Who is Adele?

Okay, okay, okay... I do know who she is (today). I had even heard one of her songs, "Someone Like You," before the Grammy Awards Sunday night - which is saying a lot since I don't listen to anything but NPR. The first time (okay, every time)  I heard the song I have to admit that I teared up, and at the time I really couldn't explain why. Thanks to NPR though I now have an answer - it's called an appoggiatura and in this particular song it's used in the word "you" in the chorus:

"Our brains are wired to pick up the music that we expect," says Sloboda. So when we're listening to music, our brain is constantly trying to guess what comes next. "And generally music is consonant rather than dissonant, so we expect a nice chord. So when that chord is not quite what we expect, it gives you a little bit of an emotional frisson, because it's strange and unexpected." - from npr.org

Fascinating stuff, right? Also fascinating are the comments always left on internet stories which I read often for laughs. I wonder who has the time to leave such thorough replies? And who reads them (besides me - the woman who also reads obituaries)? One comment on this story brought me to this YouTube video, which has some rough language at the beginning in the introduction and at end of the song but is awesome in its content. Now that I know the four-chord secret I can be a Pop Star too! Brawhaha!

Now if I can only figure out what's up with Lady Gaga and her weird clothing choices  I'll feel pretty with it. ;)