How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

“All I Ask” is a song by British singer-songwriter Adele, written about a potentially final escapade in a failing relationship. It was written in collaboration with Bruno Mars, Brody Brown and Philip Lawrence for her third album, 25.

The song received a relatively large amount of promo for a non-single: it was first performed live as a part of Adele: Live in New York City, and next in the Carpool Karaoke segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

However, some fans of Adele began associating a ‘curse’ with this song after its next promo spot, the 58th Grammy Awards. During Adele’s “All I Ask” performance there (which itself was a surprise, she had been expected to perform her then-latest single, “When We Were Young”), the piano microphones fell from their mounts and onto the strings, creating a loud clanging noise perceivable to the audience and multiple times louder yet in Adele’s earpiece. She bravely sung on, later consoling herself with some cheeseburgers and a redo performance on Ellen.

Continuing the supposed curse, two months later, during a tour stop in Birmingham, UK, all of the arena’s speakers simultaneously stopped working during a performance of this same song. This time, Adele’s earpiece remained normal, though, so she didn’t realize the issue until afterward.

Coincidentally or not, Adele dropped “All I Ask” from her tour setlist on July 16, 2016, and has not performed it since.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What was it like to work with Bruno Mars?
Verified Commentary
Adele
via iHeartRadio
Genius Answer

He is the best singer I’ve ever heard in front of my face. I’ve never been pushed that hard vocally.

What have the artists said about the song?
Genius Answer

Adele
To i-D:

We [were] gonna make something cool, but then we were just having too much fun. I’ve never sung so hard in [my] whole life. Can you imagine the fun me and Bruno had making that?

To The New York Times:

It’s ‘Let’s not go out on a bad note.’ That’s not about my relationship now. It’s not about any specific relationships that I’ve had. I wrote that with Bruno Mars, and we were like, ‘Let’s just fucking go for it.’ We’re both a bit fucking soppy, let’s just fucking write the soppiest ballad that we could possibly write together. And it’s a lovely song.

To Beats 1:

I’m super fascinated by going from loving someone so much to hating them. That’s what “All I Ask” is.

Bruno Mars
To Vogue:

“All I Ask” was inspired by the power ballads of divas from the nineties where the artist is really showing off their vocal range. We all crowded around the piano until we found something that sparked. [The process took] a day, and maybe one more day to make sure we weren’t tripping out and we actually had a song. It makes me very jealous because it doesn’t happen like that all the time!

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