Conceived after an altercation with her former lover, the song was co-written by Adele and singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder, whilst the production was completed by Jim Abbiss.

"Turning Tables" received acclaim from music critics, who praised its lyrics, production, and Adele's vocal performance.

American actress and singer Gwyneth Paltrow performed a cover of the single in the Glee episode "A Night of Neglect".

In April 2009, 20-year-old Adele, who had recently embarked on her first serious relationship with a man 10 years her senior,[2] began composing the follow-up to her 2008 debut album 19.

[3] In response to the media's typecasting her as an "old soul" due to the vintage production and sentimental nature of her songs,[4] Adele decided on a more upbeat and contemporary second album.

[8][9] After several recording sessions with writers and producers like Paul Epworth, Fraser T Smith and Rick Rubin, Adele got enough material for creating a full LP.

Angry and unfocused, she denounced her ex-lover's tendency to "turn the tables" on her during their arguments, an expression that Tedder decided to reference in the song's lyrics.

The strings were played by Patrick Kernan, Stephen Morris, Tom Pigott-Smith, Julian Leaper, Boguslaw Kostecki, Bruce White, Peter Lale, Rachel Stephanie Bolt, David Danels, Caroline Dale, Warren Zelnski, Jackie Shave, Chris Laurence, Rita Manning, Cathy Thompson, Emlyn Singleton and Chris Worsey.

[1][18][19] John Murphy of musicOMH recognized the single as a fragile piano ballad which shows off Adele's voice to its best effect.

[22] Lyrically, "Turning Tables" is a song of domestic dispute,[23] where its narrator assumes a defensive stance against a manipulative ex-lover.

Bryan Boyd of The Irish Times likened the singer to 1980s Welsh rocker Bonnie Tyler in delivering the vocals with a mixture of anger, pain and pathos.

Ian Walker of the website AbsolutePunk commented that the song "contains some of the album's greatest vocal moments, further cementing Adele's reputation as a competent vocalist showing no signs of stopping.

"[29] Ryan Reed of Paste called the single "tearjerking",[1] while Margaret Wappler of Los Angeles Times labeled the song as "softly sentimental".

[32] The single stayed on the chart for total of three weeks and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 500,000 digital copies.

Robie Daw of Idolator recognized the performance as "intimate" and commented that it featured Adele's soulful vocals simply accompanied by "haunting" piano chords.

"[46] "Turning Tables" was covered by American actress and singer Gwyneth Paltrow, in the "A Night of Neglect" episode of the Fox Broadcasting Company television show Glee.

Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone named it her least-favorite of Paltrow's covers to date and said that her vocals "lacked the texture that made Adele's version so heartbreaking.

"[47] Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly gave it her lowest grade of the episode, a "B−",[48] and Aly Semigran of MTV opined that while Paltrow is "a nice enough singer," she "in no way has the chops" the song requires.

[49] Whilst The Wall Street Journal's Raymund Flandez called it a "scene-stealing turn" and commended it visually and vocally, he noted that Paltrow lacks Adele's veracity.