Meaning Behind the Emotive Adele Ballad “All I Ask”

Adele’s 25 is an album that lives and dies by its ballads. Being the balladeer she is, Adele can’t help but deliver stunning vocal performances fraught with emotion each and every time.

While there is stiff competition on 25, “All I Ask” stands out as one of the most plaintive and affecting songs on the record. Adele tapped Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Christopher Brody Brown to help her pen this track.

Though Mars had a big “diva thing” in mind when he first got into the studio with the singer, he quickly realized that 25 would not be that kind of record. They instead got to work on a softer, more vulnerable, and candid offering that would go on to become “All I Ask.” The song may not be “diva” in the traditional sense but, Adele’s vocals on this track are certainly big, bold, and incomparable.

What emotion did Adele tap into to deliver this performance? Find out below.

Behind the Meaning

Throughout her career, Adele has written almost every kind of breakup song there is. She’s been the one heartbroken and she’s broken some hearts. In “All I Ask,” she suggests neither party in the relationship end up hurt.

From the opening line of the song, Adele knows there is no tomorrow in their relationship. She goes into the moment without expectations. Look, don’t get me wrong / I know there is no tomorrow
All I ask is / If this is my last night with you / Hold me like I’m more than just a friend, she belts out in the pre-chorus.

“All she asks” of her soon-to-be ex is that they pretend to be happy and in love for one more night: Let this be our lesson in love / Let this be the way we remember us / I don’t wanna be cruel or vicious / And I ain’t asking for forgiveness.

“I find it fascinating that with relationships, how sometimes people end up hating each other so much when loved each other so much at one point,” Adele explained to ELLE. “I find that really sad.

“[This song] is, ‘Wanna go out on a good note?’” she continued. “You want to go out and have a good memory and not an argument? It’s absolutely about having sex and never seeing each other again.”

Adele’s vocals are grounded by a simple piano line on “All I Ask.” The singer pulls from opposite ends of her vocal range in this song, dipping down low and skyrocketing through her upper register.

“‘All I Ask’ was inspired by the power ballads of divas from the nineties where the artist is really showing off their vocal range,” Mars once said. “We all crowded around the piano until we found something that sparked. [The process took] a day, and maybe one more day to make sure we weren’t tripping out and we actually had a song. It makes me very jealous because it doesn’t happen like that all the time!”

(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Adele)