Interview: Slash Admits Guns N’ Roses’ Songs Are ‘Sort of Sexist’

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

I'm a woman, but dammit I love those songs! lol

Sometimes I know I can be a bitch too and so can men. It depends on the situation and the person.

[DieselDaisy]

7 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Our world is a sexist place. We men have exploited our position of power for too long. It is getting better, though, and hopefully the positive trend that we are seeing will continue. I want my daughters to grow up in a world where they take protection and freedom from oppression and harassment for granted, like I have. So we need to keep on fighting for this, men and women together. Right. But I won't prioritize objecting to rock and roll lyrics from the 80s. Firstly because they were written in the 80s and aren't applicable to today. They don't convey a contemporary message. Even if Axl sings It's So Easy today, doesn't mean that he mean all th words. That he think the lyrics should be taken seriously today (and not even in 1987). Just like people shouldn't be angry from reading Agatha Christie's "Ten Little N!ggers." Let's focus on being angry about things that are wrong today, not things that were wrong before. We have to accept and appreciate that time has changed. No need to trash Appetite, just like there is no need to burn Christie's collected works. accept them as artifacts of a different time and appreciate that we have moved on. And secondly, we have to accept the context of those songs. They belong to a genre, hard rock of the 80s, that was inherently sexist. Whether ut was all tongue-in-cheek or not, is hard to say. Some was. Some weren't. Guns N' Roses branded themselves as more genuine than most of their counterparts and hence that added a menace to their lyrics. But still, it was part of an overall subculture.  

[Silverburst80]

2 hours ago, -W.A.R- said:

All the hubbub about GNR's content seems to be mostly located on this forum Meanwhile Vogue is writing articles about #WokeAxl

Doesn't seem people care all that much. Slash probably answered this correctly by not getting all defensive and railing on SJW's.

 

Duff was also asked about it and how he has explain the infamous Its So Easy line to his daughters, he handled the question very well. I believe he said he was merely requesting a game of Connect 4 with the girl in question and there was no sexual undertones to it at all

[Len Cnut]

The term 'admits' is also an odd one to use, Slash 'admits' songs were sexist, like they were hiding it before or something, the whole thing is deliberately trying allude to something that isn't there.  Also, I'd like to know where this percieved apology is in anything Slash said.

[RussTCB]

A friend sent me this earlier today:
https://uproxx.com/music/paramore-guns-n-roses-problematic-lyrics/2/

Edit-

This is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of:
"Why not make other albums open for tweaks years, even decades, after their release? Sure, you can’t really alter the physical copies that are already out there, but in the contemporary world where so much of music is listened to via streaming, that seems to matter less and less. If Paramore is serious about their regretful lyrics, why not just rerecord a line, update their album, and move on with their lives? It might be harder for someone like Axl Rose — who has entire songs of unfortunate words — but this seems like a model that could work for many artists as the times change on their lyrics."

[ZoSoRose]

Wow. People can Fuck off. What an insulting idea. 

I'm sort of a softie and try to be mindful of others, but the world is fucked. Art SHOULD reflect that. Fuck censorship overkill

[RussTCB]

11 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

Wow. People can Fuck off. What an insulting idea. 

I'm sort of a softie and try to be mindful of others, but the world is fucked. Art SHOULD reflect that. Fuck censorship overkill

Couldn't agree more.

I'm so fired up after having read that complete horseshit. I'm not doing a Music Night this week due to work travel but you can bet your ass this will be a topic of discussion when we get back to it next Friday, 10/05!

[RussTCB]

Just now, Wagszilla said:

Pussy generation

Gentle flower generation

Fixed it for you due to new censorship ideas brought up in the above article.

[soon]

2 minutes ago, Wagszilla said:

Pussy generation

If one single article from a second tier outlet gets you that worked up, looks like we are dealing with multiple generations of pussies.

[soon]

2 minutes ago, Wagszilla said:

Fuck off with your limp dick liberal bullshit, Soon. 

I cant. Not a liberal. And the 's' is lower case, btw.

[Lio]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

A friend sent me this earlier today:
https://uproxx.com/music/paramore-guns-n-roses-problematic-lyrics/2/

Edit-

This is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of:
"Why not make other albums open for tweaks years, even decades, after their release? Sure, you can’t really alter the physical copies that are already out there, but in the contemporary world where so much of music is listened to via streaming, that seems to matter less and less. If Paramore is serious about their regretful lyrics, why not just rerecord a line, update their album, and move on with their lives? It might be harder for someone like Axl Rose — who has entire songs of unfortunate words — but this seems like a model that could work for many artists as the times change on their lyrics."

Interesting. A Flemish artist adapted the lyrics of his biggest hit from 1977 when he re-released it last year. They were a bit naughty lyrics, but no one really took any offence, I think. Plus, everyone here knows the song and can sing it along. So he got some criticism when he adapted that. His reasons for doing so, is that he said he'd grown tired of singing those lyrics, or had come up with something he felt was better. So he changed a few lines. I don't like it at all, and a critic in a newspaper said (jokingly) there should be a law protecting us from ruining our heritage

But like I said, the artist changed them out of his own volition, there has never been any problems with it, just that it was a bit naughty. I'm sure everyone will still be singing along the old lyrics anyway.

[Kwick1]

I hate that Slash or the editor of the interview used the word admits. It comes across as they wrote those lyrics knowing with intention that they were sexist and offensive. But they were not written with that intention. The songs were written about the time period and a lifestyle which was celebrated as sex, drugs and Rock n Roll. It was the 80's and a very different time than now. 

However, saying that I doubt much has really changed. Things probably still come very easy for the rich and famous regardless of rock star, movie/tv star or sports star. Difference now is it can't be celebrated. Today, we want to believe everything is safe. 

[RussTCB]

4 minutes ago, Kwick1 said:

I hate that Slash or the editor of the interview used the word admits. It comes across as they wrote those lyrics knowing with intention that they were sexist and offensive. But they were not written with that intention. The songs were written about the time period and a lifestyle which was celebrated as sex, drugs and Rock n Roll. It was the 80's and a very different time than now. 

However, saying that I doubt much has really changed. Things probably still come very easy for the rich and famous regardless of rock star, movie/tv star or sports star. Difference now is it can't be celebrated. Today, we want to believe everything is safe. 

"admits" is the same as "reveals" as far as clickability goes, which is stupid on like 10 different levels. 

[baldek]

One can only hope the GN'R logo doesn't lose its guns (surprising how they got away with it for so long).

[Ratam]

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

Wow. People can Fuck off. What an insulting idea. 

I'm sort of a softie and try to be mindful of others, but the world is fucked. Art SHOULD reflect that. Fuck censorship overkill

Is an sort of wich hunt modern...

[Fourteenbeers]

49 minutes ago, baldek said:

One can only hope the GN'R logo doesn't lose its guns (surprising how they got away with it for so long).

How about this? Though it's offending to people who don't like bottle feeding. 

Edited September 25, 2018 by Fourteenbeers

[Tori72]

1 hour ago, Fourteenbeers said:

How about this? Though it's offending to people who don't like bottle feeding. 

There must be a special place in hell for people who do this kinda stuff.

[Tori72]

I love @Lumikki, too, but it’s only me?! 

[alfierose]

8 hours ago, RussTCB said:

A friend sent me this earlier today:
https://uproxx.com/music/paramore-guns-n-roses-problematic-lyrics/2/

Edit-

This is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of:
"Why not make other albums open for tweaks years, even decades, after their release? Sure, you can’t really alter the physical copies that are already out there, but in the contemporary world where so much of music is listened to via streaming, that seems to matter less and less. If Paramore is serious about their regretful lyrics, why not just rerecord a line, update their album, and move on with their lives? It might be harder for someone like Axl Rose — who has entire songs of unfortunate words — but this seems like a model that could work for many artists as the times change on their lyrics."

This is a truly terrible idea. Yes we can reflect on art and how opinions have moved on but it's important they stand as a record of that moment in time. If you constantly rewrite history how do you ever learn anything from it?

There was a whole sci fi movie I watched on Netflix recently that was based exactly around this premise. As you can imagine things went to shit pretty quickly.

[RussTCB]

6 minutes ago, alfierose said:

This is a truly terrible idea. Yes we can reflect on art and how opinions have moved on but it's important they stand as a record of that moment in time. If you constantly rewrite history how do you ever learn anything from it?

There was a whole sci fi movie I watched on Netflix recently that was based exactly around this premise. As you can imagine things went to shit pretty quickly.

So here's what I don't get:

How is an idea like this not only floated out there but encouraged?? There's all sorts of support out there for this article and the ideas pushed in it. Given that we're in the streaming age now and physical media is in it's sunset, could we hit an era where this is real?

It's very possible if you ask me and there should be some outrage on that if you ask me.

[alfierose]

Just now, RussTCB said:

So here's what I don't get:

How is an idea like this not only floated out there but encouraged?? There's all sorts of support out there for this article and the ideas pushed in it. Given that we're in the streaming age now and physical media is in it's sunset, could we hit an era where this is real?

It's very possible if you ask me and there should be some outrage on that if you ask me.

I agree. It's definitely something that could gain traction now I think. It feels too 'book burning' for me to be comfortable with even if I don't always like the content.

[-W.A.R-]

I really don't see it as realistic and would be awful if tried.

Imagine Axl cutting into a song he recorded 30 years ago with his current vocals

Edited September 26, 2018 by -W.A.R-

[RONIN]

Robocop is really violent.

A guy gets toxic waste dumped on him and then he gets splattered over a windshield after a car runs him over.

[wasted]

Not technically sexist, they fall under the umbrella of misogyny, probably more violence against women than sexist.

[Powderfinger]

This is not to condone any of the more obviously misogynistic lyrics, but the planet was a completely different place in 1987. The world today and then are incomparable. 

What band today would have strippers on stage, the strippers being the girlfriends of band members, it was a lifestyle. I don’t disrespect them because they had their tits out on stage and I don’t think they were exploited either.

And reading Marc’s book it seems the women themselves didn’t feel exploited and just were part of a group of people and friends around the band helping build hype.

Marc gave cash, Desi went onstage in fishnets. Fine. People fuck. Fine.

The Sex Pistols had plenty of the same GNR did in their run as a band, bondage, strippers, prostitutes, naked chicks on records, stripper girlfriends, heroin.

Nirvana, stripper wife, junkies, domestic abuse reports, but it’s not commented on really because punk and grunge are seen as more “enlightened” , the guns era will be judged harshly in the modern era.

I’m all for outing any fuck that crosses the line, but don’t point the finger at people who indulged in the way everyone did equally at a point in time. It can’t be judged by today’s standards.

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by Powderfinger