This CD cover image released by Columbia Records shows, "25," the latest release by Adele. (Columbia Records via AP) 
Mark KennedySadness is the back door to our hearts that we forget to lock. OMG. I just wrote that sentence with a straight face. What is wrong with me?
Something maudlin has infected my brain. And apparently I've got lots of company. There is a music CD in my car audio system that has been playing continuously for the past three days, and it has put me in a sappy, happy mood.
I've become part of the fawning pop-music masses, a.k.a. the we-love-Adele cartel.
Oh, well.
Adele Adkins' new album "25" sold more than 3.4 million copies last month in just its first week. That's almost a million more copies than the previous record-holder: 'NSync's "No Strings Attached" album sold 2.4 million copies in its first week way back in 2000.
Get this: In its first seven days, Adele's "25" became the best-selling album for all of 2015, obliterating Taylor Swift's "1989" which has sold about 2 million total copies and has been spinning off radio hits for a full year.
The fact that a 57-year-old male bought "25" for $10 at Walmart might be bad news for Adele. I haven't bought a CD since a brief flirtation with the Black Eyed Peas about six years ago, which means the pop singer has pretty much reached the bottom of the barrel when it comes to potential new customers.
Or maybe it's something else.
Maybe the singer from North London, famous for her soaring vocals and publicity-shunning persona (she hardly ever Tweets, God love her), is a once-a-generation performer who appeals to even the casual music fan. I've taken to asking people if they like Adele just to see if I have some kind of weird, piano-ballad flu. "I Love Adele," said the newspaper's music writer. "I pre-ordered '25,'" said one of our page designers.
Based on record sales alone, it appears that Adele is indeed a transcendent star. Both of my sons, ages 14 and 9, also like her music. You can list on one hand the artists in my lifetime who have managed that sort of cross-generational appeal. A friend at work said her 5-year-old son started crying the other day after watching the video of Adele's new No. 1 hit "Hello."
"That song is just so sad, Mommy," he said.
My 14-year-old says "turn it up" when "Hello" comes on the radio. My 9-year-old can sing the chorus. To put this into context, the only other song they both know start to finish is the "Fifty Nifty United States."
After her 2011 mega-hit "21" album sold 30 million copies worldwide, some wondered whether Adele was up to an encore. After just a couple of weeks, the answer appears to be settled. Rolling Stone calls her "queenly and resolute" on "25," and the New York Times says she "renders the most acute pain with severe clarity and composure." (If you haven't figured it out, Adele's albums are roughly aligned with her age when the music was conceived.)
So, why are older people like me so drawn to "21," a young-adult breakup album, and "25," another examination of relationships with a dash of parenthood thrown in? (Adele now has a 3-year-old son, Angelo.)
I think there are two reasons.
The first is her towering talent. Once in a while an artist comes along whose vocal gift is so obvious, that even those who don't follow pop music are drawn into their orbit. Adele's voice is as clear as rainwater and as deep as the ocean.
Other young pop singers - Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift come to mind - are churning out musical cotton candy sprinkled with synthetic sounds and lyrics that ring hollow to anyone over about age 20.
Adele, 27, sings about long-lost love, regret and growing old - themes that are as resonant to listeners at 50 as they are for those in the grip of a quarter-life crisis at 25. Plus her song choices are brilliant. One music insider said she probably cast off 20 certain hit songs before settling on the 11 tracks on her new album. Other artists would kill to take out her trash.
If you listen to radio, get ready for an Adele onslaught. As 3-mil - lion-plus "25" buyers already know, there are probably a half-dozen or more No. 1 hits yet to come from the album. What's more, Adele has the chops to be around for awhile if she chooses. Like another quarter-century or so. She's the real deal, folks. An actual, honest-to-goodness human, harmonic convergence.
Consulting my crystal ball, I predict Adele's future album "50" will be released just in time for Christmas 2040.
Pre-order it now.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @ TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook updates at www.facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.