, the song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 6 weeks and re-entered 3 times, peaking at number 72 on 13 September. On the issue dated 4 February 2012, "Set Fire to the Rain" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Adele's third consecutive number one single from the album 21. With 21 also at number 1 on the Billboard 200, the song makes the set the first by a single artist to have led the Billboard 200 concurrently with three Hot 100 number one singles.[26] It took 21 non-consecutive weeks for the song to reach the top spot in the United States.[27][28] As of April 2020, it has sold 5,200,000 digital downloads in the United States.[29] With this achievement, 21 became one of only six albums to yield at least three number one singles during the decade; sharing the honour with Katy Perry's Teenage Dream (5), Rihanna's Loud (3), Taylor Swift's 1989 (3), Justin Bieber's Purpose (3) and Drake's Scorpion (3).
Music video[edit]
No proper music video was shot for "Set Fire to the Rain" (as well as other singles from 21, "Rumour Has It" and "Turning Tables") as Adele had recently undergone vocal surgery.[30] Instead, a live performance video filmed at The Royal Albert Hall was uploaded on YouTube to her Vevo account and has received more than 789 million views as of December 2023.
Credits are taken from 21 liner notes.[4]