Need You Now (song)

“Need You Now”
Song by Adele featuring Darius Rucker from the album 21
Released	January 24, 2012
Recorded	December 3, 2010
Genre	Country pop, country rock
Length	3:55
Label	XL Recordings
Writer(s)	Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Josh Kear
21 track listing
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"Someone Like You"	"Someone Like You" (Live) [Acoustic]

"Need You Now" is a song originally recorded by the country group Lady Antebellum. The song, which was a crossover hit and is considered the group's biggest hit to date, was covered by Adele and country singer Darius Rucker at the 2010 CMT Artists of the Year event. Their performance of the song received a nomination for a CMT Music Award. It was also featured on the deluxe version of Adele's sophomore album 21.

Adele has stated that the popularity of "Need You Now" was at its peak during the timeframe in which she was writing 21 and that the song inspired her while writing "Don't You Remember."

Background

When asked what it was about the song that she found so appealing, Adele responded, "It's just one of those songs. The amount of the times I've made a drunk fucking phone call! (laughs) It's just one of those songs, the minute you hear it ... 'a picture-perfect memory scattered on the floor.' Oh, my God, there we go! (laughs) It's one of those songs that everyone loves and everyone can relate to. It's one of those timeless songs. I've never heard two voices work so brilliantly either. It was incredible. I saw them live in Minneapolis about a month before the CMT [special], and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen."

Adele had spoken fondly of "Need You Now", saying that it was a major influence on her writing of "Don't You Remember":

“

It's got quite a country tinge to it. What gave me the courage to try to do that musically was 'Need You Now.' When I was in the studio in Malibu, this was the last song I wrote while I was recording, and 'Need You Now' was everywhere. You could not even change your radio station without it being played. You couldn't escape it and, luckily, I loved it! (laughs) Or it would have been awful! But the feeling the song gave me, I was trying to channel it in my own song. Unlike my first record, when I was writing how 'your life is going to suck without me and I'll be fiiiine,' you know, it suddenly dawned on me that my ex was actually pretty incredible. I wanted to write a song about how it was such a shame that we fell out of love, and we can't even remember why we loved each other and why we fell out of love. It seemed like a perfect subject, like this emotion could be in a country song.

”

Lyrics

Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor Reaching for the phone, 'cause I can’t fight it any more And I wonder if I ever cross your mind For me, it happens all the time It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you now Said I wouldn’t call, but I've lost all control and I need you now And I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now Another shot of whiskey, can’t stop lookin' at the door Wishing you’d come sweepin' in the way you did before And I wonder if I ever cross your mind For me, it happens all the time It’s a quarter after one, I’m a little drunk and I need you now Said I wouldn’t call, but I've lost all control and I need you now And I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now Whoa-oh-whoa Guess I’d rather hurt than feel nothin' at all It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you now And I said I wouldn’t call, but I’m a little drunk and I need you now And I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now I just need you now Oh, baby, I need you now