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the story behind the song "Catcher in the Rye"


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"Catcher in the Rye" is the seventh track on the album "Chinese Democracy", released in 2008, and was written by Axl Rose and guitarist Paul Tobias.

The title is a reference to the novel of the same name writer JD Salinger, launched in 1951, and here in Brazil was translated to "The Catcher in the Rye." The book chronicles an end-of-week in the life of Holden Caulfield, a boy of seventeen coming from a wealthy family in New York, who after being expelled from Pencey College (boarding school for boys) for his poor academic performance, settles in Edmont Hotel decadent and your time is largely characterized by drunkenness, anxiety and alienation, reaching to catch a pimp because of a night with a prostitute that did not happen. Caulfield became the idol of a generation of young rebels and counted, including the boy Robert Zimmerman, future Bob Dylan, ran away from home sometimes inspired him.

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In 1992, Green Day released the album "Kerplunk" and brought a range inspired by that book called "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?".

In the movie "Conspiracy Theory", released in 1997, Mel Gibson plays the role of a psychotic cab driver who thinks everyone is against him and has a compulsion to buy every day the same book: "The Catcher in the Rye" .

In 1999, the guitarist of the band Queen, Brian May, collaborated with Guns N 'Roses in "Catcher in the Rye", but nine years later, shortly before the release of "Chinese Democracy", May was disappointed when he discovered that his contribution had been removed from the final version of the song, replaced by guitar parts new members.

Mark David Chapman, the killer of John Lennon, carried this book with him on the day he committed the crime, and besides having brought the book to Lennon "autograph" shortly before the shooting, said the work would have served as inspiration for the kill musician.

Another curious fact is that the gunman who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in 1981, said the same thing, namely, that the book would have taken the inspiration to kill the president, and Robert John Bardo, the killer of model and actress Rebecca Schaeffer , which also carried the book with him when killed.

http://whiplash.net/materias/curiosidades/208599-gunsnroses.html

"here in Brazil was translated to 'Catcher in the Rye'"... Duh, that's the original name of the book!

I love how a Brazilian is trying to teach American literature to Americans..... and these news are like 50 years old.

ZzzZzzz -.-

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It's definitely difficult to get a clear take, I think Axl actually said something like it's not something you're meant to get. It's not clear or airtight. It's kind of a shifting, moving meaning maybe even for Axl as part of him had to get into the mind set of the syndrome sufferer, maybe that's not as hard as we think. Then there's our interpretation of the song, I think most would on first take just see it as Axl complaining about something, in some ways that could be inclusive in the verses, if you have sympathy for his point of view, which is a misinterpretation but still happens to me. Axl and the fans against the world type of thing. Some critics just see it as Axl identifying with Holden. It's easily misunderstood. Maybe like One in a Million was. You've got to know the cinematic lyric style Axl is using. not unlike Paradise City lyrically the way it moves around different perspectives. "Not like you (Salinger) and unlike me (Axl)" seems to be a way to say Lennon was the special one that Salinger took away. Whether the point of the song should be more clear is hard to say, the outro tribute is really the crux of the song but the vast majority is kind of like the exploitation of the syndrome sufferer, early on it's a struggle or mapping out of the territory but it's easy to start enjoying it. And live Axl points to himself when he's singing as the syndrome sufferer. In Vegas the crowd are waving their hands in the air like they just don't care. It's like the most epic GNR Lies-style cover of Hey Jude ever. The more you think you understand it the less it makes sense.

"The more you think you understand it the less it makes sense."

this.

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"Catcher in the Rye" is the seventh track on the album "Chinese Democracy", released in 2008, and was written by Axl Rose and guitarist Paul Tobias.

The title is a reference to the novel of the same name writer JD Salinger, launched in 1951, and here in Brazil was translated to "The Catcher in the Rye." The book chronicles an end-of-week in the life of Holden Caulfield, a boy of seventeen coming from a wealthy family in New York, who after being expelled from Pencey College (boarding school for boys) for his poor academic performance, settles in Edmont Hotel decadent and your time is largely characterized by drunkenness, anxiety and alienation, reaching to catch a pimp because of a night with a prostitute that did not happen. Caulfield became the idol of a generation of young rebels and counted, including the boy Robert Zimmerman, future Bob Dylan, ran away from home sometimes inspired him.

1408288978.jpg

In 1992, Green Day released the album "Kerplunk" and brought a range inspired by that book called "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?".

In the movie "Conspiracy Theory", released in 1997, Mel Gibson plays the role of a psychotic cab driver who thinks everyone is against him and has a compulsion to buy every day the same book: "The Catcher in the Rye" .

In 1999, the guitarist of the band Queen, Brian May, collaborated with Guns N 'Roses in "Catcher in the Rye", but nine years later, shortly before the release of "Chinese Democracy", May was disappointed when he discovered that his contribution had been removed from the final version of the song, replaced by guitar parts new members.

Mark David Chapman, the killer of John Lennon, carried this book with him on the day he committed the crime, and besides having brought the book to Lennon "autograph" shortly before the shooting, said the work would have served as inspiration for the kill musician.

Another curious fact is that the gunman who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in 1981, said the same thing, namely, that the book would have taken the inspiration to kill the president, and Robert John Bardo, the killer of model and actress Rebecca Schaeffer , which also carried the book with him when killed.

http://whiplash.net/materias/curiosidades/208599-gunsnroses.html

"here in Brazil was translated to 'Catcher in the Rye'"... Duh, that's the original name of the book!

I love how a Brazilian is trying to teach American literature to Americans..... and these news are like 50 years old.

ZzzZzzz -.-

It was translated to "Apanhador no Campo de Centeio"
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Axl Rose on Catcher:

For me the song is inspired by what's referred to sometimes as Holden Caulfield syndrome. I feel there's a possibility that how the writing is structured with the thinking of the main character could somehow reprogram for lack of a better word some who may be a bit more vulnerable, with a skewed way of thinking and tried to allow myself to go what may be there or somewhat close during the verses. I'd think for most those lines are enjoyed as just venting, blowing off steam, humor or some type of entertainment where it may be how others seriously live in their minds.

The bridge b4 the solo is an artistic interpretation of a institutionalized mind. The outro is a tribute to Lennon and an indictment of the author for writing what i feel is utter garbage and I agree whole heartedly that it should be discontinued as required reading in schools. That's my take, I could be completely wrong, I do realize that the song and title could have the next poor soul reading the book and feeling inspired to make an unfortunate statement. So there's the catch I guess.

When I came up with the focus, I got a call from the director of Imagine wanting a bunch of money to make a documentary, had a guy sending me strange packages about Lennon and serial killers etc and the web started calling me Salinger w/no one knowing what I was writing. I figured I was on the right track at least for a song.

Bless Axl, one day he may say something without going the long way round.

I have yet to read Catcher in the Rye and I hope the band play it live if they ever visit England again.

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Wasted has a great interpretation :thumbsup:

Yeah, that last post should be pinned imo lol.

Should be somehow transported along with Axl's explanation to the page of CITR in the CD booklet immediately, where's Fernando when you have a somewhat progressive idea for GNR these days??

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Wasted has a great interpretation :thumbsup:

Yeah, that last post should be pinned imo lol.

Should be somehow transported along with Axl's explanation to the page of CITR in the CD booklet immediately, where's Fernando when you have a somewhat progressive idea for GNR these days??

In a meeting. Fuck. Don't you know anything? -_-

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Wasted has a great interpretation :thumbsup:

Yeah, that last post should be pinned imo lol.

Should be somehow transported along with Axl's explanation to the page of CITR in the CD booklet immediately, where's Fernando when you have a somewhat progressive idea for GNR these days??

In a meeting. Fuck. Don't you know anything? -_-

Maybe they are discussing the meaning of catcher in the rye, this would be a valid excuse he could offer us, now that wasted has solved the impossible conundrum they might have changed the focus of the meeting to the sequel. Let's ask wasted his solution to this problem. Heck let wasted join the inner circle like del james, he might even get promoted to manager and oust fernando.

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Wasted has a great interpretation :thumbsup:

Yeah, that last post should be pinned imo lol.

Should be somehow transported along with Axl's explanation to the page of CITR in the CD booklet immediately, where's Fernando when you have a somewhat progressive idea for GNR these days??

In a meeting. Fuck. Don't you know anything? -_-

Maybe they are discussing the meaning of catcher in the rye, this would be a valid excuse he could offer us, now that wasted has solved the impossible conundrum they might have changed the focus of the meeting to the sequel. Let's ask wasted his solution to this problem. Heck let wasted join the inner circle like del james, he might even get promoted to manager and oust fernando.

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Not sure of the back story - but I think it's one of the 5-6 best GnR songs of all time.

What's your take on the song? From the reactions at the live shows it seems to work as just a great sing along.

Also I wonder how the song relates to Axls own experience with his personal stalker.

I'm not sure how many songs there are about this issue and with such a tribute to Lennon. It's kind of a ballsy move to put a song out like this. You could imagine a who do you think you are type response from some. It's a big topic to tackle.

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It's the kind of song where you see how much of a driving force Axl was behind the more ambitious GNR cuts and how he pushed everyone else to get into his lane and it really did benefit the music as much as it eventually tore the old unit apart that had built that platform for Axl to stand upon.

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Where do Coma and Locomotive fit into all this? Seems Slash would do a long metal track like Coma but didn't want to do the more Elton Queen epics so much. Maybe it's style and balance. One epic piano ballad but 10 is 9 too many? Those guys are punk rockers in my eyes with Slash more hard rock classic rock. To me Catcher is like the most epic GNR Lies song they did.

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Where do Coma and Locomotive fit into all this? Seems Slash would do a long metal track like Coma but didn't want to do the more Elton Queen epics so much. Maybe it's style and balance. One epic piano ballad but 10 is 9 too many? Those guys are punk rockers in my eyes with Slash more hard rock classic rock. To me Catcher is like the most epic GNR Lies song they did.

Like there should be a studio acoustic version too like You're Crazy. What's the real Catcher? both of them. Slash can do epics alright. Kinda Metallica meets Gn'R (in a good way) Like One, but only not as depressed, with dat Gn'R fuckery.

Don't know if you can call it balance, cause it's not really balanced, other then Appetite. But it was Izzy led. In UYI a different member wins and gets to sit on one musical chair per song. Sometimes they get the balance by accident it seems. And sometimes it's only 2 members getting to shine really.

Edited by Rovim
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Yeah I don't think balance was an issue because on UYI there kind of was between rockers n ballads. Maybe that wasn't allowed to happen on what would become CD, but I can only assume it would have happened again. So I don't know why this was a problem.

In terms of a sequel, my theory is that Catcher is the song about subjectivity and on the next one the flip side will be Atlas Shrugged, a song of objectivity. Maybe with an Ayn Rand intro spoken word.

Edited by wasted
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This is a great thread. Having never seen these Axl Rose Q&A's, my assumption was that Axl was referring to himself and relation to the media/fans. "If I thought that I was crazy, I guess I'd have more fun." But, a lot of it was lost on me. Pretty cool how he broke it down for us. Next time I hear it, I'll have a better framework to listen on. It's a great song though. Fun to sing. I always thought it had an intangible regretful sadness to it. It inspired me to the book and I enjoyed it. I related to and admired Holden's brutal honesty about how he saw the world and the people in it, their motives for doing the things they do, and his opinions of the small details in life, albeit from an adolescent frame of mind.

Edited by majormayhem
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This is a great thread. Having never seen these Axl Rose Q&A's, my assumption was that Axl was referring to himself and relation to the media/fans. "If I thought that I was crazy, I guess I'd have more fun." But, a lot of it was lost on me. Pretty cool how he broke it down for us. Next time I hear it, I'll have a better framework to listen on. It's a great song though. Fun to sing. I always thought it had an intangible regretful sadness to it. It inspired me to the book and I enjoyed it. I related to and admired Holden's brutal honesty about how he saw the world and the people in it, their motives for doing the things they do, and his opinions of the small details in life, albeit from an adolescent frame of mind.

Axl thinks the book turns people into killers. But there is some slippage between Axl/Syndrome sufferer in the verses. It's very hard to not take it as Axl singing about himself without prior knowledge.

It's like Hey Jude. What's that song about until you know find out more about the song? And Catcher is more obtuse than that. On the live DVD the fans are waving their hands for the Na na na parts and I take those as the Suffers crazy mind swirling; a state of delusional ecstasy. It's a State of Delusional Ecstasy, players. Here's Pamela with Sports.

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This is a great thread. Having never seen these Axl Rose Q&A's, my assumption was that Axl was referring to himself and relation to the media/fans. "If I thought that I was crazy, I guess I'd have more fun." But, a lot of it was lost on me. Pretty cool how he broke it down for us. Next time I hear it, I'll have a better framework to listen on. It's a great song though. Fun to sing. I always thought it had an intangible regretful sadness to it. It inspired me to the book and I enjoyed it. I related to and admired Holden's brutal honesty about how he saw the world and the people in it, their motives for doing the things they do, and his opinions of the small details in life, albeit from an adolescent frame of mind.

Axl thinks the book turns people into killers.

So what does he think a song like Back Off Bitch or OIAM does? I love him, but he really is an idiot. :lol:

Edited by magisme
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"And then the voices went away from me... Took our innocence...

Sometimes the only thing we counted on when no one else was there"

Is he referring to Lennon's murder in this verse or has the sufferer had an awakening, that he's lost an identity, and can see his former self clearly?

Edited by majormayhem
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"And then the voices went away from me... Took our innocence...

Sometimes the only thing we counted on when no one else was there"

Is he referring to Lennon's murder in this verse or has the sufferer had an awakening, that he's lost an identity, and can see his former self clearly?

Maybe both? To me, it's about Lennon, and his presence, and the loss of his protection. He was like the catcher for "normal" people in general. When he died, our innocence as a society was lost. But with a song like this, could mean anything really, and I mostly get my shit wrong heh.

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