"Million Years Ago" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

for her third studio album, '' 25'' (2015). The song was written by Adele and

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

, with production of the song provided by the latter. Lyrically, the track is about how fame has personally affected her and everyone around her. On ''

Adele at the BBC ''Adele at the BBC'' (also known as ''Adele Live in London'' to some international markets) is a television special featuring British singer and songwriter Adele, hosted by Graham Norton for BBC One, and which was recorded at The London Studio ...

'' in 2015, she stated that the song was, "kind of a story about ... I drove past

Brockwell Park Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare (125.53 acres) park located south of Brixton, in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill in south London. It is bordered by the roads Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill and Dulwich Road. The park commands views of th ...

, which is a park in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sut ...

I used to live by. It's where I spent a lot of my youth". Musically, the song is an acoustic tune accompanied only by guitar. "Million Years Ago" charted in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Adele performed the song during ''Adele at the BBC'', ''

Adele Live in New York City ''Adele: Live in New York City'' was Adele's one-night-only show at Radio City Music Hall, which took place on November 17, 2015. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller and broadcast on NBC on December 14, 2015. Jimmy Fallon served as the ...

'', and on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

''.

Composition

"Million Years Ago" is an acoustic tune accompanied only by guitar, finds Adele pining "for the normality of her not-so-distant childhood. Entwined with

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

twists of background hums that suggest

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's ' Frozen'". The song's lyrics touch upon themes of fame, and how it "frightens", the song's lyrics talk about how fame has personally affected her and everyone around her, singing about how she misses the air, her mother, and her friends, but her "life is flashing by and all I can do is watch and cry."

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the song as a "delicate guitar ballad with a hint of

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and var ...

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

mourns lost youth". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' Brian Hiatt compared the song to "a Nineties Madonna ballad mixed with '

The Girl From Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Por ...

'". Adele was accused of plagiarizing the melody of "Million Years Ago" from singer

Ahmet Kaya Ahmet Kaya (28 October 1957 – 16 November 2000) was a Turkish– Kurdish folk singer. Kaya was persecuted by Turkish nationalist celebrities and authorities. Kaya left Turkey in an act of self- exile, and moved to France, where he would sho ...

's 1985 song "Acilara Tutunmak". In September 2021, she is accused by

Toninho Geraes Toninho is a Portuguese diminutive nickname for Antônio or António in use in Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Angola. It is loosely equivalent to Little Tony in English. Nicknames Football * Toninho (footballer, born 1947) ...

of plagiarizing his song, ''Mulheres'', with an expert analysis showing that 88% of the melody is similar. After the lack of responses from Adele's representatives, the song's author said he will take the case to court.

Live performances

She performed the song on ''

'', which was recorded at The London Studios on 2 November 2015 and broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 20 November 2015. She also performed the song on ''

'' on 25 November 2015. Adele also performed the song on ''

'', which was recorded at a one-night-only show at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for ...

on 17 November 2015 and broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on 14 December 2015. Adele received a

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program was an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarde ...

nomination for performing "Million Years Ago" live on

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Million Years Ago (song) 2010s ballads 2015 songs Adele songs English folk songs Folk ballads Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Adele Songs written by Greg Kurstin