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  1. Tracks
  2. Adele
  3. 25
  4. Water Under the Bridge
Water Under the Bridge by Adele

SINGLE

Adele

Water Under the Bridge

Release date: 20th November 2015

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From 25
Track 6
4:00
PopMusic
Spotify Apple Music More on Adele

About This Track

A co-write with Greg Kurstin, 'Water Under the Bridge' appears as the sixth track on '25', released in November 2015. The song became the album's fourth single the following year.

Adele frames the lyric as a series of rhetorical questions, each one testing the boundaries of a relationship neither party seems willing to end. She asks why the idea of freedom feels unbearable if this isn't the right match, why her partner holds her close if she isn't the one. The chorus pivots on a plea for honesty rather than abandonment: the repeated insistence that their love isn't water under the bridge, that pretending indifference would be the crueller option. The production allows space for the vocal to carry the argument, the melody rising and falling with the push and pull of doubt and conviction.

The wilderness imagery recurs, cold and unforgiving, a place where she wants a keeper but not a reckless one. The bridge strips back to that metaphor before the final choruses layer the refrain, the backing vocals echoing the plea to say it isn't so. It's a song about refusing to let go cleanly, about demanding that ambivalence declare itself.

"Water Under the Bridge" is a single by Adele, from the album 25, released 20th November 2015. The track is 4:00 long. It's filed under Pop. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 8 articles about Adele.

About the Artist

Adele

Adele

Lyrics

Water Under the Bridge

If you're not the one for me
Then how come I can bring you to your knees?
If you're not the one for me
Why do I hate the idea of being free?
And if I'm not the one for you
You've gotta stop holding me the way you do
Oh honey, if I'm not the one for you
Why have we been through what we have been through?
It's so cold out here in your wilderness
I want you to be my keeper
But not if you are so reckless
If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently
Don't pretend that you don't want me
Our love ain't water under the bridge
If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently
Don't pretend that you don't want me
Our love ain't water under the bridge
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-oh
Say that our love ain't water under the bridge
What are you waiting for?
You never seem to make it through the door
And who are you hiding from?
It ain't no life to live like you're on the run
Have I ever asked for much?
The only thing that I want is your love
If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently
Don't pretend that you don't want me
Our love ain't water under the bridge
If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently
Don't pretend that you don't want me
Our love ain't water under the bridge
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-oh
Say that our love ain't water under the bridge
It's so cold out here in your wilderness
I want you to be my keeper
But not if you are so reckless
If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently
Don't pretend that you don't want me
Our love ain't water under the bridge
If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently
Don't pretend that you don't want me
Our love ain't water under the bridge
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-oh (say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
(Say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
Say that our love ain't water under the bridge (say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
(Say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-oh (say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
(Say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
Say that our love ain't water under the bridge (say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
(Say it ain't so, say it ain't so)
Say that our love ain't water under the bridge

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From 25

4:002015Single
Listen
Album
25
25
Adele
20th November 2015
Track number
6
Release year
2015
  1. 1Hello
    4:56
  2. 2Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
    3:43
  3. 3I Miss You
    5:49
  4. 4When We Were Young
    4:51

More from Adele

Albums & EPs

30
30
2021
When We Were Young
When We Were Young
2016
21
21
2011
Set Fire to the Rain (Remixes)
Set Fire to the Rain (Remixes)
2011
19 (Deluxe Edition)
19 (Deluxe Edition)
2008
19
19
2008

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  2. Don't You Remember (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  3. Easy On Me (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  4. Hello (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  5. Hold On (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  6. Hometown Glory (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  7. I Drink Wine (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  8. Love In The Dark (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  9. Love Is A Game (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas
  10. Oh My God (Live In Las Vegas)Weekends With Adele Live In Las Vegas

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  • 5Remedy
    4:05
  • 6Water Under the Bridge
    4:00
  • 7River Lea
    3:45
  • 8Love in the Dark
    4:46
  • 9Million Years Ago
    3:47
  • 10All I Ask
    4:32
  • 11Sweetest Devotion
    4:12
  • —All I Ask
    4:32
  • —Million Years Ago
    3:47
  • —Water Under The Bridge
    4:00

    • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Adele, Greg Kurstin
    Producer
    Greg Kurstin
    Engineer
    Alex Pasco, Greg Kurstin, Julian Burg, Liam Nolan
    Bass
    Greg Kurstin
    Drums
    Greg Kurstin
    Guitar
    Greg Kurstin
    Keyboards
    Greg Kurstin
    Mastering Engineer
    Randy Merrill, Tom Coyne
    Mixing Engineer
    John Hanes, Șerban Ghenea
    Piano
    Greg Kurstin
    READ MORE ABOUT ADELEREAD MORE ABOUT ADELEREAD MORE ABOUT ADELEREAD MORE ABOUT ADELE
    READ MORE ABOUT ADELEREAD MORE ABOUT ADELEREAD MORE ABOUT ADELEREAD MORE ABOUT ADELE
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