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Is One is a Million really a racist song?


TombRaider

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Yes it was a racist song. Yes it's an amazing song. No it shouldn't ever be performed live again.

Amazing my ass.

Axl basically says that he judges people based on their skin colour and sexual orientation.

Fuck off with that sh*t.

Being from a small town doesn't excuse it.

I'm from a small town in Alabama(!!!) of all places and I don't do that sh*t.

. Slash is kind of black

I Lol'ed.

Why is it called One in a Million though? A lot of people I know think it's a love song or something.

Chinese Democracy blows chunks.

OIAM is worse than any track off that record.

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Yes it was a racist song. Yes it's an amazing song. No it shouldn't ever be performed live again.

Amazing my ass.

Axl basically says that he judges people based on their skin colour and sexual orientation.

Fuck off with that sh*t.

Being from a small town doesn't excuse it.

I'm from a small town in Alabama(!!!) of all places and I don't do that sh*t.

I think it's a great song because it so perfectly illustrates a very specific scenario in a certain place and time. It has artistic merit despite its subject matter being abhorrent. It's an incredibly evocative song of its origins. As I said there's no way it could ever be played live again but it shows very clearly Axl's views at the time which have since (hopefully) changed significantly.
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The US is ridiculously sensitive when it comes to race. It's out of control. And as I said before, I don't think it's racist, homophobic, anti Semitic, anti white, blue, green or purple. People are just way to damn sensitive.

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Its an amazing song because it had an undeniable truth behind it... axl wasnt expressing his own views in that song, but the views of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of other ppl at that time... and if ppl couldnt handle that shit back then, they certainly cant handle it today... anyone thats offended by it should fuck off imo cuz id love to hear it, but sadly i probably never will... theres plenty of other "racist" art forms out there but it wont be jumped all over by the media unless its being spewed by axl rose or someone like him

Anyone ever hear dave chappelle on white ppl? Well im white as a ghost and never laughed harder

Edited by Hollywood Gunner
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The song was about being hassled by types of people when he came to LA. It's not a song that needed explaining.

I spoke with Axl Rose about the song before he put the record out. I told him I thought it would cause him a lot of trouble, but he wanted it released. It ended up getting a lot of negative reaction, which was certainly deserved.​ I don’t believe Axl Rose is homophobic. I know him. - David Geffen, Playboy interview

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About a dog? Really? I thought it was a joke song about a bitchy girl

It was written about Axl's dog, according to Slash.

No it wasn't, that's a myth.

I dunnow, the exact quote is easy to find with Google.
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About a dog? Really? I thought it was a joke song about a bitchy girl

It was written about Axl's dog, according to Slash.

No it wasn't, that's a myth.

I dunnow, the exact quote is easy to find with Google.

Yes but show us the original source of that quote? I can make up anything and say it's a quote from anyone, but if people repost it on the internet, it doesn't make it true.

That myth has been going around since the 1980s, but I've never seen any concrete evidence that the song is really about a dog.

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About a dog? Really? I thought it was a joke song about a bitchy girl

It was written about Axl's dog, according to Slash.

No it wasn't, that's a myth.

I dunnow, the exact quote is easy to find with Google.

Yes but show us the original source of that quote? I can make up anything and say it's a quote from anyone, but if people repost it on the internet, it doesn't make it true.

That myth has been going around since the 1980s, but I've never seen any concrete evidence that the song is really about a dog.

The quote has been relayed by other GN'R related sites, look at the GNR Lies wikipedia article. Details here : http://web.archive.org/web/20071206110805/http://gnrsource.com/songinfo/lies/utlh.htm

And I think you need to cheer up, I only mentioned that there seems to be a Slash quote about this song's origin. Didn't say it was the truth about the song meaning.

Edited by EvH
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The US is ridiculously sensitive when it comes to race.

Skittles..Hoodie = Dead.

No we are not.

Yes it was a racist song. Yes it's an amazing song. No it shouldn't ever be performed live again.

Amazing my ass.

Axl basically says that he judges people based on their skin colour and sexual orientation.

Fuck off with that sh*t.

Being from a small town doesn't excuse it.

I'm from a small town in Alabama(!!!) of all places and I don't do that sh*t.

I think it's a great song because it so perfectly illustrates a very specific scenario in a certain place and time. It has artistic merit despite its subject matter being abhorrent. It's an incredibly evocative song of its origins. As I said there's no way it could ever be played live again but it shows very clearly Axl's views at the time which have since (hopefully) changed significantly.

It's a Miser post.

Its an amazing song because it had an undeniable truth behind it... axl wasnt expressing his own views in that song, but the views of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of other ppl at that time... and if ppl couldnt handle that shit back then, they certainly cant handle it today... anyone thats offended by it should fuck off imo cuz id love to hear it, but sadly i probably never will... theres plenty of other "racist" art forms out there but it wont be jumped all over by the media unless its being spewed by axl rose or someone like him

Anyone ever hear dave chappelle on white ppl? Well im white as a ghost and never laughed harder

You do realize that millions of blacks (Bill Cosby) abhor the Chappelle Show right?

As for OIAM? When the KKK uses a song you wrote in anything...you've said some "racist sh*t."

FACT.

The song was about being hassled by types of people when he came to LA. It's not a song that needed explaining.

I spoke with Axl Rose about the song before he put the record out. I told him I thought it would cause him a lot of trouble, but he wanted it released. It ended up getting a lot of negative reaction, which was certainly deserved.​ I don’t believe Axl Rose is homophobic. I know him. - David Geffen, Playboy interview

"I don’t believe Axl Rose is racist."

It's what you don't say.

I actually think that song is probably more racist towards whites than anything else... since it pretty much depicted your average middle class white guy from the midwest at the time

Bullshit. Maybe you should look at the demographics of where Axl was raised.

He knew what those words meant.

Ya know, as much as I respect many of you, I'll never get the defense of this song by this board.

It honestly does baffle me.

Edited by SunnyDRE
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I don't think it's a racist song, but I can see why people get offended by the lyrics.

TBH I can kind of identify myself with OIAM cause I had to move alone to a big city after living in a small town with my family for 18 years.

It wasn't easy at the beggining. I used to feel like a fish out of the water...

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I don't think it's a racist song, but I can see why people get offended by the lyrics.

TBH I can kind of identify myself with OIAM cause I had to move alone to a big city after living in a small town with my family for 18 years.

It wasn't easy at the beggining. I used to feel like a fish out of the water...

Until you started to "meet and get to know people", and once that happened..didn't you think yourself an "idiot" for the negative thoughts.

OIAM is not a song about "humility."

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It's definitely a racially and sexually insensitive song, but is it hateful? No. Ignorant? Sure, but not a hate song by any stretch. Why anybody would be so up in arms over it, or any song, is ridiculous.

too many people with sand in their vaginas

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Of course it is a racist song, Axl or anyone else can try and justify it all they want but he was using a racial slur in a derogatory way. Doens't matter if he was only aiming it at a certain "element" or select few people.

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Yes, it is. Also world class attention whoring, which (temporarily anyway) secured the band's 'dangerous' image. It was a brilliant, calculated stunt. All the folks who feel sorry for poor naive misunderstood Axl in regards to the associated controversy crack me up.

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Of course it is a racist song, Axl or anyone else can try and justify it all they want but he was using a racial slur in a derogatory way. Doens't matter if he was only aiming it at a certain "element" or select few people.

I wouldn't say theres anything to justify, it just is what it is. A nasty song with a nasty subject. I'd rather live in a world with artists who don't filter themselves than one ruled by political correctness, people need to find more impoartant things to get upset over.

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I don't think it's really a racist song. It has one mention of the "n word". Only one line is really about that, so I don't see the big deal. If the whole song was about race, that would be different.

More or less, it's just Axl expressing an opinion.

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To me it's about anger or when someone is angry. Maybe I'm way off or something idk lol but I always felt it was just that. So when I hear the N word or references to cops or some bigoted stuff in the songs I just feel that it's just stuff we all have thought or said when angered to a certain degree or we're angry at someone. So yes the song is racist, its against immigration, it's against gays, it's against religion, it's against everything. It's basically just an angry song to me it's just about anger and what it leads us to say or do.

I think the one in a million line means that if you've never felt that or said some horrible stuff to people your indeed one in a million and everyone is trying to reach that Christ like figure.

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