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Thoughts on the lyrics...


watchman

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Listened to CD in its entireness the other day, haven't been paying much attention to the lyrics in a while, but this time I did.

Some of the lyrics are insanely awesome and well written, like Catcher or Prostitute, but most is just plain depressing.

Better is quite upbeat musically but the lyrics? TWAT? Sorry? Everything so cold, dark and depresssing!!!

I think it's impossible to write or appreciate honest and meaningful stuff without also going to a dark place in your soul, but at the end of the day, is that what you want to give to the world, your dark place?

If there is a next record, I'm hoping for more upbeat, positive lyrics to inspire people.

Just have a look at the lyrics of "Breakdown" from UYI II for example and compare these to any of the lyrics on CD. It's another person, another time, another planet. Changes, I know, but should we give in to the dark side or keep striving and let our light shine?

What kind of lyrics do you hope/expect for the next album?

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I'm hoping for more genuine anger and frustration because that is what initially drew me to Guns, cut-throat lyrics with no bullshit in between. rock3

Question is, whats left for Axl to be angry about? He seems like he's in a happy/content place atm...

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You're comparing Axl age 24/29 with Axl age 39/49. He was dating, was young and married, etc. I have no idea what he's doing now, but things seem less fresh, exciting, and hopeful when you're twice your age. Just my opinions, though. Probably doesn't affect much.

Anyway, the lyrics are phenomenal. I actually started REALLY paying attention to lyrics in the last few weeks as well. I've always acknowledged them as incredible, but I couldn't relate to much.

Street of Dreams and Better are probably my favorites.

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If the new album will contain unreleased songs from Chinese Democracy session, lyrics will be even more depressing (I think). Here's some facts:

Axl said in 2009:

(about next album): "What I can say is if you don't like this, then you probably won't like that. Same people, lots more approaches, bit meaner in places and darker in some."

And in 2008:

(about Soul Monster): "I think it's our most Black Sabbath moment. Sang it on a Christmas eve. Imo the meanest section of anything I've sung to date. Which having said that I'm sure when it's heard others may disagree but we felt it was a Christmas card of unadulterated venom so to speak. I felt a lot better afterward."

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Listened to CD in its entireness the other day, haven't been paying much attention to the lyrics in a while, but this time I did.

Some of the lyrics are insanely awesome and well written, like Catcher or Prostitute, but most is just plain depressing.

Better is quite upbeat musically but the lyrics? TWAT? Sorry? Everything so cold, dark and depresssing!!!

I think it's impossible to write or appreciate honest and meaningful stuff without also going to a dark place in your soul, but at the end of the day, is that what you want to give to the world, your dark place?

If there is a next record, I'm hoping for more upbeat, positive lyrics to inspire people.

Just have a look at the lyrics of "Breakdown" from UYI II for example and compare these to any of the lyrics on CD. It's another person, another time, another planet. Changes, I know, but should we give in to the dark side or keep striving and let our light shine?

What kind of lyrics do you hope/expect for the next album?

What this means to me is more

Than I know you believe

What I thought of you now

Has cost more than it should for me

What I thought was true before

Were lies I couldn't see

What I thought was beautiful,

Is only memories

i love the lyrics on CD though i do see what you mean

If the new album will contain unreleased songs from Chinese Democracy session, lyrics will be even more depressing (I think). Here's some facts:

Axl said in 2009:

(about next album): "What I can say is if you don't like this, then you probably won't like that. Same people, lots more approaches, bit meaner in places and darker in some."

And in 2008:

(about Soul Monster): "I think it's our most Black Sabbath moment. Sang it on a Christmas eve. Imo the meanest section of anything I've sung to date. Which having said that I'm sure when it's heard others may disagree but we felt it was a Christmas card of unadulterated venom so to speak. I felt a lot better afterward."

i would love to hear Soul Monster

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This kind of fits the topic...does anyone else think that Street of dreams is about Slash?

I mean, look at the lyrics and then it's one of the few songs on CD that has a very slashlike solo.

People have said this before, I don't really see it though. To me it seems to be a Stephanie Seymour special.

I do think 'Prostitute' is about the old band breakup though.

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This kind of fits the topic...does anyone else think that Street of dreams is about Slash?

I mean, look at the lyrics and then it's one of the few songs on CD that has a very slashlike solo.

No. <_<

O.P.

I don't see the lyrics as depressing,some may touch on areas that make people uncomfortable,I don't see how you could possibly classify "Scraped" or "Shacklers" as depressing."Sorry" drips with venom and attitude.

Genuine emotion expressed won't be happy or pretty all the time.

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This kind of fits the topic...does anyone else think that Street of dreams is about Slash?

I mean, look at the lyrics and then it's one of the few songs on CD that has a very slashlike solo.

People have said this before, I don't really see it though. To me it seems to be a Stephanie Seymour special.

I do think 'Prostitute' is about the old band breakup though.

It does seem to allude to that,but also could be applied to numerous scenarios such as label difficulties,keeping your integrity,and not bleeding into the water when Sharks are around.

The interpretations are a "Plus" because people can apply them to their own lives.

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I'm listening to locomotive right now and it just reminds me how much of my brain is being used up on remembering lyrics to all these songs. lol I used to sing coma all the way through when i would hear it. That last part can run you out of breath because I dont' want to pause during it. lol

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After the leaks of 2006, I listened to the songs TWAT, Better, The Blues almost non-stop that summer. I found myself in a bit of sad/depressed mood all the time. I finally realized that the non-stop listening of the songs was creating it, not anything really in my life. Great music and lyrics.

Just be sure to enjoy it for what it is worth. :thumbsup:

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If Appetite is about a group of guys taking over the world on their own terms and breaking all the rules. And the Illusions are about those core group of guys trying to hold everything together while still coming apart at the seams. Then Chinese is how one of those guys climbs out of the wreckage, starts to piece part of his life back together, and trys to come to grips with everything that went down. From a slum in the gutter of the Sunset Strip all the way to an isolated mansion in the hills in Malibu. The albums trace how he got from one to the other, probably my favorite part of the music is trying to figure out the lyrics.

Edited by uzi your illusion
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If Appetite is about a group of guys taking over the world on their own terms and breaking all the rules. And the Illusions are about those core group of guys trying to hold everything together while still coming apart at the seams. Then Chinese is how one of those guys climbs out of the wreckage, starts to piece part of his life back together, and trys to come to grips with everything that went down. From a slum in the gutter of the Sunset Strip all the way to an isolated mansion in the hills in Malibu. The albums trace how he got from one to the other, probably my favorite part of the music is trying to figure out the lyrics.

I remember Axl mentioned that he always considered Chinese Democracy a double album.

Lyrically, when I listen to what we have all the way through, it does feel like I've only heard just a part of it, not really all he had to say.

Kinda like Coma will make you think that was all of it like Prostitute did, but somehow I felt like a 'to be continued' appeared and I needed to wait for the second part of it or the rest to come out.

Better, Street Of Dreams, There Was A Time, Prostitute and especially Catcher In The Rye are great lyrically imo.

If Axl has more songs with similar lyrics and style of writing like those, It will be awesome to me. I like the dark tone Chinese had.

It wasn't all negative, I didn't feel like it was anyway.

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Axl spent most of his 30s in seclusion, probably depressed much of the time when he wrote these. I don't think anyone was expecting happy songs about rainbows and butterflys.

Kind of funny, because Axl also said this about Slash:

O Globo, January 2001

With Slash it wasn't much different, addicted to drugs and alcohol, the guitarist disagreed with the direction of the band:

- Nothing about happiness and love made sense to him. That was the reason why he hated "Sweet Child O' Mine". He only wanted to write songs about drugs and sadness.

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