Ryan Adams has never been one to stay in his own lane. Over the last year, we’ve seen him produce for Fall Out Boy, record a punk record, and write his own series of comic books, all while keeping up a prolific output as one of Americana’s greatest songwriters. Now, for his next oddball project, he’s covering Taylor Swift’s pop blockbuster 1989 — in the style of The Smiths.
“Guaranteed saddest version of ‘Welcome to New York’ ever – or your tears back,” captioned Adams of a lyrics sheet for 1989’s opening track. He’s since shared a brief Instagram snippet of the cover which definitely seems to confirm his description.
Based on his Instagram, Adams has recovered several more songs, including “Blank Space” and “Style”.
https://instagram.com/p/6B_BLWTDCT/
https://instagram.com/p/6CWEZEzDNy/
https://instagram.com/p/6B_IQbzDCY/
https://instagram.com/p/6CSD-ZTDIR/
Update – Friday, 8:15 a.m.: Adams has previewed his cover of “All You Had To Do Was Stay”.
https://instagram.com/p/6EyAakzDNj/
For her part, Swift seems particularly excited, tweeting to Adams, “Is this true??????? I WILL PASS OUT.” When Adams confirmed the project, she responded, “Cool I’m not gonna be able to sleep tonight or ever again and I’m going to celebrate today every year as a holiday. I’M CALM.”
During his world tour behind his latest self-titled solo album, Adams performed an array of random covers. Below, watch live performances of Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These” and Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69”.