Nirvana: Come As You Are Meaning

Song Released: 1992

Come As You Are Lyrics

Come as you are,
As you were,
As I want you to be.
As a friend,
As a friend,
As an old enemy.
Take your time,
Hurry up,
The choice is yours,
Don't be late.
Take a rest,
As a friend,
As an old memory.
Memory, ah.
Memory, ah.
Memory,...

1. anonymous

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   Jan 21st 2012 !⃝

   I really love this song the only meaning that this song has for me is through kurts lyrics is one of his addiction for heroin through his troubled times found solice in the drug and probably inspired his work he sees it as a kind of freind.In the here and now He is who he wants to be,but still has the memory of wanting it again and the euphoric feeling it gave him.I think the references to "mud" is definately the heroin, the bleech is probaly a term for cleaning or disinfecting the needle and the gun mostly is a reference to the serynge and that he is admitting or swearing that he isnt using,because he is where he wants to be in a better place I think this was his enemy in relity he couldnt escape it.
2. anonymous

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   Dec 2nd 2011 !⃝

   Kurt said this song is simply about people and what they're expected to act like. He also said that just because he uses "I" in a song doesn't mean he's necessarily talking about himself. he pulls from other peoples experiences, tv, and what he's read...source: http://kurtcobain.com/interviews/nevermind-its-an-interview/
3. Dominique Ng

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   Dec 1st 2011 !⃝

   Yeah I agree with the interpretation that come and you will not be judged. There is also a parallel with Rumi's poem:
   "Come, come again, whoever you are, come!
   Heathen, fire worshipper or idolatrous, come!
   Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times,
   Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are."
4. Confucius

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   Oct 22nd 2011 !⃝

   first and foremost kurt always would let you know he hated when people looked too closely into his lyrics. so u really cant look too closely, "come as you are" basically just be yourself or truly "cum" as you are, just be who you really are straight, gay, bi.I came to this conclusion(no pun intended)when you hear the emphasis of come as well as the slight pause after,it is more noticeable in the unplugged version. "i dont have a gun" he has nothing to hide, he truly is who he is. "come as a friend, as a known enemy" the term "known enemy" could refer to the public stereotype of gay or bi people , seeing them as wrong or the enemy. it also makes sense when you consider the fact that kurt had some gay friends and was looked at as gay by most people when he was younger.
   My Opinion,
   Confucius
5. anonymous

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   Sep 26th 2011 !⃝

   SOAKED IN BLEACH PEOPLE... SOAKED... not "cept" WTF
   
   All of these interpretations fit the lyrics, and I think that's what Kurt intended for his listeners with a lot of his songs, if not most of them... to be able to relate the lyrics to anything you see fit. Although he probably had a narrowed agenda when he first thought of them, I imagine that in the end (when he put them to paper) he might have left plenty of room for speculation. That's why the lyrics are so bland and vague. There are multiple meanings to the lyrics, some are superficial and some are deep. A mind as brilliant as his was able to relate a plethora of meanings in a simplified representation of words. Think about it...
   
   The heroin one definitely strikes a chord, and I like the deity one too... all others are good too
6. anonymous

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   Sep 22nd 2011 !⃝

   Silliness of a mind tormented and having no help available he cries out and no one is listening to him. His ultimate cry is one of deafening proportions that will follow him into eternity. Pour soul left without hope and he offers none.
7. anonymous

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   Aug 1st 2011 !⃝

   Come as You Are is in my opinion like an invitation to pure & original inspiration. That's exactly what inspiration is,an "old memory".A memory that used to work like an "enemy", existed in the creator's 'dark-weak' side/doused in mud,which then gets soaked in bleach/like a purification & becomes creation. That's why the dog in the video turns its head to the light coming from above [in about 2:30] because inspiration is a pure enlightenment. Another "symbol" in the video that is clearly about creation is the picture of insemination [in 1:35] a birth is a usual symbol of spiritual/artistic creation. Whoever has created art even once can probably recognize the feeling of "Come As You Are".
   
   R.I.P. Kurt!!!!Thank you!!
   
   Vanessa.
8. anonymous

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   Jul 17th 2011 !⃝

   "Be yourself". That's what this song is about. He says "I don't have a gun" he means I'm not going to judge who you are.
   
   "Being someone else is a total waste of the person you are" -Kurt Donald Cobain
9. anonymous

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   Jun 9th 2011 !⃝

   The great thing about Cobain's lyrics is that they almost always have multiple interpretations. In high school, as a drug-free, I liked to think of this song as a credo for my gang of friends: We'll accept you for who you are, not who you pretend to be (like other cliches would).
   
   Taking a deeper look at the song, however, this could also be about a man whose life has gone numb. He's looking back at the things that made him happy, but also at the things that brought him down, trying to feel something, anything, for the life he's led. The idea of "numbness longing to feel again" was a recurring theme in Cobain's life and in his lyrics.
   
   A third interpretation, as others have pointed out, is that this is about Cobain's battle with heroin. There is some debate over whether or not he was using when he wrote this song, but the "soaked in bleach" reference is hard to deny. As for many, drugs were both a friend and an enemy to him. No matter how many times he quit, the memory of being pain free is too powerful to subdue. "Come as you are" stating his acceptance that the drug will heal him and kill him at the same time.
   
   The fourth take on this song--and I understand I'm going out on a limb here--is the most haunting, given the way his life ended. This song could conceivably be about a man preparing to shoot up before he shoots himself. As easy as it is to read too much into that, the three main details of these lyrics--heroin use, a man looking back on his life, and his repeated assurances to not having a gun (to the point we realize he DOES have a gun)--all align with Cobain's end. He reflected painfully on his life in the hours before his suicide (the letter he left is evidence of that), he shot a large amount of heroin, and then he ended his life with a gun.
   
   Now I'm not saying that Cobain predicted his demise and wrote a song about it, but I am presenting the idea that he may have had a fantasy about losing total control and ending his life in this way, and that yes, maybe it became a self-fulfilling prophesy for him in the last hours of his life. Taken this way, "Come As You Are" is a haunting song that rings out like a gifted man's troubled last words.
10. anonymous

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    May 17th 2011 !⃝

    My interpretation related to a person not knowing what they want.. just something, anything whether it's hurry up or take your time.. just do something, anything!!
    I've been waiting for closure for so long and just want to move on, but I can't because I just care too much about the reason and the friendship.
    It's just a recurring memory that keeps tormenting my mind whenever I think about it.. I just want progress one way or another - and no not through violent means (eg. a gun used as a metaphor) :)
11. anonymous

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    Apr 18th 2011 !⃝

    The song is about being yourself and not following what everyone else is doing. That Cobain did not care and he based his friendships on how he was treated and not how rich or popular they were. In the day, when grunge was being popular, the rest of us metal heads would watch metal bands sell out and become grunge just to get a recording deal. One day a band was in spandex and makeup and the next they are trying to write abstract lyrics and sing like Layne Staley. Trust me, alot of the grunge bands never heard of Seattle until Nirvana, Melvins, Mother Love Bone started to get popular. Soundgarden was a big reason the grunge movement went far. Also Cortney always wanted to be in the spotlight and would hang out with the big names, Cobain just wanted to enjoy life. She was not around back then with him, but the song reflects his ideas of life.
12. anonymous

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    Apr 6th 2011 !⃝

    The song is an example of existentialist theory.
    
    "One of the clearest examples of a self-aware existential statement in grunge rock can be found in Kurt Cobain, one of the fathers of the modern grunge movement. Kurt used disconnected lyrics and garbled vocals to assault established structures. In this way he was able to communicate a message of anti-structure without hypocritically using a cohesive lyrical system to do so. For the instrumental side of his work, he incorporated coincidental elements of musical performance, such as feedback, which had traditionally been considered undesirable. This was a kind of auditory rust that acted as an extension of the anti-structure message."
    
    http://mirificampress.com/permalink/why_its_cool_broken_disheveled
13. anonymous

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    Apr 1st 2011 !⃝

    while this could be a drug song for sure - it could have a more sinister meaning and it could be sexual in nature
14. anonymous

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    Apr 1st 2011 !⃝

    This is about a time when kurt was going to a birthday party. When he asked what he should wear, the person said come as you are.
15. anonymous

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    Mar 21st 2011 !⃝

    Come as you are is biblical like come ye who are weary and heavy laden; I agree with a lot of you maybe he was tired of his fame/lifestyle. Doused in mud, cept in bleach...We are dirty/sinful in nature and made white as snow via Christ Jesus. Take your time, hurry up, choice is yours don't be late....There is an appointed time for everyone to die; we never know, but God's time is not late it is the appointed time. Maybe he knew and he was kind of asking/saying. After all, all life boils down to just a choice. When I swear that I don't have a gun...I agree, nothing to hide, but also but he really meant he didn't have a gun, that it wouldn't be purposeful on his part that his life would end...maybe he knew. As a trend, as a friend...His fame was a trend for some, in Christ he was a friend.

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