Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up

General CommentReally good love/hate song. It's like she fucked him up so much emotionally already and he's so desperate for her, and doesn't care what she does, he just wants her back at any cost because it's almost as if she couldn't hurt him any worse than she already has.

Ryan Adam's is amazing.

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  @lizka

General CommentNot a song I'd picture at a wedding :) Still a great song, though. It makes me think of those relationships that you know are bad for you, but you never stop hoping it'll all work out and be good anyway.

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  @neverever

My InterpretationMy take is this:

In keeping with Ryan Adam's self-distructive tendencies (which is why we can all relate to him), I believe this song is likely a weak/drunk/wishful moment thinking about a past love that was unhealthy, but he still can't shake.

The beginning of the song is him wondering if perhaps, on judgement day, she would regret her treatment of him (and others).

"Will you cower in fear?"
This seems to suggest she might fear consequences for her actions.

Then, he seems to start out wishing he could see her, craving what used to be toxic about her, but with some irrational romanticism about it being better this time around:

Come pick me up
Take me out
Fuck me up
Steal my records
Screw all my friends
They're all full of shit
With a smile on your face
And then do it again
I wish you would

The fact that he says "And then do it again," seems to echo that this all happened the last time, but looking back, he still would rather be with her, and go through it all again. In this early part of the song, the line "Screw all my friends" indicates that his friends warn him that she's bad news, and will hurt him again, but in the next line he says "They're all full of sh**," suggesting he doesn't care about they're opinion, and wants her back anyway.

In his masterful way, he uses this same line later, when his musings/memories about her grow darker, the same exact line means something different - "Screw all my friends," is no longer a declaration that he won't listen to warnings about her, but now is a continuation of a list of her actual actions, right along with "Steal all my records." We know this with certainty, because this time, the next line after "Screw all my friends" is, "Behind my back."
"
His internal struggle makes him idealize reconnecting with her in the beginning, but by the end, he can't help but recall the darker elements that ruined them the first time. The references to the bed, and "try it for sleeping sometime" suggest they're relationship was likely too focused on the physical, which allowed them to ignore thier obvious issues for too long.

He goes on to end the song with:
"Maybe you'll rest sometime
I wish I could"

Suggesting he can't sleep, because he's still pining over her. You could even stretch the interpretation dangerously farther, and put the pieces to gether, to wonder if she had an addiction -- If you string all the images of her together, it sounds like an addict's behaviour - "F** me up, steal my records, Srew all my friends, maybe you'll rest sometime...

The theme of missing someone who's known to be harmful to him is common in his songs... "English Girls, approximately," has a similar tone. In another song, his wishing he had a "Sylvia Plath" to "get me pretty loaded on gin," and then "maybe she'll give me a bath" hints of Plath's many suicide attempts, some rumored to have taken place in the bathtub.

Ultimately, he seems to write about looking for someone to mother him (take me out, f me up, get me loaded on gin, give me a bath). These are all about things they'd do TO him, as a passive participant... Unfortunately, it appears to be mostly "party girls" he ends up with over and over, who ultimately use his vulnerability to crush him in one way or another.

Sounds really sad, but makes for some GREAT songs!

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  @Caller101

General Commentbest part is "..I wish you would... -harmonica break-"
It's that harmonica, man.

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  @precipitate

General Commentto me the come pick me up-part has always been about wanting someone to, well, pick you up. as in when you´re down, blue, sad.
because sometimes feeling fucked up is better than not feeling anything at all.

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  @trasselfia

General Commenti think everyone was hitting the nail on the head until they started talking about the wedding song. maybe just the music, not the lyrics, but no... not the words. how depressing!

in this song, the man wants a woman who is still holding on to the past of another man who broke her and made her the way she is (favorite sweater/old love letter) and the sweater is probably a sweater from the last relationship or the relationship that broke her. he's frustrated, aggravated, he wants her. he wants everything, no matter what. she won't give it up just yet... she's still not sure and she's not caring because why should she care? the last guy was a dick, so no need in giving it all if it's just gonna be a repeat. this guy loves her so much he wants anything from her, any kind of attention he could possibly get.. no matter how negative or positive. just wants to know he's still in the picture. he doesn't care about the material possessions, that they're usually drunk, the friends, the cost. she could do it over and over again and he wouldn't mind... as long as she still paid him attention and kept him nearby.

i absolutely LOVE the last part... "i wish you'd make up my bed so i could make up my mind try it for sleeping instead maybe you'll rest sometime". she is so busy not letting him in that she never rests. she's always busy, keeping herself occupied so she doesn't have to deal with the situation at hand, the important situation at hand. she stays over, probably sleeping in his bed while he watches her... not knowing what to do.

it's somehow one of the most romantic songs i've ever heard... it's love. THAT is unconditional love if i've ever heard of it.

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  @vivablondie

General Commentwhen you're walking downtown
do you wish i was there
do you wish it was me
with the windows clear
and the mannequin's eyes
do they all look like mine
you know you could
i wish you would
come pick me up

it's pure poetry... i love it and i wish i was so talented....

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  @bex2408

General Commenti think this song is so amazingly sarcastic. I think its about being in love with someone even though you know its not good for you, so you are egging them on to do horrible things to you to make getting over them much easier.

"steal my records"
"screw all my friends"
and i agree about the records comment, i physically harm someone if they ever touched my vinyl!

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  @bikinikillee
  0

  I have physically harmed someone for touching my vinyl..... not fun, but it must be done. (dr. suess and ryan adams are my personal heros)

  Flag ryanalbertjohnomaron May 06, 2010  

General CommentI read an article where Ryan explained the song. He said it was about seeing a girl across the bar and wanting to go an talk to her, but at the same time knowing, just KNOWING (the way the article emphesised it), that she was going to fuck up your world. It's about knowing all that but not caring at the same time, just wanting to be in love (or in lust) even if you know that it's going to end badly. It's a very morbidly romantic sentiment and one Ryan is as good as anybody at making. The man's is brilliant.

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  @nickomackay

General CommentHonestly, I think this song is about being so in love with someone that you don't care what they do to you, nor the fact that your initial relationship with them seemed to be purely physical love/lust that could have been with anyone ("i wish you'd make up my bed...try it for sleeping sometimes"- actually be there in the morning to sleep in, not just hook up and leave- and also considering the first verse where he talks about putting on a show for others- more or less trying to attract others by wearing "your favorite sweater" and walking up to them either with a smile or cowering once others do give you attention). You don't care if they lie to you and cheat (sleep with your friends), you don't care if they steal from you (take your most prized possessions, your records), you just want to have that brief moment in time to be with them, to call them your own. And you know all of the pain and agony is imminent because it's happened before, it's happened with this person and you've been devastated by them before. And you've since been yearning for them (and hoping that they're yearning for you too- seeing his/her eyes in mannequins eyes, perhaps cowering and holding an old love letter when others are calling them- as opposed to smiling and walking right up to them). But it's all worth it, just being in the presence of that person.

This was probably a jumbled mess, but i was processing as i read and reread- and the funny thing, even though this is one of my favorite ryan adams songs, i don't think i've ever read further into it than being so in love with someone that you don't care how much they fuck you up. that you think your love is enough for the two of you... oh my

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  @lmac5
  0

  genius. i agree with you, completely. ain't love a bitch?

  Flag melancholyjenon August 26, 2009