Books, Songs For Every Book

Songs for Every Book: The Great Gatsby and Adele

Aubrey Leaman

Adele Great Gatsby 3

“Songs for Every Book” is a series bringing you songs that could have been sung by (or about) your favorite book characters.

I’ve recently come to the fascinating and exciting discovery that Adele’s hit “When We Were Young” has a lot in common with The Great Gatsby. More specifically, it sounds like the singer could be Daisy Buchanan herself! But let’s go to the lyrics:

“I was so scared to face my fears
Nobody told me that you’d be here”

…”You look like a movie
You sound like a song
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young”

It sounds like this is the moment when Daisy hears Gatsby’s name for the first time in years when Nick comes over (“Gatsby? What Gatsby?”). Daisy, like Adele (or whoever the protagonist of the song is), is suddenly bombarded with the knowledge that her lover has returned, reminding her of their youthful romance (and how dang, Gatsby’s still got it…).

“And I swore you moved overseas
That’s what you said, when you left me”

Granted, these lines are a bit different than Fitzgerald’s story because Daisy kind of left Gatsby instead of the other way around, but Gatsby did go “overseas” to fight in the war so maybe that’s how Daisy saw it. Maybe it felt like Gatsby left her which is why she married Tom.

“And a part of me keeps holding on
Just in case it hasn’t gone
I guess I still care…
Do you still care?”

Like the singer, Daisy definitely still has feelings for her past lover (not that that ends well for anyone). And it’s pretty clear that Gatsby still cares!

So obviously this song isn’t exactly the same story as Gatsby. But the similarities are pretty strong, making it sound like it could be some sort of adaptation of the story in another world. (Side note: I feel like Adele’s music fits The Great Gatsby’s vibe well in general, since they’re both pretty yearning and sad.)

Do you think this song fits with Daisy and Gatsby’s romance? Let me know in the comments!

And if you love The Great Gatsby and are looking to expand your playlist of Gatsby-esque tunes, you might find these helpful: Songs For Every Book: The Great Gatsby (and One Direction), Classical Music Stories: The Great Gatsby, and High Schoolers Tackle The Great Gatsby With Classical Music. For more Gatsby goodies in general, check out If The Great Gatsby Characters Had Favorite Colors (can you tell I love The Great Gatsby?).

P.S. Can we all take a moment to appreciate the creepiness that is the mash-up of Adele’s face with the cover of The Great Gatsby? You’re welcome for the nightmares.

33 thoughts on “Songs for Every Book: The Great Gatsby and Adele”

  1. “Can we all take a moment to appreciate the creepiness that is the mash-up of Adele’s face with the cover of The Great Gatsby?” I’m just mesmerized by the small lips planted inside her normal sized lips. Just mesmerized and staring…. 😆

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    1. Thanks so much! And of course!! I like seeing what you and others are writing about, though I don’t always have time to read everything! But your blog looks very creative and cool and I look forward to reading more of it in the future!

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      1. Awww thanks that means a lot to me! Your blog was actually the very first I subscribed to on WordPress and I really look forward to all your posts. Love the mix of classical music and literature, which are my favorite things!

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      1. Actually, I remembered about the eyes not from the movie, but from the book. It is way better than the screen adaption. You should probably look through it and think about the music which would correspond it. The favorite book of the protagonist, Lena, is “Great Expectations”, so there is something “classy” about it, too 🙂 By the way, I am a fan of “Great Expectations” and am really looking forward to your soundtrack for this masterpiece! 😉

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  5. For an English class, our assignment was to find 5 songs and analyze them in light of The Great Gatsby… I actually thought about doing this song! (long after the assignment was due, of course ;)) Great post!

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      1. We had to relate the lyrics (and music, if we wanted to) to a character from The Great Gatsby. I can’t remember all the songs I wrote about, but I remember I did “Yesterday” by The Beatles and “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel. 🙂

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  10. I sometimes think about songs and books and how there’s one for pretty much any possible feeling or experience. When I read Gatsby recently, it made me think of “The man who can’t be moved” by The Script. The lyrics don’t exactly match, but the feeling of waiting and hoping is about right (?) Adele is certainly a good match too!

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    1. I’d never heard that song but I just started listening to it and I can see (hear?) it! Plus I’ve been looking for some new music lately and that band sounds intriguing, so I might just check out more of their stuff. Thanks for pointing me to them!

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