i seriously tried to get this done last night but it was a fool hearted attempt ... so ladies and gentleman prepare yourself while i introduce to you ryan adams and his album 'heartbreaker'.
adams is an 'alternative country' singer songwriter that has this tender but rebellious persona that emanates through his music. 'heartbreaker' was his 1st solo album (note: i say solo, but he is joined on this album by members of his supporting band, the cardinals) released in 2000 after he left the alt-country uber band whiskeytown. now you probably have been exposed to 'heartbreaker' already, you just dont know it. the album starts off in a sophomoric sense of good nature and fun with the studio banter leading straight into the college anthem 'to be young (is to be sad, is to be high)' which just has a rambunctious yet playful and insightful feeling to it and helps to highlight a young ryan adams. with an almost 180 degree rotation adams takes the listener through the soft guitar chords and the raspy voice image filled ballad that is 'my winding wheel'. its almost like these 2 songs act as a outline for the range that adams will take through the rest of the album.
after the 1st 2 tracks that act as a polarized picture of adams we are treated to the softer side of adams and we start understanding why the album is named heartbreaker when we listen to the tracks 'amy' and 'my sweet carolina' which has some of the most beautiful harmonizing out there with adams and none other than emmylou harris. the country aspect of adams' 'alternative country' genre really shines through during 'bartering lines', the folk based tune 'damn, sam(i love a woman that reins)', and the harmonica heavy song 'to be the one'. and later on the album the feet get to a tappin when adams' blues influence really shines bright during the dirty southern sounds of 'shakedown on 9th street'.
the real meat and potatoes of this album for me are 2 tracks towards the middle of the album. the 1st track is 'why do they leave' a song that is rife with abandonment, pain, loss, and a bit of self deprecation - themes that adams continually revisits. the staple adams tune of the album in my opinion however is 'come pick me up' (see youtube addition this week). this song has it all. longing, pain, a bit of self loathing/torture, but some how still comes across as gentle and hopeful. man this guy is freaking good!i have only recently stumbled upon ryan adams about 3 years ago or so when he played with grateful dead bassist, phil lesh. but the more i get into adams the more i am convinced that he is plainly one of the best young singer/songwriters out there today. i also highly recommend his latest, 'easy tiger' (one of my top albums for 2007) as a companion to 'heartbreaker'.
Come Pick Me Up
when they call your name
will you walk right up
with a smile on your face
or will you cower in fear
in your favorite sweater
with an old love letter
you know you could
i wish you would
come pick me up
take me out
fuck me up
steal my records
screw all my friends
theyre all full of shit
with a smile on your face
and then do it again
i wish you would
when youre walking downtown
do you wish I was there
do you wish it was me
with the windows clear and the mannequins eyes
do they all look like mine
you know you could
i wish you would
come pick me up
take me out
fuck me up
steal my records
screw all my friends behind my back
with a smile on your face
and then do it again
i wish you would
i wish youd make up my bed
so I could make up my mind
try it for sleeping instead
maybe youll rest sometime
i wish I could
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