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Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be;
As a friend, as a friend, as and old enemy.
Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late.
Take a rest as a friend as and old memori-a,
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a
Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach, as I want you to be;
As a trend, as a friend as an old memori-a, memori -a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
As a friend, as a friend, as and old enemy.
Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late.
Take a rest as a friend as and old memori-a,
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a
Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach, as I want you to be;
As a trend, as a friend as an old memori-a, memori -a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
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Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be; =[I want you to be yourself]
As a friend, as a friend, as and old enemy.=[describing our love-hate relationship]
Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late. =[take how ever long you want, but you will regret it if your late.]
Take a rest as a friend as and old memori-a
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, =[as it says take a rest.; relax, heal, regenerate, sleep, *make yourself at home* for you are a friend and a rival.(memoria: Memoria was the discipline of recalling the arguments of a discourse; or Latin to English translation: memory) thus, i interpreted old memori-a as a reference to someone that was argued/debated with in the past.] (p.s. Kurt was very intelligent)
Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach, as I want you to be; =[for better or for worse, for sickness and for health, dirty/poor/GRUNGY/addicted/etc... or clean(bleach=white)/clean;sober/happy/rich/wealthy/comfortable, it does NOT make a difference to me i simply want you for YOU]
As a trend, as a friend as an old memori-a, memori -a, =[(same as above for this,in addition to;)as something that will only last for a short period of time before changing, or leaving.; or a "drifter"]
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun. =[No, i do NOT have weapons; argument/attack. I do NOT desire to harm you]
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, =[a rival, OR in this use; a memory of past argument, or even a fight.(memoria: Memoria was the discipline of recalling the arguments of a discourse; or Latin to English translation: memory) thus, i interpreted old memori-a as a reference to someone that was argued/debated with in the past.]
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun. =[reassuring that i do NOT desire to harm you in any way, and possibly I do NOT have any means to harm you. (based on the desire to reinforce the idea '...No, I don't have a gun.)]
[a note to the reader: I am aware this may seem to be "looked to deep into", but i would like to remind you that Kurt was a very intelligent and thought in a literal mind at times, but also often thought in a (metaphoric/symbolic) ABSTRACT manner. He also wrote in a mix of these different ways too. my interpretation is concluded from my own life experiences;Kurt's Journals;his interviews; and multiple biographies/documentaries, but better explained in words using definition/and "looking deep into it" explanations. Hope this is some use to you ^_^]
"Come ... as a friend, as an old enemy" (mixed feelings about the relationship)
"Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late" (Passive-aggressively saying you want them to do what they like when you really want them to do what you want)
"Come soaked in mud, doused in bleach, as I want you to be" (Placing unreasonable expectations on one's partner)
"And I swear that I don't have a gun" (Trying to get your partner to trust you, maybe?)
(if you want) Come as you are, (or) as you were, (but please come) as I want you to be;
As a friend, as a friend, (or at least) as and old enemy.
(i dont want to pressure you so)Take your time,
(or) hurry up, (im kindly leaving you the opportunity to choose)
the choice is yours, (but god i really need a friend so) don't be late.
Take a rest (in peace,with me) as a friend (or as an old memory;meaning the old good days when things weren't this confusing)
as an old memori-a,
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a
Come doused in mud,
(he means:come dirty,i don't care about those things,im doused in mud too.)
soaked in bleach, (or soaked in bleach cause i don't blame people that are influenced by the nowadays society. it's not your fault.*cause saying soaked in bleach he means that their not themselves.)
as I want you to be;
(cause yeah i want you to be like that, you dont have to be anything else,and i can't change you anyway.)
As a trend, as a friend as an old memori-a, memori -a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
(he means,i won't see you like a competitor like some other people said; or
i'll take you friendly and you can feel safe with me.we're not enemies.)
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
There's a similar deconstruction of the friend/enemy binary because the two terms are identical (mud/bleach may stand for black/white in perceptions). I think "I don't have a gun" has to do with denying that constitutive antagonism creates difference. It's an invitation to come and fuse without boundaries into a single field of becoming, but it's left unclear whether the invitation is to a real possibility or if, in fact, the antagonism is unavoidable.
I wrote the song about what it would be like to be famous, and draw so much attention of all kinds to oneself. Its about anticipating both good and bad, friend and enemy, being drawn to oneself as the result of fame. Its about dreading ones old mistakes returning to haunt them once famous, attracting old enemies, and its like a peace offering , an olive branch. Come doused in mud , soaked in bleach references the two extremes of impurity or purity, friend or foe, its saying 'come as a friend' and all will be forgiven and forgotten. I swear that I don't have a gun is an assurance that there is no war to be fought over unresolved conficts from the past. I wrote it for Cobain after seeing him briefly at the Banff Springs Hotel annex and writing the lyrics to what Cobain later named Smells Like Teen Spirit for him. 'Take your time, hurry up, choice is yours, don't be late' is nothing profound. He knows he's going to be famous and everyone he's ever known is going to rush forward with their memories and opinions of him at that point, and he can take it or leave it. A clearer wording would be 'take your time or hurry up, choice is yours'. All of you reading so much astral plane space time stuff into this are overdoing. Don't be late is a wry commentary on how he set it all in motion to begin with, so he's got the upper hand, they move in response to his rise. That's about it. HE wants his fame to greeted in a friendly manner, and doesn't want to be seen as a threat, so he's saying he accepts everyone as they are.
IF you want to know the complete meaning of the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit, look up 'The true story behind the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit'. You'll know the full meaning and history of the lyrics and why I wrote them and how I gave them to Cobain. Enjoy.
Trumpelstilt
Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be;
(him saying be who you were before you changed and it got bad and be who I want you to be, expressing how he's aware of his selfishness)
As a friend, as a friend, as and old enemy.
(I think friend is quite sarcastic and maybe the word his ex used to describe what they are now knowing that they could never just be friends, the old enemy part referring to all the fights they had and how it did cause them to hate each other)
Take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours, don't be late.
(this is him being so unsure of what he wants and just kind of over thinking and confusing things kind of him saying I know you're going to hurt me so do what you want)
Take a rest as a friend as and old memori-a,
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a
(telling her to rest with him, not to speak about all their problems and think about their memories)
Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach, as I want you to be;
As a trend, as a friend as an old memori-a, memori -a,
(this is him saying be any way you want because he'll still love her by using the metaphor of two opposite things then the trend going back to being cynical by suggesting that he was good for her image and was just a trend to her)
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
Memori-a, memori-a, memori-a, memori-a,
And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
No, I don't have a gun.
(this is him telling her that he's not going to kill himself because of her, answering her question saying that he doesn't have a gun and he's not going to do it but they both kind of know its a lie)
come
1as you are
2as you were
3as i want you to be
1as a friend (come as you are as a friend)
2 as a friend (come as you were as a friend)
3 as an old enemy (come as i want you to be as an old enemy)
continue the pattern and to each line. the meaning is murky but i think hes saying he knows his friend is going to betray him and he just wants to get it over with.
The song describes a true friend but then implies most people fake it because they're users. In the song, the person welcoming you as a friend appears to be open minded and generous but then contradicts it all. For example, your schedule should really fit his schedule, and you're just a trend to make him look trendy too, and you'll be kicked to the curb when you no longer serve this purpose. You can be dirty or clean (physically, emotionally or morally), but whatever it is, it needs to be useful to your so called friend. In other words, your value isn't determined by your true character and health, it's determined by what you can accomplish for your so called friend. He also talks about you once being an enemy but now has use for you for some reason; and just in case you suspect he might still harbor resentment and be shady, he swears he doesn't have a gun. Kurt himself had guns and said he wasn't afraid to use it, so he's implying somebody who claims to not have intentions of hurting you can't be trusted because a real friend will just simply be your friend instead of just saying they will be. In other words, earn your trust with your actions, don't buy it with promises. Yet, most people are just empty promises.
I know this is the complete opposite of what most people want to believe about the song. But Kurt was a very sarcastic and cynical person. Courtney Love says he had no real social friends and that he resented most people who considered themselves to be his true friend. He was a very grounded person who thought people didn't value the important things in life (like true friendship) and instead were shallow and often backstabbing. Most of his lyrics are contradicting and ambivalent, which is his way of being sarcastic and expressing his frustration and cynical views on humanity.
This song, like almost all his songs, is so ambivalent you could actually interpret it many ways. I think he does this not only for artistic purposes, but also to give the listener the freedom to feel the way they want to about it. But I think he believes in the cynical interpretation even though he wishes for the non-cynical interpretation.