Music Collection #2: Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker

Artist: Ryan Adams
Album: Heartbreaker
Favorite Song: Oh My Sweet Carolina and To Be Young (Is to be Sad, Is to be High) - tie
Origin: Amoeba, San Francisco, I think (purchased new)

This album is, without a doubt, Ryan Adams' finest. At least, that's what all of the critics say, and I always listen intently to what music critics say, since there words are like manna from heaven. Anyway, I really like this album, but I'm not sure that it's my favorite by Adams. I'm not sure that I have a favorite, actually. But this album certainly captures in 15 tracks many of the themes running through his work - heartbreak (Amy, Come Pick Me Up), drug use (To Be Young), existential angst about his Southern roots (Oh My Sweet Carolina).

What it lacks, except for a couple tracks, is the dueling bombastic/melancholy split in Adams' persona. It's this split, I think, that causes a lot of critics and listeners to feel that he's not very authentic, or even that's he's just a plain ol' asshole. I think there's two things wrong with this analysis. One, I think it assumes that most musicians/artists really are authentic, and that Adams' inauthenticity is therefore unique and bad. This, frankly, is either a willfully blind or exceedingly naive way of looking at rock music. All musicians construct a persona, so that you're not listening to John Lennon or Joe Strummer or Mick Jagger, but "John Lennon," "Joe Strummer," and "Mick Jagger." They are all, to different degrees, playing characters based on themselves. Or, perhaps that's being too harsh. They are all putting forth a different side of their personality that they feel is appropriate for the situation, just like how you don't behave the same way in front of your Grandma that you do in front of your friends.

Second, I think critics fail to see how the two halves of Adams personality logically co-exist. His situational personality switches between that of a forlorn lover and a hard-partying rocker, but both are ways of dealing with the basic unhappiness of his music. Read through his lyrics - this is not a guy who's happy with his life. I don't mean that he's clinically depressed, just that he never really sounds satisfied with anything, especially love. Most of his love songs are, in fact, songs about break-ups or missed chances. And these songs are full of regret - he's not yet ready to give up on finding the right girl. In fact, contrary to many stereotypes, Adams is usually the one holding out hope for a relationship while the girl walks away ("Oh, I love you Amy/Do you still love me?").

So, getting back to Heartbreaker, I think this album does a wonderful job of establishing the forlorn lover side of Adams' persona, which is the more "authentic" side embraced by the critics. Certainly, Amy (quoted above) or Come Pick Me Up ("Come pick me up/Take me out/Fuck me up/Steal all my records/Screw all my friends/Behind my back/With a smile on your face/And then do it again") are great, great songs of heartbreak and mixed emotions. If your preferred method of drowning your sorrows is drinking beer and whiskey at 2 in the morning at a dive bar in Greenville, Any Southern State, then these songs would be the perfect soundtrack. If you prefer to deal with heartbreak by snorting cocaine and busting up your rat-trap hotel room in Chelsea, NYC, you may be better favored by Adams' later albums, or by listening to To Be Young (Is to be Sad, Is to be High) on repeat ("Young gal, ya done me bad/So I went and did you wrong/Then I got high/Lord, I got high").