Million Years Ago (song)

“Million Years Ago”
Song by Adele from the album 25
Released	November 20, 2015
Length	3:47
Label	XL Recordings
Writer(s)	Adele Adkins, Greg Kurstin
Producer(s)	Greg Kurstin
25 track listing
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"Love in the Dark"	"All I Ask"
Audio

"Million Years Ago" is a song recorded by Adele, taken from her third studio album, 25. The song was written by Adele with Greg Kurstin, who also produced the song.

Lyrically, the track is about how fame has personally affected her and everyone around her. Musically, the song is an acoustic tune accompanied only by guitar. "Million Years Ago" received positive reviews from critics, with many comparing it to the music of Madonna.

The song peaked at number 8 on the Finland Chart and number 24 on the Scotland Chart. It also charted in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Adele performed the song during Adele at the BBC and on Today.

Background

In an interview with i-D, Adele revealed that "Million Years Ago" was added to the album at the very last minute, and that, "It's very stripped-back, it's very 19. It's just me on guitar." She later expanded on the song, stating:

“

It's kind of a story about... I drove past Brockwell Park, which is a park in South London I used to live by. It's where I spent a lot of my youth. It has quite monumental moments of my life that I've spent there, and I drove past it and I just literally burst into tears. I really missed it, for no other reason than we've all got different things going on and it’s got nothing to do with me not feeling like I can't go and sit in there and drink a bottle of cider anymore... it's more that life happens, so I’ve got no one to meet there. That's basically what it is. And it's just sort of about that, and about [how] I never realized that this was going to happen. I never, ever realized when I had my guitar in the park, singing to my friends... we never in a million years thought this would ever happen.

”

Plagiarism accusations

Shortly after the album's release, Adele was accused of plagiarizing the melody of "Million Years Ago" from Turkish singer Ahmet Kaya's 1985 song "Acilara Tutunmak." However, the late musician's wife, Gulten Kaya, told Turkish newspaper Posta that she did not believe the similarities were intentional, adding that, "if [Adele] consciously did it, then it would be theft."

Promotion and live performances

Prior to the release of 25, Adele partnered with Target to promote the album. Seven short music videos were filmed for different songs on the album in order to promote the Target deluxe edition, one of which was for "Million Years Ago." The video for the song features Adele sitting alone in an empty house, singing to herself.

Adele performed "Million Years Ago" at her Radio City Music Hall concert on November 2, which was broadcast live on December 14, 2015. She later performed it during her album release party at Joe's Pub in New York City on November 20, 2015. On November 25, 2015, she performed it on The Today Show; the performance was later nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program.

"Million Years Ago" was also included in the setlist for the Adele Live 2016 tour; however, it was omitted rom the setlist during the tour's 2017 dates.

Credits

Personnel

• Adele – songwriting, lead vocals, backing vocals
• Greg Kurstin – songwriting, producer, engineer, acoustic guitar, bass
• Alex Pasco – engineer
• Julian Burg – engineer
• Liam Nolan – engineer
• Tom Elmhirst – mixer
• Joe Visciano – mixing assistant

Lyrics

I only wanted to have fun Learning to fly, learning to run I let my heart decide the way When I was young Deep down I must have always known That this would be inevitable To earn my stripes I'd have to pay And bare my soul I know I'm not the only one Who regrets the things they've done Sometimes I just feel it's only me Who can stand the reflection that they see I wish I could live a little more Look up to the sky, not just the floor I feel like my life is flashing by And all I can do is watch and cry I miss the air, I miss my friends I miss my mother; I miss it when Life was a party to be thrown But that was a million years ago When I walk around all of the streets Where I grew up and found my feet They can't look me in the eye It's like they're scared of me I try to think of things to say Like a joke or a memory But they don't recognize me now In the light of day I know I'm not the only one Who regrets the things they've done Sometimes I just feel it's only me Who never became who they thought they'd be I wish I could live a little more Look up to the sky, not just the floor I feel like my life is flashing by And all I can do is watch and cry I miss the air, I miss my friends I miss my mother, I miss it when Life was a party to be thrown But that was a million years ago A million years ago