Chasing Pavements

Adele wrote Chasing Pavements with Eg White in a day, and White produced it. It was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in the Bahamas, with the London Studio Orchestra on strings and Tom Elmhirst mixing. It came out on 14 January 2008, two weeks before 19, and she has called it the start of her career. She has said the song is about wondering whether to give up or keep running after someone when there is nothing there. It grew out of an argument with a boyfriend.

It entered the UK chart at its peak of number two, reached number one in Norway, and went to 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. A rumor that the title was slang for gay cruising briefly made some US radio stations drop it, and Adele said the Urban Dictionary entry was added by a troll. At the 51st Grammys on 8 February 2009 it won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and she performed it there with Sugarland. The video, directed by Mathew Cullen, follows a car crash in Hyde Park, London, though it was shot in Los Angeles. On Saturday Night Live on 18 October 2008 she played it alongside Cold Shoulder, and it appears in 264 of the 435 logged setlists that list songs. Melissa Benoist sang it on Glee in 2012.