(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Ryan Adams says his music is like "cold medicine".

The American singer is aware his brand of alternative music isn't for everyone. He doesn't mind if some people criticise him as he knows others will be listening to his songs daily.

"It's taken me a long time to realise, but I'm not cool," he explained. "I'm not! My music is like liquid cold medicine. You don't want it at dinner, or at the pool, or ridin' in your car. Because it's not for that. The music I make is for a special type of symptom. And if you've got it, you'll get it."

The star is happy not to be viewed as popular. Even as a child he realised he wasn't one of the trendy children, which he partly puts down to his upbringing.

He doesn't have a close relationship with his mother and father and spent a lot of time with his grandparents when he was growing up. That meant he was learning to crochet and read Reader's Digest, the antithesis of many of his contemporaries.

"My grandparents were my friends," he explained to the December edition of Q magazine. "So by the time I finally had friends I was a f**king weirdo." (C) Cover Media