TombRaider Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) Is One in a Million really a racist song? Granted, it has the n-word and it also says a couple of horrible things about immigrants. However, I tend to see it in a different way. Maybe it's because I learned English as a second language and words don't really mean the same to me as they do to those of you who learned English as children. And by that I mean that even if you learn what words mean when you learn a foreign language, you experience them differently, from a semantic point of view. For instance, as controversial as the n-word may be in the US, to me it doesn't sound offensive at all, even if I know what it means. But maybe that's because the n-word doesn't evoke in me anything beyond a concept I once looked up in a dictionary. But that's not the point. I've always thought that One in a Million is not a racist song, in the sense that Axl doesn't hate African Americans, immigrants and homosexuals. I've always thought that the lyrics are told from the perspective of a character that Axl is playing when he wrote or sang the song. And even if he did think that way back when he wrote the song, he is just telling us the way he saw the world back then, through the eyes of a small town white boy, who didn't know any better. I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say here. It's like, sometimes you say horrible things about people or about stuff, and you don't really mean it. You're just repeating what you've heard other people say, even if you know what those words mean and you're aware of their destructive power. A lot of people use the n-word or use racial slurs every once in a while, but I don't think that necessarily makes them racists. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. And isn't Slash's black? And hell, Beta is from Brazil. Where there a lot of immigrants and African Americans where Axl came from? Maybe that's the kind of stuff people would say around him when he was growin up and he just learned to say that stuff. Any thoughts on the lyrics? And by the way, why the hell is it called One in a million? Edited July 22, 2013 by TombRaider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosaj Thing Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) Nah, it's not. But I believe back in the late 80s there was a lot of controversy about racism.A reckless white boy saying fag gots and nig gers in a song. Uhm, that's not good, is he famous? Yeah, sort of. Let's give him shit then.Should Axl have released that? No, he ruined OIAM with his nonsense. Edited July 22, 2013 by Nosaj Thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bran Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Is One in a Million really a racist song? Granted, it has the n-word and it also says a couple of horrible things about immigrants. However, I tend to see it in a different way. Maybe it's because I learned English as a second language and words don't really mean the same to me as they do to those of you who learned English as children. And by that I mean that even if you learn what words mean when you learn a foreign language, you experience them differently, from a semantic point of view. For instance, as controversial as the n-word may be in the US, to me it doesn't sound offensive at all, even if I know what it means. But maybe that's because the n-word doesn't evoke in me anything beyond a concept I once looked up in a dictionary. But that's not the point. I've always thought that One in a Million is not a racist song, in the sense that Axl doesn't hate African Americans, immigrants and homosexuals. I've always thought that the lyrics are told from the perspective of a character that Axl is playing when he wrote or sang the song. And even if he did think that way back when he wrote the song, he is just telling us the way he saw the world back then, through the eyes of a small town white boy, who didn't know any better. I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say here. It's like, sometimes you say horrible things about people or about stuff, and you don't really mean it. You're just repeating what you've heard other people say, even if you know what those words mean and you're aware of their destructive power. A lot of people use the n-word or use racial slurs every once in a while, but I don't think that necessarily makes them racists. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Any thoughts on the lyrics? And by the way, why the hell is it called one in a million?Great post ! And I agree with the "characterization'" point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trqster Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 No, it's just a very lyrically honest song Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDRE Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 hell fucking yeah.fuck off axl with this song. this isn't "your" country.No, it's just a very lyrically honest songsure its honest.but it's still racist and homophobic.no excuse and I think Slash's retarded ass should be chastised for it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll_tj1 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 No. That song touches a ton of "taboo" topics. It's the whole point of the song. And it's a great song by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaider Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 Why is it called One in a Million though? A lot of people I know think it's a love song or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood Gunner Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Much easier than quoting him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnRDuff1 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Why is it called One in a Million though? A lot of people I know think it's a love song or something. When I hear it, I tend to think that he is switching from 1st to 2nd person. The chorus ( "you're one in a million, yeah that's what you are. you're one in a million babe, you're a shooting star. maybe one day we'll see you, before you make us cry. You know we tried to reach you, but you were much too high") is (to me) the sarcastic, snide comments made by the people back in the white boy's small town. It's as if they're saying, "yeah, you take that greyhound. I'm sure you'll be a huge rock star. Yeah, okay." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BITCHSLAPRAPPIN234 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 No. stupid immature topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosaj Thing Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 stupid immature topic."Bitch slap rapping" plus "234", yeah, very mature and definitely not stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaider Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmapelian Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 No more so than the hundreds of rap tune's that use the "n" word or gay slur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaider Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 it's different though. An African American using the n-word in a rap song is totally different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManetsBR Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 On Used To Love Her he sings about how he killed his annoying girlfriend and burried her on his backyard. But no one keeps calling him a murderer.On Sympathy For The Devil he plays the Devil himself, - in a much more perversive and appropriate way than Mick Jagger, by the way - but well... He's not the Devil!I don't think that's cheap logic, it's a valid logic.There's a major difference between the "I" and the "lyrical self", something also knowsn as Persona.Back on the Dark Ages, in Portugal, there were some poems called "Love Ditty", when men sang about their beloved women, and there were also the "Friend Ditty", when a woman would sing about missing her man. But, Friend Ditties were often written by men. A great brazilian musician called Chico Buarque has a song in which he "plays" a woman. It's not hard to understand, it's a characterization.One In A Million is sang by a persona. Slash is kind of black, Axl's family is brazilian, the Guns N' Roses drummer is black, Axl is a major Queen and Elton John fan... It's just polemic because it talks about taboos, not stuff that you know it's not truth, like Axl killing his girlfriend or he actually being the Devil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Used to Love Her was written about a dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaider Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 About a dog? Really? I thought it was a joke song about a bitchy girl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 About a dog? Really? I thought it was a joke song about a bitchy girl It was written about Axl's dog, according to Slash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManetsBR Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 When did Slash say that? His book? I read it but I don't recall that information.Anyway, that doesn't make my logic any less valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaider Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 @EvH omg... haha.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Yes it was a racist song. Yes it's an amazing song. No it shouldn't ever be performed live again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfierose Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Yes it was a racist song. Yes it's an amazing song. No it shouldn't ever be performed live again.This. Perfectly sums it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDRE Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 No more so than the hundreds of rap tune's that use the "n" word or gay sluryep cause Axl was most certainly using those words in the same context as most rap artists. *sarcasm* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nambis Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 About a dog? Really? I thought it was a joke song about a bitchy girl It was written about Axl's dog, according to Slash.No it wasn't, that's a myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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