When we first heard about a discussion between Ryan Adams and Mary-Louise Parker at the New York Public Library, it sounded too good to be true. Parker is not only one of the best actresses around (her turn in Angels in America has been unfortunately brushed aside in favor of her highly-entertaining lead role on Weeds), but also because Ryan Adams is one of our favorite songwriters (who happens to be an amazing quote machine).
Well, their literary chat actually did happen last week and now it’s available in glorious MP3 format for all to enjoy. I transcribed a couple quotes below, but I know why you’re here, so go ahead and right-click save as here (via NYPL, of course).
“You have to pay for giving a fuck,” Adams said in the almost two-hour chat, which loosely covers poetry, but also delves into Adams’ struggle with critics and detractors. “And you have to ‘cause people, they have energy for you because they’re just fucking terrified, and I’m speaking openly here, but there’s a table and there’s your balls and you can put them on the table or you can walk away and go into a comment box.”
He may have taken a “step back” from music after some struggles with the anonymous Internet hate machine, but Adams isn’t going to leave quietly (or at all, really). “Do I walk away because I’m not tough enough?” he asks. “Do I walk away because my name almost sounds like Bryan Adams? You know, who has great jams and has had huge success?”
Adams has already started a digital/vinyl record label, so we all know he isn’t leaving anytime soon, but get a load of this quote, hammering the point home:
I am surprised that I am not more jaded than I am, but there’s just something in me that says, every time someone goes, you know, “you should’ve stopped at Strangers Almanac,” or you know, ‘fuck you, Heartbreaker was the only good record you ever did,’ and there’s just this thing in me—that I’m always going to have, which i love—that just goes “Fuck You.” [applause] Which is why people call me David Ryan Making Friends Across America Adams.
He’s still making records, folks. And with who? D Generation frontman/solo artist/art auctioneer Jesse Malin (He mentioned that they were in the studio together recently).