GNR Women's discussion

[Frey]

5 hours ago, stella said:

As to the rest of it...I honestly think that some of the folks here are so fixated on their fantasy of an Axl-Slash slash relationship that they are going to find a way to make any and all of the lyrics about that. Yes, Slash meant a lot to Axl. Yes, they had a very intense love-hate relationship, went through a lot of major life changes together, and yes, Axl obviously was very angry at Slash. But a lot of very good friends go through that, and Slash is NOT, by a long shot, the ONLY person that left Axl during that time period. What's the count we have of people he lost either throguh death or friendships ending during the 90s that we know about? Stephanie, Dylan (who we know Axl was very attached to), Duff, Slash, West Arkeen,, Shannon Hoon, the status of GnR as a leading band, his biological mom, so on...that's a shitload of loss for one person to cope with. Some of those, such as his mom, must have been especially difficult because of the conflicting emotions he had about her. In the early 2000s add Earl and Robert John and some of the industry sorts. And then we have all the rumors of his poor health in that time frame too, and you have a dude who has basically lost almost every single thing in his life that is important to him...pretty much ALL of his known close friends other than Del; his career; his health; his sense of security. 

IMHO it's silly to look at all that and think that CD or a song like Madagascar is all about any one person.

And I honestly think you're simplifying things. I don't have any particular want or need for CD songs to be about Slash, but in the case of Madagascar, the song being about the band and/or Slash is just what makes the most sense to me, going by everything we know. All the other possibilities you mentioned, yes, could be, but looking at the song as a whole, at the entire context, they just don't fit as well, so my best guess is going to be that the song is about the band and some of it might be specifically about Slash.

Also who is making any and all lyrics about Axl and Slash's relationship? The only song that is routinely claimed to be about Slash is Sorry, and a few others like Madagascar, Street of Dreams, Prostitute and I.R.S. recently (though that was mostly tongue in cheek) are also speculated to be about the band and/or Slash. Maybe. So that's what? 3 or 4 songs on an album that has 14 songs on it?

Considering what a huge part of Axl's life the band is and how hard he took the band's break up, I really don't think 3 or 4 songs potentially dealing with these issues out of 14 songs is all that impossible or hard to believe.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by Frey

[Blackstar]

About Madagascar:

I think Axl's intention was to give the song a universal dimension (hence the samplings from MLK and movies that bring up themes as justice, freedom, brotherhood, the cause of hatred etc) as much as a personal one (hence the verses, the specific selection of some quotes and their arrangement in this particular way, which is certainly not random). He was also fully into the new age/Yoda stuff and his "spiritual quest" for inner peace when he wrote it (see the Phoenix airport incident and quotes from people he was associated with around that time), so imo it has to do with that as well; it's about loss (and self loss) and the willingness of surviving it, being freed from the bonds of the past, moving on and finding a path in life.

The title could be about all the losses Axl had gone through (the band, friends who died, the women he loved, his family) that took away a big piece of him, but combined with some of the lyrics, the interpretation of it as an allegory of the break up of the band seems plausible to me. I don't think that the song is about Slash, but I agree with @Frey, @giuls, @lilacmess and @Lumikki that certain lines most likely are (not all they mentioned), especially the MLK quote "he promised never to leave me/not leave me alone" (but I don't exclude the possibility for it to be about all the people that left him one way or another). The first Braveheart quote "all men betray/all men lose heart" may be about both Slash and Duff and the second "I don't wanna lose heart/I wanna believe" may be Axl's answer that he's not like them, he believes in the band and he'll go on even alone. The latter quote, as well as others, like the "failure to communicate" one, may have double meaning, both generalized (analogous to its use on Civil War) and personalized (about the lack of communication in the band). I don't agree about the "brotherhood" quote line, though; I don't think it has anything to do with Slash or the band.

I won't be told anymore,
that I've been brought down in this storm,
And left so far out from the shore,
That I can't find by way back, my way back anymore.

Axl was left alone and he was told that he would be lost by himself, but he found the willingness to find his way out of depression and move on.

Forgive them that tear down my soul,
bless them that they might grow old,
And free them so that they may know,
that it's never too late.

The first step to move on is putting the past behind and forgiving, so he forgives the people who "teared his soul", including the band I assume (as we know, in reality he did anything but forget and forgive ); he wishes them to be well and some day to be freed (from their weakness?) and find their way as he did (yeah, right) because "it's never too late".

For the many times, what seemed like a memory,
I've searched and found the ways,
You used to lure me in,
Oh, I found the ways, oh, why it had to be,
Marred in denial, and so afraid.

I can't think of any other person this part could be about apart from Slash and Stephanie, and I agree that it's more likely about Slash. It fits not only with the "negatively seductive" quote, but also with the way Axl reviewed their relationship after the breaking up: Slash "lured him in" by making him believe that he was his friend, that they shared the same dreams about the band etc, but it was all a lie from the start; and even when Axl started to realize it, he was "marred in denial" about it and he was afraid to believe it.

If we ever find it's true,
that we have a strength to choose,
Oh, freedom or all the chains
We held together.

This part seems to be again about him finding the strength to move on from the past, but it's also about the people's power to choose to be free in general.

3 hours ago, Frey said:

Considering what a huge part of Axl's life the band is and how hard he took the band's break up, I really don't think 3 or 4 songs potentially dealing with these issues out of 14 songs is all that impossible or hard to believe.

Exactly. And these interpretations/speculations about the lyrics (at least on my part, but I believe I speak for most people here) don't have anything to do seriously with a romantic or gay approach of the relationship.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Blackstar

[stella]

5 hours ago, giuls said:

Actually, Madagascar is an old song, i'm taking the quotes from Chinese Whispers "[Youth] had "four or five" spells working with Rose in [1998]. [...] 'I went to his house and we started writing songs, strumming guitars in the kitchen', says Youth. and In CD's liner notes, Youth is credited for some preproduction work on Madagascar. Sure enough, that track had come about by then. So he was still very much enmashed in the new age idea and not because he had changed people to believe in he stopped believing in the idea itself by then. 

Well, we analized IRS recently and we splitted between it being about Erin or Stephanie (i joked about Slash but i said i thought it was about Seymour) and the people you're listing that were in life before 1998 don't really make sense for this particular song, i don't deny Axl was hurt by other people but we're talking about Madagascar, plus, we're joking about Slaxl, i may have made a Slaxl club membership card but we aren't forming a super-villians association (or are we? )

Hoon and Arkeen died, they don't have any chains linking them together (the verse in the song is in present tense)  and did they ever distanced himself from Axl before they died? (I won't be told anymore/that I've been bought down in this storm) because i don't know about Hoon but Slash said Axl was the closest to West among GNR.

Stephanie, i already analized why i don't think it's about her, the song has the word brotherhood in it.

His biological family, minus his sibilings, they weren't really here to tell him he was lost in the storm and he can't find his way back home, to how the things were, Axl was in contact with only his sibilings, the chain were broken.

and this is the third? time i say that it could be about the band in general but there are verses that we think relate to Slash specifically. (As an non-sequitur, it never seemed to me that between Axl and Duff there was much vitriol? not near the level that was between Slaxl, anyway).

*throws up hands* I think you're taking this song way too literally. Nobody had to TELL Axl he was "lost in the storm."

Nobody's *saying* Hoon and Arkeen have any chain linking *them* together; just that they were both very good friends of Axl and they both died young and due to drugs before 1998. West in particularly died horribly - that had to have affected Axl. If you listen to the 2006 interview with Eddie Trunk he's emotional when talking about West's death, and that was a good ten years later. As for Shannon Hoon, one of the rumored reasons that "Don't Cry" was out of the set for such a long time was because of its link with Shannon on vocals, and Axl didn't want to think about that during the show. He cared deeply about both of those guys.

Axl was not close with his mom at all, but reportedly he and his siblings DID see her before she died, and it's not a stretch to think that there may have been a lot of conflicting feelings there.

One more very, very large point about people who were bashing Axl or "holding him back" here: the lawsuit with Stephanie, where Erin was forced to come in, were mid-90s. And then Erin sued him too. So there was Axl in a court of law hearing people going on about what a monster he had been to his exes. That was going on around the time of the Oklahoma bombing in 1995. Adler's lawsuit against the band had also been wrapped up in IIRC 1992 or 1993, which was fairly recent.

In the late 90s, word on the street about GnR and a lot of other 80s and early 90s bands wasn't very good at all - that they were all washed up, etc. You did not hear GnR music or see people wearing GnR shirts particularly often. A lot of rock clubs were closing. Axl and the others had been trying to make something new for five years by that point.

My point is that it doesn't have to be about any one person and IMHO it probably isn't; it's likely about all of it. He had lost a LOT of people, girlfriends, AND his bandmates, AND his reputation in the music industry, by 1998. He was a recluse by then, for several years. People go into major depression sometimes when they lose one person who is close to them or close a job. All of that COMBINED would likely lead ANYONE to feel lost, isolated and alone, and as though they'd been abandoned.

Edited September 29, 2016 by stella

[stella]

3 hours ago, Frey said:

And I honestly think you're simplifying things. I don't have any particular want or need for CD songs to be about Slash, but in the case of Madagascar, the song being about the band and/or Slash is just what makes the most sense to me, going by everything we know. All the other possibilities you mentioned, yes, could be, but looking at the song as a whole, at the entire context, they just don't fit as well, so my best guess is going to be that the song is about the band and some of it might be specifically about Slash.

Also who is making any and all lyrics about Axl and Slash's relationship? The only song that is routinely claimed to be about Slash is Sorry, and a few others like Madagascar, Street of Dreams, Prostitute and I.R.S. recently (though that was mostly tongue in cheek) are also speculated to be about the band and/or Slash. Maybe. So that's what? 3 or 4 songs on an album that has 14 songs on it?

Considering what a huge part of Axl's life the band is and how hard he took the band's break up, I really don't think 3 or 4 songs potentially dealing with these issues out of 14 songs is all that impossible or hard to believe.

Nope, I'm not simplifying things at all. I think those who are so set on Madagascar, etc. being all about Slash are the ones simplifying things by not looking at the greater context of ALL the bad things that were happening in Axl's life at that time, as well as what the actual source material for the sampled dialogue is. I feel as though the Slaxl stuff here gets taken way too far sometimes, stops being fun and starts being something people honestly believe.

If you want to think Madagascar is some eulogy to Slash you're more than welcome to do so - but it doesn't mean others will not have differing points of view and express them.

Edited September 29, 2016 by stella

[giuls]

4 hours ago, stella said:

*throws up hands* I think you're taking this song way too literally. Nobody had to TELL Axl he was "lost in the storm."

Nobody's *saying* Hoon and Arkeen have any chain linking *them* together; just that they were both very good friends of Axl and they both died young and due to drugs before 1998. West in particularly died horribly - that had to have affected Axl. If you listen to the 2006 interview with Eddie Trunk he's emotional when talking about West's death, and that was a good ten years later. As for Shannon Hoon, one of the rumored reasons that "Don't Cry" was out of the set for such a long time was because of its link with Shannon on vocals, and Axl didn't want to think about that during the show. He cared deeply about both of those guys.

Axl was not close with his mom at all, but reportedly he and his siblings DID see her before she died, and it's not a stretch to think that there may have been a lot of conflicting feelings there.

One more very, very large point about people who were bashing Axl or "holding him back" here: the lawsuit with Stephanie, where Erin was forced to come in, were mid-90s. And then Erin sued him too. So there was Axl in a court of law hearing people going on about what a monster he had been to his exes. That was going on around the time of the Oklahoma bombing in 1995. Adler's lawsuit against the band had also been wrapped up in IIRC 1992 or 1993, which was fairly recent.

In the late 90s, word on the street about GnR and a lot of other 80s and early 90s bands wasn't very good at all - that they were all washed up, etc. You did not hear GnR music or see people wearing GnR shirts particularly often. A lot of rock clubs were closing. Axl and the others had been trying to make something new for five years by that point.

My point is that it doesn't have to be about any one person and IMHO it probably isn't; it's likely about all of it. He had lost a LOT of people, girlfriends, AND his bandmates, AND his reputation in the music industry, by 1998. He was a recluse by then, for several years. People go into major depression sometimes when they lose one person who is close to them or close a job. All of that COMBINED would likely lead ANYONE to feel lost, isolated and alone, and as though they'd been abandoned.

I was trying not to reapet myself saying they didnt distance themself from Axl by writing only the verse, i had already said that while talking about West and Shannon, he was the one that distanced himself, no-one talks like that in real life so i thought it was clearl i didn't mean that they told him the exact words, my bad.

The thing is, he may have tried to write universally like @Blackstar said but the song betrays he was thinking about a specific situation, imo, in the part that was most "universal" the copy-pasted together speech that feautures a civil rights activist and movies, he goes from talking about humanity, a specific He, humanity as a whole again, it would be like you talking about how stealing is bad then you suddendly talk about John stealing your bag and back again to people who steal are bad, it's not universal, the rant was about John and you were thinking about the specific situation while doing it, it wasn't actually general.

Even the rest of the song, you can abstract the core message of moving on but it seems oddly specific to me? There was someone that distanced himself by leaving him alone and ascribing the fault to Axl, they destroy his soul, the person used to lure him in, and he still feels chained to them, they have both, the person and Axl, have to find the streight to move on.

This is a very specific way to loose someone, imo, he describes the way they got away and the way Axl feels and it doesn't apply to Arkeen, Hoon, his family, Adler was fired he didnt lure Axl in anything, maaaybe Stephanie but he feels like he's chained to her and they both have to let go ? Stephanie let go the minute she left him and they suited each other, i wont call them chains, plus, the song doesn't really give me "love lost" vibe.

 

So yeah, not so general,  to me it centres around the band with verses specifically about Slash, it was already said by others, but is it really that hard to believe he wrote more than one song about the band and some verses about Slash when Axl was in this very forum to talk about ChiDem but everyone asked about the reunion and feud with Slash so we don't know that much, think about how bombarded he must have been in 1998 with it, it's normal he would write about it.

[killuridols]

A quick recollection of events of a whole decade that may have inspired Axl to write his CD lyrics. I think all of these events are depicted and analyzed in one way or another in different CD songs, in single verses or the whole lyrics. Remember there's a bunch of songs never released that may be part of trilogies, sequels or prequels to what we were presented in CD, as it is Axl's usual way of working in pieces or by "episodes".

1990
- Axl marries Erin under violent circumstances (according to Erin).
- Axl threatens to divorce one month later.
- The whole 'Yoda' crap begins.
- Steven Adler gets fired.
- Erin miscarriages the only baby we've ever known he's procreated.
- Axl arrested for assaulting his neighbor.
- Erin finally leaves Axl for good upon alleged battery.

1991
- Marriage with Erin annulled.
- Axl breaks his foot during the warm-up shows for their UYI tour.
- The band is recording UYI and all the pressure that comes with it.
- St. Louis riot takes place.
- Lots of cancelled shows after that.
- Starts dating Stephanie Seymour.
- Izzy leaves the band.
- The UYI albums are released.
- Steven Adler files lawsuit against the band.

1992
- UYI tour continues in Northamerica and Europe.
- Problems with Stephanie begin. Axl attacks Warren Beatty during show in Paris.
- Axl reveals his childhood traumas on interview with Rolling Stone magazine. Also reveals the regression therapy and other things related to psychics.
- Axl sings 'One' by U2 and 'Since I don't have you' as intros to SCOM. I've been told these were messages for Erin (because he was having trouble with Steph and wanted back)
- During several shows of UYI tour Axl rants about Izzy. His obsession with Izzy's departure is very similar to what he felt for Slash years later.
- Tour co-headlining with Metallica begins and there are problems with Axl. Montreal riots.
- Axl and Nirvana exchange not so nice words. He realizes Kurt Cobain hates him and is very disappointed by it.
- Axl is arrested for the St. Louis riots from 1991.
- Axl is publicly mocked by Nirvana members during the VMA's show.
- Axl burns Nirvana hat during show.
- Stephanie Seymour allegations of being beaten up by Axl during failed Christmas party.

1993
- Axl officially broke up with Stephanie. Seymour gets pregnant from Peter Brandt same month she and Axl called it off.
- Beta Lebeis moves in with Axl.
- UYI tour continues but stripped down. Now its called 'Skin n' Bones'
- The script for 'Estranged' video now has to be changed because Steph and Dylan are no longer around.
- Axl talks shit about James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
- Lots of cancelled and re-scheduled shows.
- Izzy returns temporarily to replace Gilby Clarke.
- After Izzy leaving again, Axl returns to rant about him during shows. Obsession.
- Axl sues Stephanie Seymour for DV (lol) and for her to return thousands of dollars in jewelry.
- Stephanie sues him back and subpoened Erin Everly to back up her case.
- 'The Spaghetti Incident?' album is released.
- Steven Adler's lawsuit settled out of court.

1994
- Erin files DV suit against Axl. Erin is also pregnant with her first child of Atlanta's businessman Jack Portman.

1995
- Shannon Hoon dies of overdose (10/21)
- Axl and Erin see each other in courtroom for the DV allegations.
- Gibly Clarke sues the band.

1996
- Axl's mother passes away (05/28)
- Slash leaves the band in October.
- Axl starts working on 'Chinese Democracy'.

1997
- West Arkeen dies of overdose (05/30)
- Matt Sorum is fired off GN'R
- Duff McKagan leaves the band in August.

1998
- February, Axl gets arrested at the airport in Phoenix, AZ.

1999
- Axl hired all new people for Guns N' Roses. Only Dizzy remains.
- 'Oh My God' is released.
- 'Live Era 87-93' is released

More evidence on CD being about all of these people, altogether or separetely:

"So many times, I have come down to the studio, and I had no idea that I was going to be able to," Rose told Rolling Stone last November as he played twelve new tracks. "If you are working with issues that depressed the crap out of you, how do you know you can express it?" - RS, 2000
"A frequent visitor to the studio says. "When Stephanie Seymour's birthday came around. Axl seemed to shut down for weeks. A lot of this record is about Stephanie: She was his perfect woman, at least his im­age of what she should be."  - RS, 2000

He likes to think he makes all the decisions in his life, yet he listens carefully to New Age counselors. He feels like the world revolves around him, but he refuses most requests to speak publicly about himself. He believes in justice, but he doesn't believe he has to be fair. He can be an incisive observer of human weakness in his songs, yet when it comes to his own conduct, he has little perspective. "Axl's really easy to hate, and he doesn't understand why," a friend observes. "He lives in a fantasy world, a parallel universe. He's self­centered, like a child, but not so naive. When he calls, all he wants to talk about is his record and how Interscope can't fix things for him." - RS, 2000

"Axl Rose did not seek a new environment for inspiration or salvation. He only looked inward. He went home, retreating to an airless room from which he has yet to emerge." - RS, 2000

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/articles/showarticle.php?articleid=32

[Słash]

@Italian girl I guess she was just on a holiday lol

[MillionsOfSpiders]

@Dexter What's Madagascar about? We need to know. TIA.  

 

 

[SerenityScorp]

20 minutes ago, MillionsOfSpiders said:

@Dexter What's Madagascar about? We need to know. TIA.  

 

 

 

 

[Italian girl]

42 minutes ago, Slash787 said:

@Italian girl I guess she was just on a holiday lol

alone? mh  too strange

[Lumikki]

8 hours ago, Blackstar said:

About Madagascar:

I think Axl's intention was to give the song a universal dimension (hence the samplings from MLK and movies that bring up themes as justice, freedom, brotherhood, the cause of hatred etc) as much as a personal one (hence the verses, the specific selection of some quotes and their arrangement in this particular way, which is certainly not random). He was also fully into the new age/Yoda stuff and his "spiritual quest" for inner peace when he wrote it (see the Phoenix airport incident and quotes from people he was associated with around that time), so imo it has to do with that as well; it's about loss (and self loss) and the willingness of surviving it, being freed from the bonds of the past, moving on and finding a path in life.

The title could be about all the losses Axl had gone through (the band, friends who died, the women he loved, his family) that took away a big piece of him, but combined with some of the lyrics, the interpretation of it as an allegory of the break up of the band seems plausible to me. I don't think that the song is about Slash, but I agree with @Frey, @giuls, @lilacmess and @Lumikki that certain lines most likely are (not all they mentioned), especially the MLK quote "he promised never to leave me/not leave me alone" (but I don't exclude the possibility for it to be about all the people that left him one way or another). The first Braveheart quote "all men betray/all men lose heart" may be about both Slash and Duff and the second "I don't wanna lose heart/I wanna believe" may be Axl's answer that he's not like them, he believes in the band and he'll go on even alone. The latter quote, as well as others, like the "failure to communicate" one, may have double meaning, both generalized (analogous to its use on Civil War) and personalized (about the lack of communication in the band). I don't agree about the "brotherhood" quote line, though; I don't think it has anything to do with Slash or the band.

I won't be told anymore,
that I've been brought down in this storm,
And left so far out from the shore,
That I can't find by way back, my way back anymore.

Axl was left alone and he was told that he would be lost by himself, but he found the willingness to find his way out of depression and move on.

Forgive them that tear down my soul,
bless them that they might grow old,
And free them so that they may know,
that it's never too late.

The first step to move on is putting the past behind and forgiving, so he forgives the people who "teared his soul", including the band I assume (as we know, in reality he did anything but forget and forgive ); he wishes them to be well and some day to be freed (from their weakness?) and find their way as he did (yeah, right) because "it's never too late".

For the many times, what seemed like a memory,
I've searched and found the ways,
You used to lure me in,
Oh, I found the ways, oh, why it had to be,
Marred in denial, and so afraid.

I can't think of any other person this part could be about apart from Slash and Stephanie, and I agree that it's more likely about Slash. It fits not only with the "negatively seductive" quote, but also with the way Axl reviewed their relationship after the breaking up: Slash "lured him in" by making him believe that he was his friend, that they shared the same dreams about the band etc, but it was all a lie from the start; and even when Axl started to realize it, he was "marred in denial" about it and he was afraid to believe it.

If we ever find it's true,
that we have a strength to choose,
Oh, freedom or all the chains
We held together.

This part seems to be again about him finding the strength to move on from the past, but it's also about the people's power to choose to be free in general.

Exactly. And these interpretations/speculations about the lyrics (at least on my part, but I believe I speak for most people here) don't have anything to do seriously with a romantic or gay approach of the relationship.

Great post, @Blackstar! I agree with basically all of that.

Though I'd add that (assuming that verse is about the band or also about the band among other more generalized meanings) the "And free them so that they may know, that it's never too late."  line always reminds me of something Baz said about Axl; that Axl would often say things like "You knever know, Baz. One day. Maybe one day..." about re-uniting/making up with Slash, Duff and co. in the early morning hours after nights spent partying. And then Axl of course recently also said that the reunion was always looked at as a possibility. A lot of people thought this was bullshit because of all the other shit he said about his band mates (and Slash in particular) in the past, but I can believe it. What you say in public when you want to project a certain image and save face is often very different than what you truly feel inside. So in that sense I could see a part of Axl always holding out hope that Slash, Duff and Izzy would come back to him "because it's never too late."

Of course the problem with that is (and which is really apparent in the entire verse which talks about forgiving them for tearing down his soul and about how they need to be freed to realize that it's not too late etc.) that Axl seemed to view it as a situation where he would graciously forgive them if they ever came crawling back to him after they'd been freed from whatever Axl thought their issues were. And they'd apologize to him for their sins (remember how Axl even wanted a public apology from Slash?) and everything would be alright again. It shows a real lack of self-awareness and and a lack of understanding that he wasn't innocent in this whole mess, just like in the quote @killuridols posted: He can be an incisive observer of human weakness in his songs, yet when it comes to his own conduct, he has little perspective. "Axl's really easy to hate, and he doesn't understand why," a friend observes. "He lives in a fantasy world, a parallel universe. He's self­centered, like a child, but not so naive.

And the chains verse (which is actually "Oh freedom or the chains / We held to together" according to the lyrics in the alternate CD booklets). If I'm looking at this verse from a band perspective instead of a general one, then these lines always make me think of how they tried to keep the band going, despite the fact that they were miserable. They were bound together by chains of a shared past and history, by a shared dream and also by business and legal reasons. They were miserable chained together like that, but they held on. And now Axl has "freedom" from all that (or at least he tries to tell himself that).

-----------------------------------------

@killuridols great post as well! Axl has always written about his own experiences for the most part, so I agree that many or most of these events have found their way onto CD songs (both released and unreleased) in one way or another. I see no problem at all in interpreting a lot of these songs as being about Erin, Stephanie, the band in general, Slash, Izzy, his family... All of these things seem to come through in various places and I don't understand why some people think it's strange that he would touch on these issues in multiple songs.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by Lumikki

[MillionsOfSpiders]

1 hour ago, SerenityScorp said:

 

 

As I suspected, it's about Lemurs having a dance party and Penguins wanna rule the world. 

[giuls]

What i think about some of the songs are about at the top of my head.

The band/Slash: Sorry, Madagascar, Prostitute, Street of Dreams

Erin/Stephanie/other women he may have romantic relationship i dont know about:

There was a time, This i love, IRS, If the World.

The others song i'm not sure or i dont remember the lyrics by heart  (im on the train and i can re-read them to analize them).

[Andy14]

Lol, we're analyzing Axl's lyrics like they were Shakespeare's plays. But they also have everything, there's love, hatred, betrayal, revenge, pain...

Keep going, it's an interesting reading, I might add something from my point of view later when I find the time to examine his lyrics properly

 

[Słash]

21 minutes ago, giuls said:

What i think about some of the songs are about at the top of my head.

The band/Slash: Sorry, Madagascar, Prostitute, Street of Dreams

Erin/Stephanie/other women he may have romantic relationship i dont know about:

There was a time, This i love, IRS, If the World.

The others song i'm not sure or i dont remember the lyrics by heart  (im on the train and i can re-read them to analize them).

I still think that The Blues/Street of Dreams is about Erin and Stephanie and not Slash. 

 

[Frey]

8 hours ago, stella said:

Nope, I'm not simplifying things at all. I think those who are so set on Madagascar, etc. being all about Slash are the ones simplifying things by not looking at the greater context of ALL the bad things that were happening in Axl's life at that time, as well as what the actual source material for the sampled dialogue is. I feel as though the Slaxl stuff here gets taken way too far sometimes, stops being fun and starts being something people honestly believe.

If you want to think Madagascar is some eulogy to Slash you're more than welcome to do so - but it doesn't mean others will not have differing points of view and express them.

No one said it's all about Slash except for you. A lot of people here seem to think the song is about the band and its break-up and some parts of it might refer to Slash specifically. Which is quite possible imo and seems much more likely to me than the song having anything to do with Shannon Hoon or whoever (except in a very general sense maybe). Other people are looking at all the things that happened to Axl too and to them the song being about the band is what makes the most sense and fits best with the lyics and everything else.

 

 

[Słash]

If The World is pretty hard to Analyze cause I guess I just can't feel the song, its like maybe he was bored when he wrote it lol 

It does have a thing towards Slash and Stephanie

Ok I am hearing the song now, yeah it does seems about Steph and even Slash. 

[MillionsOfSpiders]

3 minutes ago, Slash787 said:

If The World is pretty hard to Analyze cause I guess I just can't feel the song, its like maybe he was bored when he wrote it lol 

It does have a thing towards Slash and Stephanie

Ok I am hearing the song now, yeah it does seems about Steph and even Slash. 

It's like he didn't even bother to finish that one 

Blame Slash and Duff, they gave him the writers block curse. 

[Słash]

Just now, MillionsOfSpiders said:

It's like he didn't even bother to finish that one 

Blame Slash and Duff, they gave him the writers block curse. 

LOL

[Frey]

If The World is about TB/Beta.

Not only do the lyrics fit, but other stuff that has been mentioned points in that direction as well.

[Słash]

1 minute ago, Frey said:

If The World is about TB/Beta.

Not only do the lyrics fit, but other stuff that has been mentioned points in that direction as well.

Really that just makes the song creepy lol 

[Słash]

[Lumikki]

On 29.9.2016 at 0:26 PM, giuls said:

What i think about some of the songs are about at the top of my head.

The band/Slash: Sorry, Madagascar, Prostitute, Street of Dreams

Erin/Stephanie/other women he may have romantic relationship i dont know about:

There was a time, This i love, IRS, If the World.

The others song i'm not sure or i dont remember the lyrics by heart  (im on the train and i can re-read them to analize them).

Fun idea

Off the top of my head, CD era songs feel like this to me:

 

Erin/Stephanie/Other Women:

There Was A Time, This I Love, I.R.S. (?), Better (?), Street of Dreams (?)

 

The entire band and/or Slash:

Sorry, Madagascar, Prostitute, Street of Dreams (?), Better (?)

 

Axl's family (both his biological one and the Lebeises):

Oh My God, If The World

 

Social/Political Stuff:

Chinese Democracy, Rhiad and the Bedouins

 

Mental heealth issues (both Axl's own and other people's)/Axl being paranoid and feeling everyone is Out Ta Get Him:

Sorry, Scraped, Shackler's Revenge, CITR, Rhiad and the Bedouins

 

Songs with possibly no personal relation to Axl at all:

CITR, Shackler's Revenge

 

Some songs are in multiple categories because I'm not sure about what to think of them or because I can see more than one interpretation that make sense to me for these.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by Lumikki

[giuls]

34 minutes ago, Andy14 said:

Lol, we're analyzing Axl's lyrics like they were Shakespeare's plays. But they also have everything, there's love, hatred, betrayal, revenge, pain...

Keep going, it's an interesting reading, I might add something from my point of view later when I find the time to examine his lyrics properly

 

I find it a lot of fun, i always love doing analysis of text!

31 minutes ago, Slash787 said:

I still think that The Blues/Street of Dreams is about Erin and Stephanie and not Slash. 

 

My reasoning would the same as the first time we talked about it, i don't want to re-write what was already written.

17 minutes ago, Slash787 said:

If The World is pretty hard to Analyze cause I guess I just can't feel the song, its like maybe he was bored when he wrote it lol 

It does have a thing towards Slash and Stephanie

Ok I am hearing the song now, yeah it does seems about Steph and even Slash. 

What does remind you of Slash? I don't really see it

9 minutes ago, Frey said:

If The World is about TB/Beta.

Not only do the lyrics fit, but other stuff that has been mentioned points in that direction as well.

As in? Did Axl say something? I don't really see itX2

[Słash]

9 minutes ago, giuls said:

 

What does remind you of Slash? I don't really see it

 

If the world would end today 
And all the dreams we had 
Would all just drift away 
You know there's nothing more to say

It could mean the dreams he had with Slash to move forward but Slash backstabbed him. 

But there are high chances its about Stephanie cause the other lyrics are basically meant for Steph