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Duff McKagan defends misunderstood '80s lyrics


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1 hour ago, Rovim said:

technical as always but technically yeah I don't know the man it's possible the lyrics were a joke and Duff wasn't sexist at all and was super respectful of women so to clarify it is my opinion, based on the kind of band and era and the subject matter of the tunes and how I interpret the lyrics and what I do know about the band and it's members that Duff 2.0 is very different to the man he was before. Older and sober with a family and values that he cultivated and wants to live by and perhaps for others to live by as well.

I will say this: sometimes you don't need proof to get the gist of it, of how it was. You kinda get the picture. If it walks like a duck. I realize that could be dangerous to assume shit in some cases but this is a sleazy rock n' roll band from the 80's with books written by most of it's members, with video interviews and some credible information about the band but like I said it's just the way I see it (and many others in this thread it seems)

Having sex with lots of women and having a wild lifestyle is not the same as sexism or misogyny. Some stupid line in a song doesn't change that. People shouldn't take everything so literally. The only thing that would fit those labels are the stories about Axl beating his girlfriends. I don't know if those stories are true, but even if they are, it has nothing to do with Duff. Regarding this topic, I have watched the video and I don't really see how he is ''defending'' anything.

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What Duff says about no one using the "n" word may be true. The fact that Axl used it in OIAM doesn't necessarily mean that he used it outside of that or that he used it all the time or that the other members and their friends used it. Duff knows it was used in OIAM, he isn't dump.

As for the "c" word (assuming that he means "cunt") they have used that one in public speech, so Duff glosses stuff over here.

---------

Duff was there when OIAM was written, according to Axl (they were at West Arkeen's house).

 

 

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27 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

What Duff says about no one using the "n" word may be true. The fact that Axl used it in OIAM doesn't necessarily mean that he used it outside of that or that he used it all the time or that the other members and their friends used it. Duff knows it was used in OIAM, he isn't dump.

No, I don't think that's a word they used. He discusses it in his book:

Quote

...a song Axl brought in lyrics for called One In A Million. When he first showed them to us, I cringed at some of the words-especially n*****s. It wasn't that I thought Axl held racist views-there was never any question on that front. I realized Axl's lyrics represented a third-person observation about what Reagan-era America had become: a nation of name-callers, a land of fear. It was just a word my mouth would not form.

If I'm not mistaken, his brother in law was black too. And he beat up a guy for calling Slash a n****r.

Edited by Lio
Forgot the filter.
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9 hours ago, EvanG said:

Having sex with lots of women and having a wild lifestyle is not the same as sexism or misogyny. Some stupid line in a song doesn't change that. People shouldn't take everything so literally. The only thing that would fit those labels are the stories about Axl beating his girlfriends. I don't know if those stories are true, but even if they are, it has nothing to do with Duff. Regarding this topic, I have watched the video and I don't really see how he is ''defending'' anything.

yeah I know the difference between having sex with lots of women and being a sexist. The line isn't stupid to me, you seem to try to diminish it's significance but I think in this case it is literal: it literally means what it means in the tone Axl sings it and probably it was meant to invoke that vibe of you know... how easy it was for them, Duff in this case to use women as pretty much sex toys not that all those groupies were innocent virgins. That's my take on it. I didn't say Duff was ever violent towards women but that there's a pretty good chance the turn around bitch I got a use for you line wasn't written as a joke at all. Appetite was in a way at least partially like a diary of how they lived, almost biographic in nature. It's So Easy doesn't come off to me as a joke like Used To Love Her for example.

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18 minutes ago, Rovim said:

yeah I know the difference between having sex with lots of women and being a sexist. The line isn't stupid to me, you seem to try to diminish it's significance but I think in this case it is literal: it literally means what it means in the tone Axl sings it and probably it was meant to invoke that vibe of you know... how easy it was for them, Duff in this case to use women as pretty much sex toys not that all those groupies were innocent virgins. That's my take on it. I didn't say Duff was ever violent towards women but that there's a pretty good chance the turn around bitch I got a use for you wasn't written as a joke at all. Appetite was in a way at least partially like a diary of how they lived, almost biographic in nature. It's So Easy doesn't come off to me as a joke like Used To Love Her for example.

Nor did the band think of it as a joke, either, but as you say, more descriptive of their lives at the time: http://www.a-4-d.com/t73-it-s-so-easy

And apparently, Axl wrote the obscene verse, not Duff. 

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5 minutes ago, Rovim said:

yeah I know the difference between having sex with lots of women and being a sexist. The line isn't stupid to me, you seem to try to diminish it's significance but I think in this case it is literal: it literally means what it means in the tone Axl sings it and probably it was meant to invoke that vibe of you know... how easy it was for them, Duff in this case to use women as pretty much sex toys not that all those groupies were innocent virgins. That's my take on it. I didn't say Duff was ever violent towards women but that there's a pretty good chance the turn around bitch I got a use for you wasn't written as a joke at all. Appetite was in a way at least partially like a diary of how they lived, almost biographic in nature. It's So Easy doesn't come off to me as a joke like Used To Love Her for example.

I agree. But he says that specifically that line was tongue in cheek, maybe he's lying, maybe he's telling the truth. I guess we will never know.

I'm not trying to diminish it, I just don't like that line, like most of the lyrics in that song. I don't find it to be offensive even if it is not a joke, but it's just a stupid line. I think it's a great song, but terrible lyrics, like most of Duff's lyrics. But that's subjective. And I don't see why Duff is being accused of being a sexist.

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27 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Nor did the band think of it as a joke, either, but as you say, more descriptive of their lives at the time: http://www.a-4-d.com/t73-it-s-so-easy

And apparently, Axl wrote the obscene verse, not Duff. 

I believe that by saying he wrote "the obscene verse" Axl meant the "I see you standing there ... won't you just fuck off" part, because Duff has clearly stated that he wrote the "Turn around bitch..." verse in this interview (at 11:34 min. mark):

 

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2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

I believe that by saying he wrote "the obscene verse" Axl meant the "I see you standing there ... won't you just fuck off" part, because Duff has clearly stated that he wrote the "Turn around bitch..." verse in this interview (at 11:34 min. mark):

 

These interviews hes doing and having to answer to the lyrics is really stupid :facepalm:

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On 5/29/2019 at 8:50 AM, 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.

all of the GNR music was from their personal lives, so that's how they were back then. I doubt any woman would take this shit from them anymore, but who knows?

Unfortunately, that's how some men feel back then and probably still today. It's a fact of life and GNR weren't afraid to sing about it.

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20 hours ago, dontdamnmeuyi2015 said:

all of the GNR music was from their personal lives, so that's how they were back then. I doubt any woman would take this shit from them anymore, but who knows?

Unfortunately, that's how some men feel back then and probably still today. It's a fact of life and GNR weren't afraid to sing about it.

I'm sure there are some women that would let GNR members use them as sex objects because of the "conquest" of hooking up with a rich and famous rock star.  I'm sure all equivalently popular young artists these days have plenty of "woke," "me too era" girls that are just like the groupies in the 80's were for GNR.

I never have looked at a girl/woman as a sex toy but I also never had and never will have a bunch of attractive females falling over themselves to have sex with me.  If I was in that position and in my 20s, I could easily see myself taking advantage.  It's not about how some men (specifically GNR members) feel or felt about women.  It's just a matter of what kind of environment they were in and, when you are in your 20's and "it's so easy" to live out all kinds of sexual fantasies, not many men will resist it.  

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1 minute ago, Gnrcane said:

I'm sure there are some women that would let GNR members use them as sex objects because of the "conquest" of hooking up with a rich and famous rock star.  I'm sure all equivalently popular young artists these days have plenty of "woke," "me too era" girls that are just like the groupies in the 80's were for GNR.

I never have looked at a girl/woman as a sex toy but I also never had and never will have a bunch of attractive females falling over themselves to have sex with me.  If I was in that position and in my 20s, I could easily see myself taking advantage.  It's not about how some men (specifically GNR members) feel or felt about women.  It's just a matter of what kind of environment they were in and, when you are in your 20's and "it's so easy" to live out all kinds of sexual fantasies, not many men will resist it.  

Well said on both points. I totally agree.

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2 hours ago, Gnrcane said:

I'm sure there are some women that would let GNR members use them as sex objects because of the "conquest" of hooking up with a rich and famous rock star.  I'm sure all equivalently popular young artists these days have plenty of "woke," "me too era" girls that are just like the groupies in the 80's were for GNR.

I never have looked at a girl/woman as a sex toy but I also never had and never will have a bunch of attractive females falling over themselves to have sex with me.  If I was in that position and in my 20s, I could easily see myself taking advantage.  It's not about how some men (specifically GNR members) feel or felt about women.  It's just a matter of what kind of environment they were in and, when you are in your 20's and "it's so easy" to live out all kinds of sexual fantasies, not many men will resist it.  

Trust me, women also love to use men. I see nothing wrong about that.

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