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AXL ROSE: The Voice of A Generation

axlslash

By axlslash
in 2006

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axlslash FRONTMAN

axlslash

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http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2622568...TC-RSSFeeds0312

Nov. 1, 2006 — It turns out that Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" is the voice of my generation.

It narrates the 20th century's transition from optimism to disillusion, beginning with some dude's poetic idealization of his girlfriend, and dissolving amidst the sound and fury of encroaching insignificance.

Watch the full report on the "World News" webcast.

It's like taking your date to the malt shop and winding up in a tomb.

The song's unforgettable opening guitar riff has earned it a place on many an aerobics mix tape, and justly so.

Its lyrics tell of an escapist teen love. I imagine the song's subject, "Sweet Child," wearing ripped jeans and several Cyndi Lauper bracelets, our narrator picking her up in the back of the trailer park in his green Impala, and they cruise to Makeout Point.

As the lyrics go, Axl Rose sings, "I'm just sitting here staring at your hair, and it's reminding me of a warm, safe place where as a child I'd hide." I can see them embracing tenderly, and going to shoplift a six-pack of Schaefer. So far, so good.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Slash's guitar drops the nihilism of postmodernism, and lite-rock riffing gives way to wah-wah-drenched fury. His melody lashes out like the neglected cry of some abandoned creature, like the grasping arms of a drowning man.

Our narrator's voice resurfaces — deep, growling and utterly changed. He's asking a simple question, over and over. It repeats and builds into a falsetto wail, an epic complaint that demands an answer he knows he won't get.

Lost Ideals

It's one thing to write an essay bemoaning the decentering of contemporary man in postmodern society.

It's another thing entirely to play a wailing guitar solo that viscerally embodies that decentering. Slash's solo is our voice — 2,000 years after a resurrection we never witnessed, facing a future that seems insoluble.

"Sweet Child O' Mine" doesn't simply pin its hopes for the satisfaction of mankind on idealized romantic love. Nor does it mow over the daisies and burn down the malt shop.

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dobadog DEMI-GOD

dobadog

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As the lyrics go, Axl Rose sings, "I'm just sitting here staring at your hair, and it's reminding me of a warm, safe place where as a child I'd hide."

the lyrics are:

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place

Where as a child I'd hide

Edited by dobadog
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dobadog DEMI-GOD

dobadog

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I liked this bit:

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Slash's guitar drops the nihilism of postmodernism, and lite-rock riffing gives way to wah-wah-drenched fury. His melody lashes out like the neglected cry of some abandoned creature, like the grasping arms of a drowning man.

Slash is da man!

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Chris Axl LEGEND

Chris Axl

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As the lyrics go, Axl Rose sings, "I'm just sitting here staring at your hair, and it's reminding me of a warm, safe place where as a child I'd hide."

the lyrics are:

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place

Where as a child I'd hide

ahahha, sounds like he got it mixed upp with patience

"I sit on the stairs...."

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sammerc Newbie

sammerc

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I just got handed this original "essay" this morning. I will work on posting it. It is way better in full then this abbreviated version. Hearing the song while reading the article (as the article suggests) makes you hear it a different way after all this time.

The guy on the webcast is a tool.....ruins what the original guy was trying to convey. Makes it totally cheesy.

Ok, I take it back, the guy on the webcast IS the guy who wrote the original article....it is better though still in it's entirity. It is in Paste magazine.

Edited by sammerc
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Rockworld Junior

Rockworld

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As the lyrics go, Axl Rose sings, "I'm just sitting here staring at your hair, and it's reminding me of a warm, safe place where as a child I'd hide."

the lyrics are:

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place

Where as a child I'd hide

:lol::lol: !!..

I dont know how the dude could of possibly came to the conclusion that..thats what the lyrics are..

if he acutally listened to the song..

that just sounds so gay!!..

"Im just sitting here staring at your hair."..

.. :rofl-lol::rofl-lol:

eh..

about the article..

I dont know what to say.. :book:

Maybe he meant..

"I wish my name was really claire".. ?

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ps06 Junior

ps06

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great article...thanks for the post. i especially loved the bit about slash's solo: "Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Slash's guitar drops the nihilism of postmodernism, and lite-rock riffing gives way to wah-wah-drenched fury. His melody lashes out like the neglected cry of some abandoned creature, like the grasping arms of a drowning man." that's always been one of my favorite solos because of its emotional depth. its one that i can truly feel when its played. seeing it as disrupting the first part of the song makes a lot of sense for me. i'd never really thought of the song in that way before....as two distinct parts: an idealized part and a disillusioned part. makes me think of sweet child of mine as fitting in more with the more epic songs like nov. rain and estranged.

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sammerc Newbie

sammerc

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What a deep and poetic analysis. That was awesome.

I dunno what the fuck is wrong with some of you. Making fun of a guy you don't even know just because of the way he looks and speaks? Quit being douchebags and grow up.

Come on, don't freak. I thought the article was awesome too. I read the whole thing first, this shortened version and putting the guy on webcast DID take something away from it. People who are ripping on getting the lyrics messed up with patience don't get that the guy WASN"T trying to quote the song word for word at that bit in the article.

I will get to posting it, i think it was a great read too. Unless someone gets to it first.

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Guest Edward Rose

Guest Edward Rose

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I think it was a great article. Then again, I met Susie when we were 17 in 1987, and that was our song in 1988 while it was in reavy rotation on radio.

Perspective I guess. After all, the article WAS titled "The Voice of a Generation," not "A 15 yeard-old's Perspective of SCOM in 2006"

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Guest Edward Rose

Guest Edward Rose

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reavy rotation on radio.

Scooby Doo!!! :lol:

Anyway, I'm not sure about the deep poetic analysis. I think it got lost somewhere between the trailer park and shoplifting the six-pack of Schaefer.

That's funny!

But seriously. I totally jive with what he's saying. Something died in The U.S. since that time... not just my love for Susie. It's like, our hope for the future. Even DEMOCRACY seems to have died. It's still there... a SHELL of it. But it's more like a "Chinese" democracy. Just ask Greg Focker what happened when he said "Bomb" on an airplane.

Edited by Edward Rose
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ps06 Junior

ps06

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reavy rotation on radio.

Scooby Doo!!! :lol:

Anyway, I'm not sure about the deep poetic analysis. I think it got lost somewhere between the trailer park and shoplifting the six-pack of Schaefer.

i strongly disagree. poetry is often taking the ordinary and finding meaning and connection in it. i think this is what the writer is doing. the writer of this essay made a thoughtful poetic connection between the characters of this song and the lives of many of the listeners of the song during the time period in which it came out. maybe the experience the writer describes doesn't ring true for you, but i think for many others it does.

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bluesy SUPER GOD

bluesy

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Anyway, I'm not sure about the deep poetic analysis. I think it got lost somewhere between the trailer park and shoplifting the six-pack of Schaefer.

I think you missed the point. Those parts are just the dude playing with common themes stupid teenagers can relate to.

In the broader perspective, it's about an ideal dream of something that you can taste, but will ultimately lose grasp of because of various circumstances. The sweet melody and verses all reflect attributes of perfect bliss, but sooner or later the taint of the real world kicks in when the thing you cherished ends up in ruins. The turning point is brilliantly composed by Slash's solo, which in itself tells a beautiful story. It begins with somber, slow, bluesy notes, kind of a sad confusion about where things went wrong. Then, like storm clouds gathering, he rips into this raging anguish that grows in intensity, portraying someone on the brink of insanity. When Axl asks the ultimate question, he is at his lowest point. Everything is lost, but he repeats himself while growing more frustrated with the realization that his cherished dream has been forever shattered.

When the dude refers to postmodernism, I think he's trying to underline the issue of societal corruption. Everything today, even something as beautiful as love, has become dirtied by exploitation, the media, basically the selfish ideology of capitalism. Divorce rates have risen, kids are growing up under shit conditions, the poor get poorer, people jump from partner to partner with no real feeling of responsibility or grasp of true love, etc. There is little that is genuinely pure and long-lasting anymore.

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