Adele’s “I Drink Wine” Lyrics Meaning
Adele is an artist who is well known for dropping songs that are deep from an emotional standpoint. But this piece (“I Drink Wine”) is actually quite profound from a sociopsychological perspective, as in the songstress questioning the state of the world – so to speak – and how such affects us internally and by extension our personal relationships.
The Lyrics
The lyrics read as if they are premised, as with the entirety of Adele’s “30” album, on her divorce. Or at least that is the assumption that we will begin this analysis on, that the ‘we’ referred to at the beginning of the first verse is a reference to Adele and her ex-husband.
And another reason such a postulation is theoretically possible is because she uses the opportunity to point out how ‘the world puts ideas in our heads that corrupts our hearts’. Or viewed from a different angle, it’s as if she is saying that external forces contributed to her relationship with Simon Konecki falling apart. This is an idea that is more or less buttressed at the end of this piece also.
And things get even deeper from there. For instance, the rest of the first verse is dedicated to Adele noting that, being a hard worker and all, she also plays hard. It’s like that’s what we grow up being taught, the good ol’ fashioned work-hard/play-hard philosophy. Yet she has noticed that people who actually practice such, including herself by implication, still are never “truly satisfied”.
Narrator’s Life is Devoid of ‘Real Substance”
The aforementioned self-analytical tone is carried into the second verse. Here, the vocalist questions why she is so stressed out by ‘things she can’t control’ and obsessed with “seeking approval from people”. And the conclusion is something like her life is lacking ‘real substance’.
So if we wanted to get psychoanalytical ourselves, it’s as if Adele is generally putting forth that these days many of us, through socialization even, are unable to grasp the true meaning of life. And therefore we engage in behaviors, like those mentioned above, which ultimately prove fruitless or unfulfilling.
“I drink Wine”
Now interesting to note is that the word “wine” is only mentioned once in this song. That’s back in the first verse. It is actually used as an allusion to the fact that Adele does indeed “play hard”.
But as for the chorus, it’s not about intoxication or anything like that. Rather, it seems that the vocalist has deduced that at the heart of her inner maladies, most simply put, lies a desire to be someone who she’s not. Also, this entire self-analysis is tied into the concept of wanting to edify her relationship with the addressee.
The Addressee
Then, the nature of the bridge further buttresses the postulation, as argued earlier, that said addressee is her ex. If so, then the logical connotation would be that Adele began writing this song at a time when she was still hoping to salvage her relationship with Simon, or something like that.
Or instead, let’s say that if it is Konecki she is singing to, then it would be as if she doesn’t have any hard feelings concerning their breakup. The way she perceives it is as if they have some individual growing to do. So accordingly, she is hoping that they “both find peace of mind” some time in the future.
What “I Drink Wine” is all about
Needless to say, there’s a whole lot going on in this piece. It’s as if a personal analysis is used as the basis to analyze a marriage or close personal relationship. And then that association is used to examine the society at large.
So if nothing else we can say that this is an ambitious outing, especially for a mainstream pop star. And if we were forced to narrow “I Drink Wine” down to a concise thesis statement, it would be something like it’s better to get your own personal matters and understandings of the world in order before getting mixed up in a serious relationship.
Facts about “I Drink Wine”
This is a song that Adele co-wrote with A list behind-the-scenes’ man Greg Kurstin. And FYI, Kurstin’s name can be found throughout “30” – the album this song is a part of.
Kurstin, who is also a noted music producer handled the production of “I Drink Wine”. He actually produced and co-wrote at least 8 tracks on the album, including the following:
This piece was released, along with the aforenoted album, on 19 November 2021. One of the two labels behind the project, Melted Stone Records, was seemingly founded by Adele herself. And the other is the more-established Columbia Records.
Adele actually debuted this song on 17 November, a couple of days before its official release, on a televised special entitled One Night Only. But it has been noted that her live rendition on that date differs significantly from how the track sounds on the album itself.
The song’s first teasing dates back to earlier in November of 2021.
