Ryan Adams churns out so much music its hard to keep up with him.
He wears his influences on his sleeve.
And, his style changes as fast as his tastes do.
But one thing is for sure, the guy can write great lyrics.
My roommate and I were talking last weekend about which were the best Ryan Adams lyrics ever.
I thought it over and after a lot of consideration, this is what I came up with: 1.
"Screw all my friends behind my back, With a smile on your face, And then do it again, I wish you would.
" This is such a direct, comic, perverse, strange, yet honest line.
But it really captures the sentiment of the song, "Come Pick Me Up" and really, the whole album Heartbreaker.
2.
"Betcha' five bucks I'd swear" Okay...
I admit, this is an odd one.
It's from the first track of Heartbreaker.
It's a conversation between him and David Rawlings about Morrissey.
I usually can't stand when artists include spoken tracks on albums.
But when this one comes up on a random shuffle I always listen.
Its a nice glimpse into what the artist is like in the studio.
Which I dig.
3.
"I'm fractured from the fall and I want to go home.
" I love the vulnerability in this line.
Its from the song "two" on the album Easy Tiger.
Which came a year after his infamous fall into the orchestra pit at one of his performances.
The fall broke his wrist...
and dyed his hair orange.
- Seriously.
4.
"It's midnight at the Starlite Diner and you said meet me at a quarter to twelve.
" She's late.
He's waiting, and missing her.
But he says it so descriptively.
And he sings it in such a way that he breaks the line up so well that you don't know when the line is completely unraveled.