Live Like a Suicide Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 (edited) This just crossed my mind as i was listening to the song. As we all know, Chinese Democracy has a minute-long introduction which involves a repeated track of chatter in a foreign language (likely Mandarin). I was wondering if anyone has actually tried translating it and seeing what it says? Any ideas? People might tell me to fuck off with the CD discussion, but i think it's an interesting topic. Edited July 20, 2017 by Live Like a Suicide Clarifying title and discussion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateRadio Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 It explicitly describes why Axl hated Slash, and the real reasons for the CD wait. It's basically Axl's Get In The Ring II baby, of sorts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombux Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I remember from some old thread that somebody tried translating it, I remember that there was a repeating line saying "this can't be happening" or "this is not possible" or something like that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live Like a Suicide Posted July 20, 2017 Author Share Posted July 20, 2017 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucketfoot Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uzi your illusion Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I remember this discussion from before where the end result was allegedly something like "What's wrong with you child? Are you bewitched" Not sure how true that is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourMother'sDruthers Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 It's an actual sound bite of Axl ordering a chili cheeseburger in China, everyone knows that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w6a6x6l6 Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 It says "all he wants to do is have sex,sex,sex....all the time....I can't take his shit any more" 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby845 Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 44 minutes ago, w6a6x6l6 said: It says "all he wants to do is have sex,sex,sex....all the time....I can't take his shit any more" Coma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 55 Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 3 minutes ago, scooby845 said: Coma? Nah, that was from that Phineas and Ferb song Slash played on. REAL fans know that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uzi your illusion Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Wagszilla said: I thought I remember reading it said "say something"... "you can't something something if you don't say something". As you can tell my memory isn't exactly crystal here. It was definitely something close to that combined with what I wrote earlier about asking if the child had been bewitched. I never thought about it before, I always just thought it sounded mysterious and cool. But it could definitely be about the public wondering why Axl went silent for all those years. And wondering what was wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underhardy Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 1 hour ago, Wagszilla said: Yeah, could be. The unreleased artwork is the key that opens pandora's box on the meaning behind the album and songs and what Axl was thinking. The reason why I like the record is because it's really abstract but that booklet kind of fills it all in IMO. Can you elaborate on what you think about the alt. artwork? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soon Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 (edited) (to the question and possible answers in general. I'm embarrassed to have never even wondered) Edited July 22, 2017 by soon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadSlash Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 I was dating a girl who was a translator at the time and I asked her what they were saying, she said it was just gibberish, not like a conversation or a story, just random words and phrases. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapidfire Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 I'm of chinese ethnicity, and I can confirm that I don't understand a thing from it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live Like a Suicide Posted July 22, 2017 Author Share Posted July 22, 2017 Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-W.A.R- Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Something about masturbating in chinese stew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cantona Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 In the right channel there's some old lady yelling what sounds like ''mun bážán du'' which means ''I'll shoot you'' in my language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManetsBR Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 3 hours ago, Wagszilla said: The alternative booklet contains four crucial things which in my view signify the meaning of the album: (1) the note how Chinese Democracy was his summer project in 1997 and with the help of some friends he was able to save his own life (2) the essay Fear N' Freedom which is Axl's commentary on China and a brief commentary on American democracy and (3) a story about his friend Riad explaining capitalism (4) the artwork itself In regards to the artwork itself, there's the controlling red hand on Chinese Democracy and anguished face on Madagascar, the former which is essentially about the combination of hate and nihilism in a totalitarian state and the latter is essentially about overcoming and personal redemption. Those are the two sides of the coin that I think he was going for. Something about the duality of man, sir! Then there's Slash and Matt Sorum as the conjoined skeleton twins on Sorry. Putin and Mao's homoerotic relationship, etc. In short, I think Axl was thinking about the changing musical landscape (growth of electronica/industrial), the geopolitical landscape (America as the aging superpower, the rising Chinese and Russian influence), and more with the making of the record. I think the record is purposefully abstract and that all these elements got thrown into a blender but what Axl was thinking about at the time. My hypothesis is that CD II was the angrier of the two, a commentary on the futuristic hellscape, rising paramilitary, and so forth. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Great fuckin post, Wagszilla. Brilliant intepretation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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