Duff McKagan defends misunderstood '80s lyrics

[Gracii Guns]

I'll accept that Duff's attitude has changed. I find it harder to accept that every nasty lyric written in 1986 when they were 18-year-olds was a joke. To be fair, GN'R had a degree of self-awareness which other bands didn't. It just didn't stretch to treating women who made themselves available to the band, with respect. 

NEXT: Motley Crue announce that Girls Girls Girls is actually a meditation on female empowerment! 

[killuridols]

It also looks as all he wanted was to throw a dart at Trump and he came up with this sorry ass shit.

[MaskingApathy]

1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

I just need to check something real quick:

 

Absolutely not one person on Earth believes Duffs line of BS about this, right? 

Lyndsey Parker does (the lady interviewing him). Probably.

[RussTCB]

3 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

Lyndsey Parker does (the lady interviewing him). Probably.

Dammit lol

[MaskingApathy]

2 minutes ago, RussTCB said:

Dammit lol

Just a guess.

It's not much different than Nikki Sixx denying that the rape story in the Dirt happened.

[DieselDaisy]

Mr Brownstone was about geology; Welcome to the Jungle was about environmental conservatism; Nightrain was literally that: being on a train at night; You're Crazy was about mental health awareness; Bad Obsession, obsessive compulsive disorder. 

[GnR Chris]

6 hours ago, action said:

"turn around bitch I got a use for you" is as sexist a lyric as I ever heard, but I have no problem with that. it was meant to provoke and to have a laugh, not being taken literally and that's how I hear them.

But this twisting and turning and "it was misunderstood" nonsense is token of the PC culture we live in today.

In the light of this, I don't think Duff is best placed to write a song dedicated to the metoo movement. it's dishonest, cringeworthy and reeking of hypocrisy.

Just be a man and stand by what you say, don't go twisting your own words in order to please some SJW's. You meant nothing wrong with that line, so don't go acting as if you did anything wrong.

I think having had a long, healthy relationship, two daughters, and growing older definitely gives a human being a different perspective on life. I don't think there's a need to defend old r&r lyrics or try to deflect by discussing Trump's famous line, which in itself I think was taken out of context. But I don't think Duff's new material is cringeworthy. I like it.

 

That said, it's disappointing he kept deflecting and saying "we didn't hang out with guys like that" and tried to absolve himself completely of the era. It's better to just say they were young and it was a different time and they view the world differently now. It's more genuine that way.

Edited May 29, 2019 by GnR Chris

[31illusions]

I enjoy reading fans calling out Duff on this BS. He also said OIAM was written in the 3rd person. This is what happens in PC world.

[GnR Chris]

1 minute ago, 31illusions said:

I enjoy reading fans calling out Duff on this BS. He also said OIAM was written in the 3rd person. This is what happens in PC world.

I do think OIAM was written as a narrative about a small-town kid being culture-shocked in a big city. That was going from Indy to LA. The final verse even says for radicals and racists not to point their fingers. Not that it makes up for the language in the earlier verses.

[Blackstar]

5 hours ago, Oldest Goat said:

How do you mean? 

I suppose we're all hypocrites somehow. I do nothing to help the starving kids in Africa for example even though it breaks my heart. The difference is I don't go around giving phony interviews being a hypocrite saying silly mental gymnastics like "Oh fuck yeah I'm such a good guy because I 'could' help the Africans." 

Never meet your heroes or better yet - have no heroes. Disappointing. They're probably all a pack of cunts or were at times in the past at least.

And personally, I don't care much for the artist's intended meaning with lyrics or whatever it is, not beyond a fleeting curiosity. 

P.S. Just remembered Duff wrote a book 'How to be a Man' lol. 

I don't have a problem with the lyrics either. I've never had, with the exception of OIAM - and even that I've kind of overcome now. Lyrics are an expression and can be written from one's perspective or someone else's; or they can be a description of what the narrator sees. So I don't really mind whatever interpretation Duff is trying to give to the lyrics.

I have a problem with the things these guys did though. They had behaved in a certain way in an environment that was very sexist, and it's idiotic to try to gloss it over or twist it now and almost say that they were feminists.

[KURT19]

Now I'm just plain angry that I used to like this guy...

Duff McKagan: HOW TO BE A SISSY (and other delusions)

[-W.A.R-]

50 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Mr Brownstone was about geology; Welcome to the Jungle was about environmental conservatism; Nightrain was literally that: being on a train at night; You're Crazy was about mental health awareness; Bad Obsession, obsessive compulsive disorder. 

Back Off (The) Bitch was about animal cruelty.

[Kickingthehabit]

They are so worried about backlash from the PC police. One in a Million doesn't exist!!! Give it a rest, pussies. Your songs are too popular. Nobody cares that Axl was a racist or that every member in the band treated women like shit. We just want to hear you play Welcome to the Jungle and have a reason to party one more time. I'm NOT looking for a lesson on intersectional feminism. Just play the hits and maybe write a few new ones. 

[DieselDaisy]

21 minutes ago, -W.A.R- said:

Back Off (The) Bitch was about animal cruelty.

I had ''Get in the Ring'' as an endorsement for homosexual sex but thought it was rather crude, even for my standards. 

[MaskingApathy]

8 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

Cornchucker is about women's sexual freedom.

Oh I forgot about that. Yes, this is coming from the guy who wrote Cornshucker.

[TeeJay410]

I have never, ever heard One in a Million defended in the context of the story being told from the POV of a fictional character in all the years of defenses of that song. The defense *may* be plausible if the first time we heard it wasn't 30 years after the song's release. I could be wrong, though, and it had been brought up before.

 

As for the misogynism in the lyrics, how hard is it to say "yeah, it was tongue in cheek, and even given how different things were back then, we were morons and should have known better nonetheless."

 

What a load of nonsense coming from perhaps the person with the most sense in the band's history.

Edited May 29, 2019 by TeeJay410

[GnR Chris]

1 minute ago, TeeJay410 said:

As for the misogynism in the lyrics, how hard is it to say "yeah, it was tongue in cheek, and even given how different things were back then, we were morons and should have known better nonetheless."

 

If you give this reasoning, then you open yourself up to criticism for continuing to play those songs in concert. I, for one, don't want GNR to stop playing "It's So Easy."

[TeeJay410]

"I don't remember anybody I hung out with using the N-word, or using the C-word."

 

Bruh, you were in a band with Steve Jones.

Just now, GnR Chris said:

If you give this reasoning, then you open yourself up to criticism for continuing to play those songs in concert. I, for one, don't want GNR to stop playing "It's So Easy."

I don't necessarily agree. Jay-Z wrote in his book saying that in his current age he couldn't believe some of the lyrics he wrote, particularly Big Pimpin'. He still plays the song.

[adamsapple]

Not only is there no new music to speak of, now it's active revisionism to please pc culture full on.

The more I see from the "reunion", the more I miss the CD years. What a joke this brand has become.

Edited May 29, 2019 by adamsapple

[-W.A.R-]

49 minutes ago, TeeJay410 said:

I have never, ever heard One in a Million defended in the context of the story being told from the POV of a fictional character in all the years of defenses of that song. The defense *may* be plausible if the first time we heard it wasn't 30 years after the song's release. I could be wrong, though, and it had been brought up before.

Nah Duff has being saying that for years but that doesn't make him any less full of shit.

There is a section on the Lies cover that summarizes incidents that lead to the song. Axl has also spoke during concerts about some of the incidents, and its even depicted in the WTTJ video - when Axl gets off the bus, Izzy comes up trying to sell him something ("Don't need to buy none of your gold chains today"). When he was defending the song he never mentioned anything about it being 3rd person. Plus we all know Axl had problems with the Police, so that line makes sense from his perspective.

I don't think Axl is racist/homophobic but he suffered some bad culture shock arriving in LA. That song was him lashing out. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by -W.A.R-

[Towlie]

This is what I loved about Motley Crue's 'The Dirt'. They embraced it. Not because they behave that way now, but because that was them. The owned it for all of its highs and lows.

[RONIN]

"Slash informed me that Duff was spineless" - Beta Lebeis ~2006

It seems like the former king of beers and Izzy are the two gunners most uncomfortable with the band's sleazy history. Even Slash appears more comfortable with GnR's sordid past in recent interviews than those two.

This doesn't bode well for any documentary or movie about these guys - McKagan, Izzy, and Axl would just airbrush the entire thing before it comes out. I think it's a near guarantee we will never see any footage or detailed account from the Hell House days or those infamous Illusion era parties Axl threw - atleast nothing that is officially sanctioned by the band. If Marc Canter gets back into the good graces of Axl and Sluff, I imagine his footage is getting tossed in some dark pit where Paul Tobias is hiding. They appear to have made a commercial choice to not court any controversy at this stage of their career. Ironically, the more they sanitize their brand, the less interesting they become for future generations.

Edited May 30, 2019 by RONIN

[Ant]

Quote

“I think ‘P.C.’ is an overused word itself. Just come correct at all times. I don't remember anybody I hung out with using the N-word, or using the C-word. Just come correct at all times, then you don't gotta worry about, ‘Oh, s***, was I politically correct here?’ …If you're a dude, be a f***ing man. Just be a human being. Use common sense. Don't be a dick.

I think that is actually nicely stated. Kind of Duffed out the last few months but I'm giving this the proverbial upvote . 

 

Also... I'm of two minds about whether Duff is "retconning" the nature of GNR songs. Remember for It's So Easy, it was initially a slower, goofy acoustic track Duff cowrote with Wes Arkeen (I think they even sang it with southern accents or something? It's in his or Slash's book)... I think in that form it would be easier to recognize it as tounge-in-cheek and in that sense his statement checks out. Axl's venomous delivery is what changes how it comes across (not that I think Duff gave that a second thought, or that they were a bunch of woke street rats).

Edited May 30, 2019 by Ant

[sidman69]

it's funny duff hasn't apologized for the lyrics in this day and age of how PC things are. Duff the other day was saying there is nothing wrong with political correctness

[Ant]

28 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

Americans are weird about the word 'cunt'. It's a fine word and there's nothing sexist about it and it's not like you think 'dick' is sexist. 

I hate political correctness so very much.

 

There's something about it--- when us North Americans say it, it sounds like a gun shot haha. It just really cuts through the air. The way people in the UK pronounce it is softer sounding, somehow. It's always "ya cunt" or "bein' a right cunt...," it just wears differently. It's almost like when a black person says the N word vs a white person... just in terms of the literal sound of it.  

Edited May 30, 2019 by Ant