Song Review: Nirvana “Come As You Are”

The guitar/bass line riff on “Come As You Are” is clever and entrancing, reminiscent of Metallica’s riff on “Enter Sandman”. Cymbals crash loudly and continuously after the chorus on the way to a fantastic guitar solo that takes the melody of the verses. The cymbals give an added effect of excitement for the chorus, as the verse is rather slow paced and un-changing. As with many other songs on Nevermind, the instrumentation is not what carries the song along, as it is rather simple and not composed of many layers. Cobain’s structure of the verses and the way he extends certain syllables (“As I waaaaant you to be”) really makes the song. Instead of listeners being dependent on chord changes, or a mind-blowing drum solo, Cobain’s style of singing gives the song that intangible value of not getting skipped about ¾ of the way through.

Come As You Are” is the most interesting song on Nevermind because of the concept I believe it is speaking on. My theory is that “Come As You Are” is really a false invitation, describing a front for a hidden motivation. Initial lines appear to be unconditional invitations to entrust in the speaker, then the following lines rebut those statements and imply a secret agenda of the speaker in befriending.

“Take your time, Hurry up, The choice is yours, Don’t be late”

Statements made first seem to designed to make the speaker come off as easy-going and in your best interest, then the second line contradicts the former and reveals that the speaker may have an invested interest. I believe “Come As You Are” while sounding like a peaceful ballad about being all-accepting and judgment-free, is really a social commentary about the tendency of people to seek out people’s trust on a false premise, for self-benefit.  The words “And I swear” when reiterating the speaker’s trustworthiness and ensuring he/she is not armed, is a good metaphor for the great lengths people will go to in order to secure another’s trust while motivated by

Cobain's Hometown Of Aberdeen, WA

self-interest. People swear and promise, they will be as persuasive as possible to convince another that they can be trusted, only to take advantage of the believer’s vulnerability.

“Come As You Are” to me teaches a great lesson about today’s world and a general rule in life: “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”. It is evident that this song is about the role of the befriender who stabs you in the back, and can be a good lesson to those who find themselves more gullible and trusting than others. Not to mention “Come As You Are” is one of the tracks easiest on the ears on Nevermind.

           

 “Come As You Are” Rating: 4/5