One In A Million being erased from history

[Ratam]

5 hours ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

The lyrics are controversial, but it doesn't make them bad. I think the song is fantastic, and one of their best. It's a great semi-satirical and autobiographical look into the experience of a 'small-town white boy'  landing in a melting pot like LA for the first time. It can be offensive, but context matters.

But  sadly not many people are enough smart to read the context.

[Ratam]

6 hours ago, Rayno said:

Unfortunately you're right. Because the West is becoming less and less free and re-release of the song would destroy GNR credit (because of the media being full of PC fanatics).

To me it's one of their greatest songs, especially Izzy's guitar input is cool. As for the lyrics, they're embarassing sometimes, yes. Izzy hated the racist parts too. So did Slash. But if Axl would be brave enough to re-release in PC world of 2018, I would be impressed anyway. It would be an act of artistic freedom. Not gonna happen.

I think Axl act is  has responsibility ,i praise Axl for this, is sign of madurity.

[Its Tino]

I guess I needed, some time to get away. 

6 hours ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

The lyrics are controversial, but it doesn't make them bad. I think the song is fantastic, and one of their best. It's a great semi-satirical and autobiographical look into the experience of a 'small-town white boy'  landing in a melting pot like LA for the first time. It can be offensive, but context matters.

Someone gets it!!! Thank you. 

[Natty]

On 5.5.2018 at 1:47 PM, killuridols said:

And what is it? This song? (It's a genuine question, not attacking you )

I like the melody. Can t describe it better. and not being american the lyrics dont matter that much to me. the style and melody , tempo and voice and so on is everything. the music itsself.. For example I dont like Locomotive because I find the music boring.

[Rayno]

44 minutes ago, Ratam said:

I think Axl act is  has responsibility ,i praise Axl for this, is sign of madurity.

If maturity = trying to avoid controversy, then yes. But I do not believe that's the case and especially not when it comes to rock'n'roll.

[Rayno]

55 minutes ago, Ratam said:

But  sadly not many people are enough smart to read the context.

So? Should Ozzy avoid mentioning suicide in his lyrics because some stupid idiot could actually attempt it? Then I guess the only safe way is to sing about flowers. This is Guns N' Roses, pal.

[BadRain]

4 minutes ago, Rayno said:

So? Should Ozzy avoid mentioning suicide in his lyrics because some stupid idiot could actually attempt it? Then I guess the only safe way is to sing about flowers. This is Guns N' Roses, pal.

In a lot of ways, complaining about GNR lyrics from that era being offensive is a little bit like complaining about a song by Yes being too long. You kinda already know what you're getting ahead of time.

[killuridols]

43 minutes ago, Natty said:

I like the melody. Can t describe it better. and not being american the lyrics dont matter that much to me. the style and melody , tempo and voice and so on is everything. the music itsself.. For example I dont like Locomotive because I find the music boring.

Im not from the United States either but as a human being I can empathize with a black person, an immigrant and a homosexual because our essence is to be humans and we all have feelings and emotions, regardless of the skin color, sexual orientation or nationality.

I like the response from Vernom Reid (Living Colour) to Axl: 

, “Look, if you don’t have a problem with gay people, then don’t call them ‘f——. If you don’t have a problem with black people, then don’t call them ‘n——.’ I never met a n—– in my life. Peace.”
 

Spot on 👍

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by killuridols

[estrangedtwat]

If you don't like the song, don't fucking listen to it.  Don't tell people that do like that they can't.  Everyone's happy.

[ZoSoRose]

Music and melodies are great but the lyrics fucking suck. Total cringe. Its already on Lies, so who cares if it isnt on other releases?

[Blackstar]

A reader's letter to the L.A. Times, 1990:

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-07/entertainment/ca-2657_1_living-colour-axl-rose-vernon-reid

Vernon Reid and Axl Rose: Slur Wars

October 07, 1990

Regarding the Living Colour/Axl Rose conflict mentioned in Steve Hochman's Sept. 23 interview of Living Colour:

I don't know that the problem is. When it comes down to it, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid and Rose (of Guns N' Roses) seem to have very similar views regarding the use of slurs in songs.

In the Sept. 21 issue of BAM magazine, Reid is asked about his appearance on a Public Enemy song titled "Sophisticated Bitch." He says that although he finds the word offensive, he "knew where the song was coming from" and "didn't think it was supposed to be about all women, but a slag at a particular type of person in the community with a particular type of mentality."

Although I also find the word offensive and think it is overused/misused, I agree with him.

This is basically the same argument people like Rose, Ice Cube and Ice-T have used when questioned about racial/sexual epithets in their lyrics.

Reid has stated that he doesn't like it when a person of any race is the target of such words, but, as in the Times interview, Rose is the only person I've heard Reid refer to by name.

I know it would be difficult for Reid to understand where Rose was "coming from" when he wrote "One in a Million." If Reid could, maybe he wouldn't believe that the racial and sexual slurs used in that song were directed at all African Americans or gay people, but rather "a particular type of person in the community with a particular type of mentality." I think that Reid and others should try to put this song in perspective before making such harsh judgments about its writer.

MELISSA JOHNSTON

Redondo Beach

[Draguns]

I always bust my father's chops about this song. I tell him that Axl doesn't want immigrants like you and you need to go back to Yugoslavia. He's an American citizen since the 1970s. With that being said, the lyrics to the song can be cringeworthy. As a first generation American growing up in the 80s, I did hear people call my parents immigrants and other insults. It definitely captures the frame of mind back then. With that being said, I remain neutral on removing the song. There are pluses and cons to being "PC".  

[killuridols]

27 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

A reader's letter to the L.A. Times, 1990:

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-07/entertainment/ca-2657_1_living-colour-axl-rose-vernon-reid

Vernon Reid and Axl Rose: Slur Wars

October 07, 1990

Regarding the Living Colour/Axl Rose conflict mentioned in Steve Hochman's Sept. 23 interview of Living Colour:

I don't know that the problem is. When it comes down to it, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid and Rose (of Guns N' Roses) seem to have very similar views regarding the use of slurs in songs.

In the Sept. 21 issue of BAM magazine, Reid is asked about his appearance on a Public Enemy song titled "Sophisticated Bitch." He says that although he finds the word offensive, he "knew where the song was coming from" and "didn't think it was supposed to be about all women, but a slag at a particular type of person in the community with a particular type of mentality."

Although I also find the word offensive and think it is overused/misused, I agree with him.

This is basically the same argument people like Rose, Ice Cube and Ice-T have used when questioned about racial/sexual epithets in their lyrics.

Reid has stated that he doesn't like it when a person of any race is the target of such words, but, as in the Times interview, Rose is the only person I've heard Reid refer to by name.

I know it would be difficult for Reid to understand where Rose was "coming from" when he wrote "One in a Million." If Reid could, maybe he wouldn't believe that the racial and sexual slurs used in that song were directed at all African Americans or gay people, but rather "a particular type of person in the community with a particular type of mentality." I think that Reid and others should try to put this song in perspective before making such harsh judgments about its writer.

MELISSA JOHNSTON

Redondo Beach

Who is that speaking? 

The thing is that in OIAM, he uses PLURAL, so how are people supposed to understand that he didnt mean everybody but just one type of person? In order to do that you have to go reading every silly explanation Axl has given to the press about what he meant with each line. Its a nightmare and I dont see why people should spend their time doing that.

And even if he meant just one person, why to pick on one poor guy who has no other chance in life other than sell those things to probably feed his 6 children?

It is a mean thing to say. Its not understanding the struggle of others and having no empathy at all.

 

[-W.A.R-]

27 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

A reader's letter to the L.A. Times, 1990:

Glad they called Vernon Reid out on his hypocrisy. Read an interview where he mentioned GNR and he came off so holier-than-thou. 

[Blackstar]

17 minutes ago, killuridols said:

Who is that speaking? 

A reader of the newspaper called Melissa, I guess. 

17 minutes ago, killuridols said:

The thing is that in OIAM, he uses PLURAL, so how are people supposed to understand that he didnt mean everybody but just one type of person? In order to do that you have to go reading every silly explanation Axl has given to the press about what he meant with each line. Its a nightmare and I dont see why people should spend their time doing that.

Yes, OIAM was more generalised than the Public Enemy ft. Vernon Reid song, but still the latter, despite using singular, is not about just one person but about a group of people.

The bottom line here is that Vernon Reid used exactly the same argument he criticised and turned out to be a hypocrite.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Blackstar

[killuridols]

45 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

A reader of the newspaper called Melissa, I guess. 

Yes, OIAM was more generalised than the Public Enemy ft. Vernon Reid song, but still the latter, despite using singular, is not about just one person but about a group of people.

The bottom line here is that Vernon Reid used exactly the same argument he criticised and turned out to be a hypocrite.

Isnt Reid a guitarist? Did he write those lyrics? I guess his level of responsibility equals that of Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven in OIAM. They are all guilty by association. 

Regardless, everybody's a hypocrite here and so is that reader and her letter, as she tried to justify OIAM by turning the example around and jumpìng at Reid, probably because she liked Rose more than Reid.

[Blackstar]

2 minutes ago, killuridols said:

Isnt Reid a guitarist? Did he write those lyrics? I guess his level of responsibility equals that of Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven in OIAM. They are all guilty by association. 

It doesn't matter if he didn't write the lyrics in this case. He justified the lyrics of the song he played on. It doesn't have to do with responsibility, but with the hypocricy of the justification/argument.

[killuridols]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

It doesn't matter if he didn't write the lyrics in this case. He justified the lyrics of the song he played on. It doesn't have to do with responsibility, but with the hypocricy of the justification/argument.

Is he a hypocrite because he participated in and justified a mysoginistic song while giving Axl shit for putting all black people in one bag?

I think the fact that he is a hypocrite does not remove his ability to see the wrong in Axl's lyrics.

Probably he's not the most indicated to be pointing fingers, but the subjects of these songs are different and obviously, as a black male person, it was easier for him to empathize with the black men of OIAM rather than the women from the Public Enemy song.

It's a selfish thing to do, yeah, but Axl is still accountable for what he wrote. These maneuvers to move the focus of attention are useless.

Edited May 6, 2018 by killuridols

[Blackstar]

16 minutes ago, killuridols said:

These maneuvers to move the focus of attention are useless.

The thread is 8 pages long and everything that had to be said about OIAM and Axl has been said.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Blackstar

[Gnrcane]

If he would have made the one line "Police and hustlers" instead of using the n-word, the song would have been fine and maybe even gotten a single release.

The "immigrants and f****s, they make no sense to me" line isn't really anything that would have been that controversial in 1988.  Sure it was a "gay slur" but it wasn't looked at anything like the n-word back then.  Like I said earlier, Dire Straits used the word more times in a song that was a hit single.  In that verse he was describing his feelings that they "make no sense to him" upon observation when he arrived from a small town into a big city filled with both immigrants and gays.

Had Axl changed one word in the whole song, history would be different and it would probably be included in the box set.

[Kwick1]

I find it interesting that so many on this forum are so critical of OIAM. Many of you were toddlers when it was released and don't reside in the US. It was different when the song was written and remember that Lies was released with a warning on the LP. GnR was the most dangerous band in the world and OIAM fit perfectly into that time period for GnR. Much of the Axl image was media created and OIMA went far in creating the Axl character.  It's part of GnR history whether or not they today are proud of that. 

 

[PirateRadio]

On 5/4/2018 at 6:35 AM, mr-fukaji said:

 

No, I completely get it. It's Guns n Roses, they're very easy to get, they're a big dumb rock band. That's why I still very firmly believe it's a withering, anemic piece of shit dressed up by a guy who needed a mealy mouthed excuse to cover his ignorance, which he thankfully realized. 

Wow...I just wanted to say that I love / and appreciate / your entire post...even though I only agree with some it.

[Kwick1]

2 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

If he would have made the one line "Police and hustlers" instead of using the n-word, the song would have been fine and maybe even gotten a single release.

 

That would have been boring and safe which was not GnR. 

[killuridols]

10 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

The thread is 8 pages long and everything that had to be said about OIAM and Axl has been said.

Yes. So why do we have to be chasing all the other artists who are plausible of having committed the same mistakes as Axl?

There are thousands of them. This thread is gonna be 100 pages if we follow that path and this is still a GN'R forum.

 

[bigpoop]

56 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

It doesn't matter if he didn't write the lyrics in this case. He justified the lyrics of the song he played on. It doesn't have to do with responsibility, but with the hypocricy of the justification/argument.

That's whataboutisim. Vernon Reid being a hypocrite or not is irrelevant to the issue of whether he was right about Axl. He was.