“Come pick me up, take me out, mess me up, steal my records. / Lose all my friends, they’re all full of it, with a smile on your face, and then do it again.”
Do you recognize that song? When it first became clear that Nashville’s Paul McDonald was going to sing “Come Pick Me Up” — a Ryan Adams track and personal favorite from my angst-y years — I was excited. But then I remembered one of the reasons I like that song so much: It starts off as your average acoustic breakup number, but then Ryan starts cursing a lot on the chorus: “Come pick me up, take me out, fuck me up, steal my records. / Screw all my friends, they’re all full of shit. ... ”
Young people love this, as it feels edgy and true to their overwrought feelings (if I remember correctly). But, of course, this is Idol, so we were left with the hilarious, limp translation that reminded me of TV edits for R-rated movies.
The other factor that killed Paul’s performance was that songs have to be edited down to about a minute-and-a-half, allowing little room for storytelling and buildup — a key factor in that track. Maybe he should have sung “Tennessee Sucks,” introducing America to “Johnny B, weird and tall.”
The judges’ reactions to Paul and his lurching dance moves were priceless. From Jennifer: “I hope America gets it. I don’t know Ryan Adams, or that song. And I know a lot of music.” Then Randy, who never misses an opportunity to showcase his knowledge (it’s all he has) name-drops Whiskeytown and Wilco. Despite this strange, awkward performance (and a tan that could compete with Snooki's), Paul sails into the next round.
