Come Upstairs

Album: Come Upstairs (1980)
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Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Simon has reconnected with a guy after some kind of get-together, possibly a high school reunion. She invites him upstairs, laying out the plan: "We'll have a few laughs... We'll take a bath... You can stay overnight."

    We're guessing this dude will accept the offer.
  • Many of Simon's songs deal with the nuances of love, but she could also write some saucy songs that are simply about the carnal side. "Come Upstairs" is an example, as is "All I Want Is You." So it wasn't always clouds in my coffee; sometimes the metaphors were a lot more lusty. Witness:

    I'll give you some wood
    And I'll give you some fire
    I'll give you myself
    And I will show you my desire
  • Simon wrote the lyrics and composed the music with her producer, Mike Mainieri, who gave the song a synthy sound that was just starting to emerge in 1980. It was an early use of a Prophet-5 synthesizer, which Paul McCartney used on "Wonderful Christmastime" a year earlier.

    This venture into electo-pop felt a little out of place for Simon, but it didn't define the album. The hit single was "Jesse," which was right in her lane.

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