About the Song

Track: Two

Length: 2:38

Album: Easy Tiger (2007)

Artist: Ryan Adams

Songwriters: Ryan Adams & Brad Pemberton

Favorite part: 

“I’m fractured from the fall

And I wanna go home”

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

Here’s Why I Love It

Quite honestly, there’s so much to love about this song from a lyrical standpoint—the brevity, the duality, and the juxtaposition for starters. I can really elaborate on any of those three. But I told myself that, moving forward, I would exemplify the first quality that I mentioned above with these columns. That’s the best signal I can give to show you how much I value brevity.

Now, let me address the other two.

The chorus of the song is one line repeated: “It takes two when it used to take only one,” and it packs enough imagery for you to ponder for days, weeks, months, years. I mean, I do and have. And I always root so hard for the song to be about love. As in, you need another person because one just isn’t good enough anymore. However, you realize this could also be about drugs. Or any addiction for that matter. There are so many things in life that take two when they used to take one. It hits so hard.

This leads me to juxtaposition. This song has opposite qualities cutting each other. You might think, Yeah you said that already, it’s the duality. But the key word is opposite. This song is both very sweet and very mean. It’s pretty, yet ugly. Soft, yet tough. And not just a little bit, either—a lot bit. It can land on either extreme. And for me, that’s as interesting as it gets. 

Ryan Adams’ troubles, struggles, and (simply) shitty behavior have been well documented. Inexcusable if true. But pound for pound, there’s nobody who does the singer/songwriter/rock-n-roll thing better. Seriously, he’s as talented as anyone who’s ever done it. And probably more than most.

Did I do all right with brevity? If not, I’ll try harder next time. In any case, I hope you get the picture. You should definitely go listen to this song and read the lyrics.

*** Read the lyrics and Listen to the song *** 

*This article is part of the ongoing Lyrics I Love series: short interpretations of the meaning and story behind one song with lyrics that move me.