About Set Fire to the Rain

"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele from her second studio album 21. The song was Adele's third consecutive US number-one single from 21 and reached the top ten in most of other foreign markets. The song was voted by readers of Billboard as their favorite number one hit of 2012. The song's live rendition from the DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Set Fire to the Rain" is written in the key of D minor with a tempo of 108 beats per minute, following three chord progressions. Adele's voice spans A3-D5. The song describes the contradictory elements of a relationship, and the impossibility of letting go which is displayed in the lyrics "You and me together, nothing gets better/But there’s a side to you that I never knew, never knew/All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true/And the games you play, you would always win." One of the most pop-influenced of the album, the song is characterised by John Murphy of MusicOMH as a "power ballad".