Better - "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..."

[Amir]

After listening to Better for the bajillionth time today (I hated this song when I first heard it back in November '08, now I love it), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." bit seemed to take on a new meaning. While I'd taken the song as a whole as a lament/rant of a man in 2 minds about his former love (Axl about Stephanie Seymour), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." sounded to me now like it was Stephanie's reply to Axl after he's vented his frustrations of their past together. "I only wanted you to see things for yourself" sounds like Stephanie telling Axl that she can't protect him from the world and that he has to conquer his adversaries and his personal demons ("I never wanted you to be someone frightened of themselves") on his own.

Or I could just be full of shit and it's just Axl telling Stephanie "I never wanted you to be so full of anger". Dunno.

Edited September 8, 2010 by Amir

[Guest gunns5]

cool

[illusions]

story

[Bumble's Bridge Pickup]

bro

[ITW 2012]

It's Axl's subconscious talking to his inner child.

[Guest gunns5]

Axls stalker got let out of Jail i think

[wildhorses]

Could be about any Tom Dick or Harry

[Frozen Inferno]

its about mygnrforum members finishing each others sentences duh

[Golden_Johnson]

.

[wasted]

Would u say Axl is advising himself at the end or is he just giving us dating tips

[star]

it's the worst part of the song, from an audio perspective.

[Guest Georgiarain]

After listening to Better for the bajillionth time today (I hated this song when I first heard it back in November '08, now I love it), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." bit seemed to take on a new meaning. While I'd taken the song as a whole as a lament/rant of a man in 2 minds about his former love (Axl about Stephanie Seymour), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." sounded to me now like it was Stephanie's reply to Axl after he's vented his frustrations of their past together. "I only wanted you to see things for yourself" sounds like Stephanie telling Axl that she can't protect him from the world and that he has to conquer his adversaries and his personal demons ("I never wanted you to be someone frightened of themselves") on his own.

I don't think that song is about Stephanie Seymour... No one Knows Who it's about. Well, except Axl Rose himself... And maybe his band mates & friends? who knows?

Edited September 8, 2010 by Georgiarain

[Use Your Delusion 1]

After listening to Better for the bajillionth time today (I hated this song when I first heard it back in November '08, now I love it), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." bit seemed to take on a new meaning. While I'd taken the song as a whole as a lament/rant of a man in 2 minds about his former love (Axl about Stephanie Seymour), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." sounded to me now like it was Stephanie's reply to Axl after he's vented his frustrations of their past together. "I only wanted you to see things for yourself" sounds like Stephanie telling Axl that she can't protect him from the world and that he has to conquer his adversaries and his personal demons ("I never wanted you to be someone frightened of themselves") on his own.

I don't think that song is about Stephanie Seymour... No one Knows Who it's about. Well, except Axl Rose himself... And maybe his band mates & friends? who knows?

the whole album basically is about her, I wouldn't be surprised if this was also

[duff_rose]

it's the worst part of the song, from an audio perspective.

It's my favorite part of the song.

[ColdHeartBreaker]

After listening to Better for the bajillionth time today (I hated this song when I first heard it back in November '08, now I love it), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." bit seemed to take on a new meaning. While I'd taken the song as a whole as a lament/rant of a man in 2 minds about his former love (Axl about Stephanie Seymour), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." sounded to me now like it was Stephanie's reply to Axl after he's vented his frustrations of their past together. "I only wanted you to see things for yourself" sounds like Stephanie telling Axl that she can't protect him from the world and that he has to conquer his adversaries and his personal demons ("I never wanted you to be someone frightened of themselves") on his own.

I don't think that song is about Stephanie Seymour... No one Knows Who it's about. Well, except Axl Rose himself... And maybe his band mates & friends? who knows?

the whole album basically is about her, I wouldn't be surprised if this was also

This argument really bothers me.

We have no idea who any of the album is about if anyone at all.

[mcalldp]

After listening to Better for the bajillionth time today (I hated this song when I first heard it back in November '08, now I love it), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." bit seemed to take on a new meaning. While I'd taken the song as a whole as a lament/rant of a man in 2 minds about his former love (Axl about Stephanie Seymour), the "I never wanted you to be so full of anger..." sounded to me now like it was Stephanie's reply to Axl after he's vented his frustrations of their past together. "I only wanted you to see things for yourself" sounds like Stephanie telling Axl that she can't protect him from the world and that he has to conquer his adversaries and his personal demons ("I never wanted you to be someone frightened of themselves") on his own.

I don't think that song is about Stephanie Seymour... No one Knows Who it's about. Well, except Axl Rose himself... And maybe his band mates & friends? who knows?

the whole album basically is about her, I wouldn't be surprised if this was also

This argument really bothers me.

We have no idea who any of the album is about if anyone at all.

None of it is about any one person; It's an emotional collage.

[Lose Your Illusions]

If Sorry isn't about Slash, as Axl stated (which i believe, he has no reason to lie about that considering his previous remark about Slash), then none of us know what any one of the songs (besides maybe CD) is about or directed towards.

but i'm sure some of u know everything..

[dalsh327]

The only time a songwriter wants to bring up what a song is really about, is usually because he or she needs to explain something that's causing confusion. They'll usually tell you what it's not about if you're completely off.

Not sure how he told the band to play it - maybe he did tell them what the song was based around, or just told them to feel a type of emotion while playing it, but usually someone playing along can figure that out when they hear the demo.

For all we know he could've been sitting in front of a mirror and writing what he saw in himself.

It could be a frame of mind he was in and not targeted towards anyone in particular. That's the beauty of songwriting. Songs evolve - the rough draft could've been something entirely different.