Almost five years after her groundbreaking 21, Adele examines the past and tries to right her wrongs on “Hello.” On the surface, the song appears to be about a break-up from long ago, but the song can also be interpreted as Adele’s attempt at reconciliation with her former self. In a tweet, Adele called 21 a “break-up record” and 25 a “make-up record.”

Adele revealed the broad inspiration for the song:

No, it’s not about anyone specifically. It’s about friends, ex-boyfriends, it’s about myself, it’s about my family. It’s also about my fans as well.

A day before the release, Zane Lowe interviewed Adele about her future goals, touring, the album, and the “Hello” music video. Although “Hello” was released on October 23, 2015, a portion of the song was first featured during a commercial break on the UK’s X Factor on October 18, 2015.

The accompanying music video broke the Vevo record for the most views in 24 hours with 27.7 million total. Taylor Swift previously held the record with her video for “Bad Blood”, which had 20.1 million views in a single day. “Hello” was directed by Xavier Dolan and was the first music video to be shot by IMAX cameras.

In the US, “Hello” debuted at number 1 on the Hot 100, selling a whopping 1,112,000 downloads in its first week, almost doubling Flo Rida’s previous sales record (636,000 with “Right Round”.) The track significantly broke various streaming records after being replayed 61 million times in its first week.

In an interview with i-D, Adele contextualizes “Hello”:

The song is about hurting someone’s feelings but it’s also about trying to stay in touch with myself, which sometimes can be a little bit hard to do,“ she explains. "It’s about a yearning for the other side of me. When I’m away, I really, really miss my life at home. The way that I feel when I’m not in England, is…” (she pauses) “desperation. I can’t breathe anywhere else.” Why? “I dunno. I’m so attached to my whole life here. I get worked up that I’m missing out on things. So ‘Hello’ is about wanting to be at home and wanting to reach out to everyone I’ve ever hurt – including myself – and apologize for it.