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

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 27th 2011 !⃝

   It is simply explained by a favorite quote of mine... kurt simply is stating "I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 25th 2011 !⃝

   In the second verse he's talking about heroin.
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 23rd 2011 !⃝

   Its about an addict who is getting ready to shoot up. The addict is talking to himself or maybe a friend (the drug) who (it) is about to relieve him of his withdrawal: "As a friend,As an old enemy."
   "Take your time,Hurry up,...Don't be late." is referring to the pinprick having to be just right with anticipation. He refers to the satisfaction, "As an old memory, ah.", that drives him to do the drug and then satisfying his withdrawal again. In his addiction he realizes that he has lost all control of himself stated in the verse, "The choice is yours." All along he is hoping that his addiction will end shortly which can be found in the verse: "As a trend."
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jan 7th 2011 !⃝

   I guess I'm the conspiracy nut here. It's just that in the unplugged performance there were some very bad vibes going on! To me, both Kurt and Dave looked totally pissed the whole time. It got me thinking what if by saying "I don't have a gun" he literally meant "I don't have a freaking gun, so don't believe them when they say I shot myself!" I don't know just a thought - and from somebody whose enjoying some nirvana half baked so don't pay too much attention to me.. :D
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 18th 2010 !⃝

   I think it's Kurt saying just because I'm a rockstar with shit loads of money and fame it doesn't mean I have changed the way I am (i.e I don't have a gun) it doesn't mean he has guns and bling to show it.
6. cityflavah

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 12th 2010 !⃝

   I definitely thought deadrockstar's interpretation was really really interesting and I would have to agree with the majority of it. Deadrockstar said that he believes "come as you are, as you were, how I want you to be" is in reference to using. And to add to that theory the three lines our in themselves reasons to get high...
   
   to be ourselves - "come as you are"
   to deal with the past and/or go back to the past - "as you were"
   or to escape who we are - "how I want you to be"
7. kimmi

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 26th 2010 !⃝

   okay the person who put the one about kurt cobain living under a bridge you need to get your facts straight. he never did that and if u say its because of the song "something in the way" then u need to do some research its about what teens go through and how they feel. come as you are is a song with power it makes life seem so simple. it also makes me think about all the bad things that happen and things we go through and how most of us have no one to talk to about it, and kurt was saying that he was not gonna judge u "no i dont have a gun" try listening to it on a sad rainy day and think about all the crap you've been through and you will see where im comming from. R.I.P kurt you will be missed!
8. kimmi

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 22nd 2010 !⃝

   i love this song and i listen to it most of the ime mostly because it reminds me a lot of my like. im a 15 year old teenager but ive had it worse then u could imagine. this song makes me feel better about the past because he is saying hide nothing and regret nithing. the song itself is beautiful and i makes all the bad things in life seem beautiful.
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 2nd 2009 !⃝

   Every mortal being is nothing but "dust and mud.."...A man lives and eventually dies..fades into emptiness..thats what 'come as you are' about come in the world as we have been sent and depart as we were. This is whole idea of "nirvana"-a sanskrit word. May Kurt wanted to mock our human chauvinistsm.
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Sep 28th 2009 !⃝

    The thing is, Cobain did not write this song, so he should not have lied and said that he did write it.
    
    The lyrics were given to him when he was in Calgary, Alberta a year before he formed Nirvana.
    
    The song was originally worded as 'Memorabilia' , not 'Memoria'.
    
    "As a friend . As a trend. As I know its memorabilia."
    Those were the original words, and if you listen closely, he does say 'memorabilia' at times during it. btw, its pronounced "mem-ra-bi-lia"
    
    The song was about stepping out onto the world stage to be judged, and trying to make peace with that, to not be seen as a threat, to be allowed to be heard.
    
    It was written because the same person who wrote Smells Like Teen Spirit knew that the song was going to be a major hit, and whoever recorded it was going to have to be prepared, so both songs were written on the same sheet of paper, and that is the paper that was slipped under Kurt's door.
    
    For more information search 'the true story behind the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit, or see this link:
    
    http://www.topix.com/forum/who/nirvana/TAP8NSTHB7L2O1R6T
11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Sep 11th 2009 !⃝

    well first of all who ever said that a gun being a dick is wrong. this is how it goes...
    come as you are- just come as yourself
    as you were- before you became somthing your not
    as i want you to be- exactly how he wants you to be
    as a friend- as a friend
    as a trend- when your so trendy that you become a trend like everyone else
    as an old enemy- he doesnt care if you WERE his enemy just wants you to become his friend
    doused in mud sept in bleach- he doesnt care what you look like
    take your time hurry up choice is yours dont be late- just mixed feelings, second thoughts
    and i swear that i dont have a gun no i dont have a gun- he wont judge you in any way because he wasn't perfect himself
    
    
    im the person who qouted before this one sorry i didnt put any spaces this is the easier one to read

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Sep 11th 2009 !⃝

    well first of all who ever said that a gun being a dick is wrong. this is how it goes...
    come as you are- just come as yourself
    as you were- before you became somthing your not
    as i want you to be- exactly how he wants you to be
    as a friend- as a friend
    as a trend- when your so trendy that you become a trend like everyone else
    as an old enemy- he doesnt care if you WERE his enemy just wants you to become his friend
    doused in mud sept in bleach- he doesnt care what you look like
    take your time hurry up choice is yours dont be late- just mixed feelings, second thoughts but hurry up and make the choice to become his friend
    
    and i swear that i dont have a gun no i dont have a gun- he wont judge you in any way because he wasn't perfect himself
13. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jul 15th 2009 !⃝

    except, when Kurt wrote it, Nirvana was still underground. Nevermind wasn't out yet. and besides, Kurt himself said later on in his life that he was aggravated by everyone constantly trying to analyze his lyrics for hidden meanings, because he would often write them as last resorts. Perhaps the song is just a part of himself that he threw out there that we all find meaning in.
14. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jul 7th 2009 !⃝

    My feeling is simple. This song is about people who pretend to be someone else.
    
    Some important part of this song that might prove my interpretation.
    
    Doused in mud - you might come to someone doused in mud but at least you are yourself. I guess, Kurt was kind of a 'dirty looking 'person because it was up to him when it was about the whole grunge scene which he (as he mentioned) hated/didn't accept. People took it like he was pretending to be himself while he was getting more and more popular. In other words, he was mad at himself being a commercial musician because he wasn't himself any more.
    
    Mainstream is the shit.
15. Dreamerswrite

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jun 26th 2009 !⃝

    Come As you are
    As you were
    As I want you to be
    
    As a friend
    As a friend
    As an old enemy
    
    ***He wants himself to move toward who or what he wants himself to be, but he makes reference to the fact of who he is now, and remembers who he once was. Which was:
    Come as you “ARE” = who he is now – being his own friend
    As you “WERE” = an old enemy
    As I want you “TO BE” = a friend but moving toward self-love.
    
    “Take your time” = Telling himself to take his time and let his life move at it’s own natural pace.
    ”Hurry up” = Telling himself to hurry up because he can’t sit still and he feels he’s running out of time.
    **He is always conflicted in his thought process
    
    “The choice is yours” = He knows the choice is up to him
    ”Don’t be late” = He feel’s it’s rude to be late
    **He knows he has choices but doesn’t want to let himself down or anyone else.
    
    Take a rest = He knows that he needs to rest
    As a friend = If he is his own friend he will take that rest, so he is testing himself.
    As an old memory = He remembers pushing himself to extremes that caused breakdowns in his emotional state. So he is really trying to remind himself to slow down.
    
    · Memory ah
    Memory ah
    Memory ah
    
    Come Doused in mud = He feels that he is trapped in a dirty mess, such as a challenge or problem in his life. - But he still wants to move toward his goal.
    Cept in bleach = Pre*CEPT - a rule for action or behavior, especially obtained from moral consideration – Bleach is a metaphor for cleaning up the challenge or mess in his life that holds him back. From a moral standpoint he feels that he should strip away the dirt, but realizes in doing it with bleach it will cause deterioration in his psyche for constantly having to fix what he has broken. Or clean what he has made a mess of.
    
    Also, Sus*CEPT*ible is easily influenced or harmed by something
    
    As I want you to be = “As a friend” He wants his ego to be his friend instead of his nemesis
    **As a trend = He wants to be able to change his learned behavior of undoing what he had done. Kind of like building oneself up, then doing something stupid and tearing oneself down.
    
    In the zodiac chart Pisces are known for creating something great and then destroying it. They are deep thinkers and tend to use metaphors and abstract thinking. They can take a sentence and make it mean 2 or 3 different things. There is the surface level, which is obvious to everyone, and there is a meaning that goes beyond the obvious.
    
    **As a known memory ah = He want to make himself aware that he builds himself up and tears himself down into a memory that is very aware of so he will stop the self-defeating behaviors that he is unable to break, by stating “Memory ah” over and over through out the song.
    Memory ah
    Memory ah
    Memory ah
    
    And I swear
    **That I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t try to disrespect himself or others.
    **No I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t know how to protect himself emotionally.
    **No I don’t have a gun = He is stating he is not an aggressive person.
    
    Memory ah
    Memory ah
    Memory ah
    Memory ah {don’t have a gun}
    
    And I swear
    That I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t try to take his own personal power away from himself. It’s strictly part of his personality traits.
    No I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t want to harm himself or others
    No I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t want to see himself as a victim or anyone else
    No I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t feel like a man, because of his conflicted personality.
    No I don’t have a gun = He doesn’t feel the need to dominate others.
    
    {memory ah}
    {memory ah}

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)