What lines (if any) from Chinese Democracy songs do you believe are about Axl's former bandmates?

[Lio]

8 hours ago, Caught_in_a_Coma said:

Fascinating info from that quote you posted.  Do you have any more context on the quote?  Like Slash had songs with lyrics done and all he wanted was Axl to sing what was written?

It's in the Axl chat here:

 

[SoundOfAGun]

First of all, the point about lyrics meaning different things to different people is bang on. Secondly, I always thought that Axl hit his highest standard lyric-wise during the Illusions period (Locomotive, Coma, Don't Damn Me, Garden of Eden) and that CD was largely lacking in direction on the Lyrics front. But for the purpose of this topic, there is a bit in Prostitute:

"It's not a question of whether my heart is true, Streamlined, I had to pull through."

I think this is about being the only one left in the band and how he was the only one willing to see it through. I may be wrong though!

[starlight]

I believe Street of Dreams is about Slash like RussTCB said 

[wasted]

The innocence inside is about the baby Erin lost? Did Axl really save all his feeling for Slash? It's about a chick fo sho. 

Free them so that they know it's never too late. Could include the band I guess. 

I think Slash told Axl to shut up and sing once? 

There's nothing specific to the band. In fact Axl probaby worked on the lyrics to work on different levels at the same time. Chick, band, socio political. 

[spliff]

11 hours ago, NOVEMBER COMA said:

Agree written by Ozzy who I think said in an article that this song is about 'all former bandmates'. Hard to believe with those lyrics that it is not directed at Axl. Great song.

 

7 hours ago, youngswedishvinyl said:

I thought I read somewhere on this forum that Ozzy was credited as the songwriter so that Axl wouldn't sue Slash but that the song was in fact written by Slash (probably with Ozzy as input though).

 

Edit: Nevermind the song was written by Ozzy but it's based on what he would tell Axl if he we're in Slash's shoes! http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ozzy-says-crucify-the-dead-lyrics-are-what-he-would-say-to-axl-rose-if-he-were-slash/

 

ozzy doesn't even write lyrics for his own songs lol at him writing for slash

[Słash]

12 hours ago, Apollo said:

Unless Axl takes a video selfie of himself, holding a newspaper, and delivers a short message saying TIL isn't about Slash" then we clearly should assume that it is - in fact - about Slash.  

This joke has become old now, I told you not to bug me about it, seriously get over it, I gave you a chance but it seems you din't get it. Sorry to say pal, but I am putting you on ignore now. Have a nice life and I hope you stop arguing with people. 

[Apollo]

9 hours ago, niceguy said:

Sorry is about Salsh. Period. 

So Axl lied?

How do you know it is about Slash. Personal conversation with Axl or Fernando?

Since you end you post with "period" does that mean the mods should close the topic and not let people discuss their opinions anymore?

[Apollo]

1 hour ago, Slash787 said:

This joke has become old now, I told you not to bug me about it, seriously get over it, I gave you a chance but it seems you din't get it. Sorry to say pal, but I am putting you on ignore now. Have a nice life and I hope you stop arguing with people. 

? 

Lol. Dude makes 286 posts demanding that Izzy provide proof....completely ignoring the old timers on the forum who backed it being Izzy.......and he goes on a hissy fit over one joke. Too funny

[D-GenerationX]

IRS

Pretty much the entire song.

[Caught_in_a_Coma]

50 minutes ago, D-GenerationX said:

IRS

Pretty much the entire song.

Wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong
Wouldn't be the last I'm sure, I've known
With all the rumors I can tell
Some things didn't work so well

[sanity_lost]

I kind of took it as these songs were all a conglomeration about everyone he felt was pressuring him and abandoning him- whether that was old bandmates, old lovers, or people in the music industry/media. Everything that fed into the feelings he was writing about.

"Just shut up and sing."  Could represent many, many different people.

 

 

19 hours ago, Apollo said:

Unless Axl takes a video selfie of himself, holding a newspaper, and delivers a short message saying TIL isn't about Slash" then we clearly should assume that it is - in fact - about Slash. 

 

Of course if he does do this then everyone will know for a fact that it really is all about Slash. It would be our proof because who would go through so much effort to deny something?

 

[AxlRoseCDII]

Great topic. I feel like that Sorry is about the old band- Slash, Duff, and Matt.

"Just shut up and sing" pretty much gives it away. But I agree with others that it may serve as a follow up to Get In The Ring about the media. Axl has said the song does in fact have multiple meanings, so I feel like the entirety of the song is a message to the situation concerning the media and Axl's situation of the inevitable "reunion". 

Madagascar, I feel like has a few lines about the old band. In fact, the second verse is entirely devoted to them in my opinion as others have stated. The general message of the song is like a middle finger to the old band, saying that he can in fact be something on his own. (Thus the epic conclusion to the song)

Riad n' The Bedouins   = Guns n' Roses? I know people claim the song is about something else but I always saw this and Scraped as a giant fuck you to the old band. Some lines at least. Again, songs can have multiple meanings.

[Nice Boy]

this is what he says about the subject in the Axlchat:

 

The whole whose it about bit w/songs doesn't work for me that much as in whether a line or whatever was inspired by a particular person or situation doesn't mean that in the end that's what or who the song's about.

I could be working with clay and think of someone or something and somehow that could inspire me to take the work in a different direction at the moment but in the end it could just be a nice vase.

I often wonder where the people who inspired so many songs are now and why it's only important with some songs such as Layla as opposed to others. I'm guessin' a fair # of beautiful love songs or otherwise were inspired by some that the artists and public might consider now or in hindsight to be the opposite of how they are depicted or allegedly represented.

With Sorry.. like a lot of the material is drawn from a lot of different situations. The main focus on the boards w/the track seems to be either Slash or "the fans" (and the collective of "the fans" is another thing that doesn't work for me) and is much too restrictive or narrow and limits what I feel I intended.

For me it's for anyone talking nonsense at mine and the public's expense and that many of those as well as the public don't know who to believe.

Also where possible I'd like to give people the opportunity to get what they can from the material for a while before clouding that with my inspirations. Of course that's not always avoidable.

[-W.A.R-]

4 hours ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Riad n' The Bedouins   = Guns n' Roses? I know people claim the song is about something else but I always saw this and Scraped as a giant fuck you to the old band. Some lines at least. Again, songs can have multiple meanings.

thats just Guns stylistic choice for "and" they used it before: Dust N' Bones

ive also noticed Axl uses in on twitter...so i wouldn't draw that conclusion

[RussTCB]

13 hours ago, starlight said:

I believe Street of Dreams is about Slash like RussTCB said 

I get SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much shit for saying it, but I truly believe it. People have straight up come up with near homophobic style thoughts about how there's no WAY those lyrics could be about another guy. It just ends up making me feel bad for them in a way because they're closed minded enough to never have felt that deeply for someone else regardless of sexuality or sexuality.

[wasted]

That's why saying it's about someone specifically is redundant. It's how the listener relates to it. There's an element to SOD which sounds like about the band, his dream is still GNR but it's tainted. 

There's that same theme running through Chi dem, Better, TWAT, Sorry, IRS, Madagascar, Prostitute. I suppose for a while Slash was the leader of the nu GNR dissenters in Axl's mind. 

[Mr. Dude]

21 hours ago, wasted said:

The innocence inside is about the baby Erin lost? Did Axl really save all his feeling for Slash? It's about a chick fo sho. 

Free them so that they know it's never too late. Could include the band I guess. 

I think Slash told Axl to shut up and sing once? 

There's nothing specific to the band. In fact Axl probaby worked on the lyrics to work on different levels at the same time. Chick, band, socio political. 

I think there's a  proto-philosophic socio-economic element in there too. The lyrical texture of conjecture. Also the rumble in the jungle.

[wasted]

Axl sings about himself in 90s east coast/west coast, grunge v hair metal, political rap metaphors. 

[Apollo]

16 hours ago, Nice Boy said:

this is what he says about the subject in the Axlchat:

 

The whole whose it about bit w/songs doesn't work for me that much as in whether a line or whatever was inspired by a particular person or situation doesn't mean that in the end that's what or who the song's about.

I could be working with clay and think of someone or something and somehow that could inspire me to take the work in a different direction at the moment but in the end it could just be a nice vase.

I often wonder where the people who inspired so many songs are now and why it's only important with some songs such as Layla as opposed to others. I'm guessin' a fair # of beautiful love songs or otherwise were inspired by some that the artists and public might consider now or in hindsight to be the opposite of how they are depicted or allegedly represented.

With Sorry.. like a lot of the material is drawn from a lot of different situations. The main focus on the boards w/the track seems to be either Slash or "the fans" (and the collective of "the fans" is another thing that doesn't work for me) and is much too restrictive or narrow and limits what I feel I intended.

For me it's for anyone talking nonsense at mine and the public's expense and that many of those as well as the public don't know who to believe.

Also where possible I'd like to give people the opportunity to get what they can from the material for a while before clouding that with my inspirations. Of course that's not always avoidable.

I choose to believe Axl rather than make up my own narrative of what the songs are about. 

Thanks for posting. 

Edited March 8, 2016 by Apollo

[AxlRoseCDII]

16 hours ago, -W.A.R- said:

thats just Guns stylistic choice for "and" they used it before: Dust N' Bones

ive also noticed Axl uses in on twitter...so i wouldn't draw that conclusion

Fair enough. I always just thought it was interesting but maybe I overthought it a little 

[wasted]

9 hours ago, Apollo said:

I choose to believe Axl rather than make up my own narrative of what the songs are about. 

Thanks for posting. 

But isn't he saying that his aim is to just make a great vase everyone can enjoy?

He doesn't really want it to be taken to be about one specific narrative?