Song of the Day 2/16: Ryan Adams, “Wonderwall”

Ryan Adams has found himself in a world of trouble for something rock stars used to consider one of the perks of the job: Smutting around with underage girls. The New York Times gave Adams the full #metoo treatment this, interviewing several aspiring young musicians plus Adams’ ex-wife, actress Mandy Moore, who all painted pretty much the same picture of an emotional manipulator and would-be svengali who promised access to success but turned controlling and petulant when he didn’t get what he wanted. The FBI is investigating his interactions with one young woman who was 14 when she and Adams started text-messaging.

Just in case this means Adams’ music will be blacklisted from here on out, I wanted to post what I thought was his most compelling song, and it’s one he didn’t even write. But his acoustic take on the Oasis classic peeled away its wall of sound to reveal the haunted core of the song.