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Has any musician ever addressed what their untimely death or suicide would be like the way Axl did on Coma?


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They'll be callin' in the morning
They'll be hanging on the phone
They'll be waitin' for an answer
But you know nobody's home
And when the bells stop ringing
It was nobody's fault but your own

There were always ample warning
There were always subtle signs

 

I mean, that final verse almost feels like a threat

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24 minutes ago, AxlsFavoriteRose said:

 nooo that can't be right, EVERY song has to have deep meaning. i mean look at Spice Girls Wannabe or Hanson's MMMbop! :D

Wannabe has a clear meaning  'if you wannabe my lover you gotta get with my friends', thats a clear invitation to an orgy!

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I take it as the way the world of the early 90s would react to the news of Axl being discovered dead.  They want information, they want answers to questions.  But no one is home and there was always signs pointing to this happening

Edited by Caught_in_a_Coma
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One thing I dont get if this is autobiographical is Axl referring to "subtle signs" that he's unwell. Not so subtle there Axl!

Axl wrote the lyrics after an intentional over dose. Was in a domestic dispute and wanted that situation to end, so he gobbled a bottle of pills.  He doesn't call it an attempted suicide, but a dr would record it as such.  So, yes there is every reason to believe these lyrics are about suicide.  

This particular lyric "nobody's home" always struck me as more like a term for being mentally unwell.  Also, this is when some phones had bells as ringers.  So I thought it was about letting success go to waste because of not being able to handle the situation.  Being badgered into silence by all the invasive media demands and then forgotten about because you aren't able to respond?  Thats how Ive understood the section of lyric.

But, yes the song is inspired by a real life attempted suicide/intentional overdose.  He doesnt wanna come back to this word again!

EDIT:  forgot the question being asked by OP:  I think theres a Beatles or John Lennon lyric the people feel eerily describes his murder.

Edited by soon
forgot the question
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The entirety of Alice in Chains' Dirt. The whole album is pretty much about impending doom from addiction. 

And Nutshell from Jar of Flies.

Damn Alice in Chains were so fucking good.

Edited by AlexC
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I always thought that Coma was Axl's message to Slash in part? Or he's talking to himself. It seems like the fear of what will happen. Axl survived his Coma but when he came back he wrote a warming. Or is he blaming someone else for his death? 

I remember something about Joy Division's songs being all predictions about Ian Curtis' future and he made them come true.  Whether his lyrics were as overt as "Bells stop ringing" not sure. 

I guess In Utero even Nevermind have lyrics and imagery that forebodes. But depending on how you intrepret Coma, there's more I feel like dying. 

To me the "they gave you too much time" line made me think it was directed at someone, rather than about himself or what another will think of his death. 

 

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And I wish that I could help you with what youhope to find but I'm still out here watching reruns of my life

To me that's Axl talking to someone else who's an addict. The outro rant is a warming or plea to that person. Imo

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3 hours ago, wasted said:

And I wish that I could help you with what youhope to find but I'm still out here watching reruns of my life

To me that's Axl talking to someone else who's an addict. The outro rant is a warming or plea to that person. Imo

I always thought the last part was about Adler, particularly as how it all begins with "maybe we'd be better off without you anyway".

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2 hours ago, Silverburst80 said:

I always thought the last part was about Adler, particularly as how it all begins with "maybe we'd be better off without you anyway".

It could be anyone they'd be better off without. Or just said out of frustration. It's one for Axl's question time. 

And you said that no one's listening when your best friend dropped their dime? Slash/Todd Crew? 

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41 minutes ago, wasted said:

It could be anyone they'd be better off without. Or just said out of frustration. It's one for Axl's question time. 

And you said that no one's listening when your best friend dropped their dime? Slash/Todd Crew? 

It could be a about many people all at once perhaps, Axl had moved on from hard drug use by then but of course many of the people he associated closely with had not. Maybe the "It's so easy to be social, It's so easy to be cool" was a nod to West Arkeen.

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1 hour ago, Silverburst80 said:

It could be a about many people all at once perhaps, Axl had moved on from hard drug use by then but of course many of the people he associated closely with had not. Maybe the "It's so easy to be social, It's so easy to be cool" was a nod to West Arkeen.

Yeah it could have been about all of them. Axl seems self aware, self conscious. Axl has penchant for adding different perspectives to songs like One in a Million or Catcher, Rocket Queen in the outro. 

1 hour ago, Słash said:

b86962c944a8ec3aed29df2a4beb0e9a605b7c37

"Give me Leonard Cohen afterworld, so I can sigh eternally"

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