One in a million lyrics

[Carburetta]

There a couple of lines in this song that I question, I’ve seen a couple of interpretations of the words that follow “so I thumbed it......) I’ve always heard “down the sixth and LA, I accept that these are probably wrong, although I don’t know what’s right. There is one lyric site that has “9-0-6-10 LA” which seems ridiculous. 

Also the “don’t watch that much tv”, other than that sentence not fitting into the verse, or song for that matter in anyway (unless there’s a meaning to this I’m missing), the words don’t play right to me. It doesn’t sound like that at all. It sounds some thing like “there wasn’t much..???? to me??” That half at least fits with previous the line “don’t need your religion”.

What do you reckon? Unless I’m categorically wrong and these are the lyrics, we might not never know for sure.

[Gnrcane]

There's a bus station near 6th Street in Los Angeles. I assume it is "so I thumbed it, down to 6th in LA." Meaning hitchhiked to the bus station.

The "don't watch that much TV" was probably just a statement that happened to fit the song structure and kind of rhymed. 

Watch the making of One Vision Queen documentary and see how Freddie Mercury came up with one of the lines as an example.

[Carburetta]

2 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

There's a bus station near 6th Street in Los Angeles. I assume it is "so I thumbed it, down to 6th in LA." Meaning hitchhiked to the bus station.

The "don't watch that much TV" was probably just a statement that happened to fit the song structure and kind of rhymed. 

Watch the making of One Vision Queen documentary and see how Freddie Mercury came up with one of the lines as an example.

Ok I like your 6th and LA line, but that isn’t what lyric sites have (and we know there aren’t lyrics in the album cover). So if that’s  wrong, then the “tv” one could be too. I accept that song writing doesn’t always follow rhyme or reason, but that would be the only line in the song which wouldn’t fit properly, everything else is a statement. Plus, the words don’t fit the sound to me.

[Blackstar]

This is from the band's official fan club newsletter in March 1990:

Source: http://www.troccolitm.com/conspiracy3.html?1211858717140

"Don't watch that much TV" makes sense to me, as a connotation of "brain washing" along with religion.

[Carburetta]

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

This is from the band's official fan club newsletter in March 1990:

Source: http://www.troccolitm.com/conspiracy3.html?1211858717140

"Don't watch that much TV" makes sense to me, as a connotation of "brain washing" along with religion.

Thanks Blackstar, I’ll accept it now. From an official Gn’r source. I guess it make sense if you put it like that, I hadn’t thought of it like that before, it’s actually kind of good!

[chester]

Trash lyrics, trash song....Axl's albatross. 

[Tourettes2400]

Really, come on Chester ? That song is definitely a very good/classic song. If Slash approves of it, there is no other good way to convince me that it was anything other than that.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Tourettes2400

[Draguns]

56 minutes ago, Tourettes2400 said:

Really, come on Chester ? That song is definitely a very good/classic song. If Slash approves of it, there is no other good way to convince me that it was anything other than that.

Actually there are several quotes from Slash which stated he wasn't cool with One In A Million. He also heard it from family member as well. 

https://www.metalsucks.net/2018/05/09/lets-talk-about-guns-n-roses-one-in-a-million/

“I was offended. That was a brash, ignorant kind of statement Axl made. I knew where he was coming from, once he explained it, but that didn’t validate it to make it worthy of putting on a record. We had issues. But the more issues we had, the more adamant he was about putting the song on there. I was hugely embarrassed that it was on something that my name was on. It was a tough little period.”

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/slash-one-in-a-million-gnr-box/

 

[DeadSlash]

Don't watch that much TV always made sense to me, but even more so now...  When people ask me if I saw who the masked singer was or about some shit on Facebook or twitter and I'm like "Nope."

[Blackstar]

2 hours ago, Draguns said:

Actually there are several quotes from Slash which stated he wasn't cool with One In A Million. He also heard it from family member as well. 

https://www.metalsucks.net/2018/05/09/lets-talk-about-guns-n-roses-one-in-a-million/

“I was offended. That was a brash, ignorant kind of statement Axl made. I knew where he was coming from, once he explained it, but that didn’t validate it to make it worthy of putting on a record. We had issues. But the more issues we had, the more adamant he was about putting the song on there. I was hugely embarrassed that it was on something that my name was on. It was a tough little period.”

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/slash-one-in-a-million-gnr-box/

 

I think this is the only quote (it's from 2008, not 2016 like the article in the link says) I've read where Slash is so vocal about it.

There are other quotes where he said he wasn't comfortable with the song (with the n-word part specifically) and he didn't want to do it:

http://www.a-4-d.com/t99-one-in-a-million

but didn't say that he was personally offended.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Blackstar

[uncivil war]

Television evangelism was everywhere at the time. That's where I've always assumed the line came from.

[lame ass security]

2 hours ago, Draguns said:

Actually there are several quotes from Slash which stated he wasn't cool with One In A Million. He also heard it from family member as well. 

https://www.metalsucks.net/2018/05/09/lets-talk-about-guns-n-roses-one-in-a-million/

“I was offended. That was a brash, ignorant kind of statement Axl made. I knew where he was coming from, once he explained it, but that didn’t validate it to make it worthy of putting on a record. We had issues. But the more issues we had, the more adamant he was about putting the song on there. I was hugely embarrassed that it was on something that my name was on. It was a tough little period.”

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/slash-one-in-a-million-gnr-box/

 

Of course Axl was more adamant about putting it on there because he knew it would cause a stir.  If the guys in the band had issues with it he knew it would cause a major controversy among the public at large.  He was a button pusher and relished in it, he knew it would only garner publicity--given it was bad publicity but that didn't matter.  He was a very astute businessman. 

[Blackstar]

17 minutes ago, lame ass security said:

Of course Axl was more adamant about putting it on there because he knew it would cause a stir.  If the guys in the band had issues with it he knew it would cause a major controversy among the public at large.  He was a button pusher and relished in it, he knew it would only garner publicity--given it was bad publicity but that didn't matter.  He was a very astute businessman. 

He definitely knew that the song would cause controversy and he wanted it to (I don't think it was for publicity though) but I think he didn't expect the extent of it.

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, uncivil war said:

Television evangelism was everywhere at the time. That's where I've always assumed the line came from.

Yeah, it might have something to do with that, as well.

In fact, he had written some draft lyrics around that time (which he obviously never finished/used in a song) about that:

 

 

 

 

[Live Like a Suicide]

7 hours ago, chester said:

Trash lyrics, trash song....Axl's albatross. 

Bullshit. The lyrics are well-constructed and have a lot of little quirks. "It's all Greek to me," for example, plays on a common phrase that something is difficult to understand, and spins it into the immigrants/F@ggots verse. Instrumentally, it's a great song too.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Live Like a Suicide

[Azifwekare]

2 hours ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

Bullshit. The lyrics are well-constructed and have a lot of little quirks. "It's all Greek to me," for example, plays on a common phrase that something is difficult to understand, and spins it into the immigrants/F@ggots verse. Instrumentally, it's a great song too.

I always thought that Greek lyric was a funny line that kind of mocked the ignorance of people that actually held the kind of views described in the song, but unforunately there's a few lines (we all know what they are) that taint and ruin an otherwise great song.

[Freightrain]

"don't need your religion
don't watch that much tv "

Haven't been brainwashed

Edited December 30, 2019 by Freightrain

[soon]

Its interesting about our perception of ourselves. Sometimes our perception doesnt align with reality. In this case Axl spends a lot of lyric expressing the bigoted views that he's been brainwashed with but then seems to include a lyric suggesting he's not brainwashed. Our brains are wild!

[TeeJay410]

The lyrics are just outright abhorrent. They sound like a Skrewdriver song. 

Edited December 30, 2019 by TeeJay410

[Axlr0s37]

One of their best songs. Love the way the electric guitar intertwines with the acoustic guitar. Lyrically its awesome, its the kind of song that upsets those that don't take the time to try and understand the lyrics properly. 

[UsedYourIllusion]

I don't understand the love for this song, it's somewhat catchy, but the lyrics seem so disjointed. The chorus sounds like a love song, and the verses are an angsty take on a person's life experience or viewpoint. Would have rather had an all acoustic version of Dead Horse, You aint the first, or the a cover of Dead Flowers on Lies

[Draguns]

3 hours ago, soon said:

Its interesting about our perception of ourselves. Sometimes our perception doesnt align with reality. In this case Axl spends a lot of lyric expressing the bigoted views that he's been brainwashed with but then seems to include a lyric suggesting he's not brainwashed. Our brains are wild!

I definitely agree. This weekend I went to a close friend's holiday party.  My friend had his employees, clients, and professional associates at the party. I was probably one of the few personal friends at the party (I've known my friend for 21 years going back to college). I met an interim CFO at the party. The guy started asking me inappropriate questions about my disability and my lisp. I was fuming on the inside and felt completely uncomfortable, but remained calm on the outside and answered some of his inappropriate questions.  We did play pool together and talked about various other topics towards the end of the night. 

It amazed me, though, that a guy at this level would actually ask me questions that shouldn't have been asked. If this was a working atmosphere, he could have gotten himself into a lot of trouble.  Perception of yourself and others can definitely be interesting and not reality.  

[Draguns]

12 hours ago, Blackstar said:

I think this is the only quote (it's from 2008, not 2016 like the article in the link says) I've read where Slash is so vocal about it.

There are other quotes where he said he wasn't comfortable with the song (with the n-word part specifically) and he didn't want to do it:

http://www.a-4-d.com/t99-one-in-a-million

but didn't say that he was personally offended.

Interesting! I didn't know the quote was from 2008. 

[soon]

17 minutes ago, Draguns said:

I definitely agree. This weekend I went to a close friend's holiday party.  My friend had his employees, clients, and professional associates at the party. I was probably one of the few personal friends at the party (I've known my friend for 21 years going back to college). I met an interim CFO at the party. The guy started asking me inappropriate questions about my disability and my lisp. I was fuming on the inside and felt completely uncomfortable, but remained calm on the outside and answered some of his inappropriate questions.  We did play pool together and talked about various other topics towards the end of the night. 

It amazed me, though, that a guy at this level would actually ask me questions that shouldn't have been asked. If this was a working atmosphere, he could have gotten himself into a lot of trouble.  Perception of yourself and others can definitely be interesting and not reality.  

You said it.

It pisses me off that you hd to endure that. Sounds like you handled it like a boss.

Who knows, maybe you even helped him connect the dots and check himself.

[Gnrcane]

The greyhound bus station in LA is at 7th st and Lawrence street.  It could be that these lyrics just didn't fit the song structure if it was perfectly accurate.  6th st and the LA river are only a few blocks away and would be walking distance.

Like I said, watch the Queen documentary on making the song "One Vision" and see how a songwriter sometimes just puts stuff in that has enough syllables and rhymes.  That was pretty much how Freddie Mercury wrote the line "one true religion" for that song.