Adele is storming the charts and smashing records with her brand new hit Hello. But the power ballad has left a pocket of music fans less than impressed, as she has been accused of copying a song by US singer Tom Waits.
According to fans of his, the 27-year-old British star has ripped off lyrics from his 1970s hit Martha, with words similar although clearly not exactly the same.
His song has the same theme as hers: a former flame calling a past lover, and in the track he sings:
‘Hello, hello there, is this Martha? This is old Tom Frost / And I am calling long distance, don’t worry ’bout the cost / ‘Cause it’s been forty years or more, now Martha please recall / Meet me out for coffee, where we’ll talk about it all.’
Adele’s Hello begins in a similar way, as she croons: ‘Hello, it’s me / I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet / To go over, everything / They say that time’s supposed to heal ya, but I ain’t done much healing.’
While the words to each song aren’t quite the same, there is a markedly similar theme.
Martha featured on the 65-year-old US singing legend’s classic album 1973 Closing Time and, while it has been over 40 years since it was produced, fans have noted the likeness between that and Adele’s new single. These comparisons come after producer Greg Kurstin, who worked closely with Adele on the new track, admitted that she was inspired by Waits.
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