Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Rose reading
With the new Guns N' Roses album, Axl Rose shows why Holden Caulfield remains a teen for our times

Posted by  Sam Jordison  Monday 29 December 2008 12.27 GMT


One of the many excellent things to have resulted from the release of Chinese Democracy is that Axl Rose has again started talking publicly about what's going on in his head. Say what you like about the Guns N' Roses frontman, there's no denying that this is an extraordinary place.

The latest outpourings on fan forums and the Guns N' Roses website aren't as harrowing as the famous 1992 Rolling Stone interview where Rose explained how his miserable childhood gave birth to the demons that chase him, but there's still plenty of car-crash fascination here. Especially in the bemusement he expresses at the "crazy" and "ugly" lawyer-filled life he's been living for the past 15 years and his continuing fury with erstwhile band-mate Slash.

In spite of the anger, there's also something endearing about Rose's latest screeds. There's a little-boy-lost quality to the singer ? a combination of wide-eyed enthusiasm and vulnerability ? that makes him uniquely interesting. It might seem contradictory to talk about someone with such a diabolical line in snake dancing as an innocent, but I know what Sin?ad O'Connor meant when she said she wanted to "bring him home and give him a bowl of soup".

You get the impression that Rose, like Elvis Presley, is in way above his crazy haircut. Like Elvis, too, he appears to be one of life's great enthusiasts. At his fans' prompting he seems to delight in discussing his favourite steak houses, Led Zeppelin, getting in touch with his already noted "innocent side" at Disney World, and ? of particular interest for this blog ? literature.

Once you've got over the strange image of a rock banshee like Rose hitching his kilt, putting his feet up and settling down with a nice paperback, his views on books repay attention. His list of favourites, for a start, is fun: "The Stand [by Stephen King], A Scanner Darkly [Philip K Dick], Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, James Dean: The Mutant King [David Dalton] and Zodiac [Neal Stephenson]."

I haven't read the last two, but the other three I love. Not books you would choose if you wanted to show off, but all enjoyable and provocative. My web-stalking of David Dalton's study of James Dean and his influence on teenage America also gave me the impression that it's excellent. Ditto Zodiac.

More interesting still is Rose's explanation of how his recent track The Catcher in the Rye was inspired by JD Salinger's classic novel (click here and scroll right down).

There's something very neat about the fact that Rose and Salinger, two of the great recluses of modern times, should meet thus in song ? especially as Salinger is probably the only living person to have frustrated more people than Rose with his disinclination to put out new product (it's 45 years and counting for Salinger, putting Rose's 15 in the shade ? although rumour has it that something might arrive next month).

It also seems fitting that the eternally adolescent and angry Rose should empathise with Holden Caulfield, the teen narrator who has such trouble with the "phoney" adult world. But Rose is striving for something beyond these simple parallels. His explanation on the forum suggests he was thinking quicker than he could type, but his meaning is clear:

"It started as fascination and curiosity with Holden Caulfield syndrome and what was or could possibly be in the book that obviously certain vulnerable people have seemed to become so passionate about and resort to outrageous public attempts or acts of violence."

He's referring, of course, to Mark Chapman's notorious conviction that that he was Caulfield, that John Lennon was the phoney he had to kill and that ? chillingly ? he sat reading the book after shooting the ex-Beatle, quietly leafing through it as police hurried to the scene and Lennon's blood flowed away.

Why Chapman plumped for Salinger's book in this way is unanswerable, but even for those less deluded than him, the book has mind-blowing qualities. It's one of those rare and precious books that, if it catches you at the right time, can change your world. With its lonely desperation and hints at mental instability, it's also pretty disturbing. Using it as Rose did in an attempt to channel Mark Chapman must have been weird at best. It's small wonder Rose says he destroyed his copy after finishing the song.

It doesn't surprise me, either, that the end product is excellent. Like most of Rose's music, and in spite of the painstaking production, it's mercilessly catchy. When he sings them (rather than on paper), the lyrics are also as haunting and unsettling as they ought to be, given their context. It's proof again of Rose's strange genius and a fitting testament to the continuing relevance of both himself and his inspiration, JD Salinger.

Of course, I'm sure the many Rose cynics out there will disagree. To you the response is ? naturally ? get in the ring. The comments board is open.

---

Axl gets talked about in the Books section of The Guardian newspaper's web site in the UK.

Not your typical gossip or music section.

 8)





/jarmo

Well written, interesting piece. Glad to see journalists are finally writing about the album's content rather than the length of time taken to get it out there.

I have to say - very nice article.  Well thought out and well written.  I enjoyed it.

Good song, good book, must lead to a good article.  Glad to see his work is being taken seriously by the world at large. 

the paper finally proved itself to be the guardian and not the sun.  :)

It's nice to see the music talked about from another perspective. That isn't from the gossip or music point of view.

Just another thing that makes the album different from most others that have been released recently....





/jarmo

I'm surprised that the author of the article did not mention that Axl also said the book was garbage.  That was the most noteworthy aspect of what he said to say, at least for me.

It's still cool they wrote this article, though!

Here you go, dear.

Dear??

I did not take the article to imply that he thought it was garbage, only that he thought it was dangerous.  Maybe others have taken it differently.

In Axl's post on the forum he said how the book should not be automatically read by American kids, as it is atm in schools. I dont know about that as im not American! But i have read the book ,a few years ago, & it was one of the most boring few days of my life.....complete rubbish

thanks for sharing jarmo  : ok: ... nice read.

-velimir

I could not agree more.

Maybe my favorite song on CD. I'd love to somehow sit and discuss "The Stand" with Axl. We could have a pretty damn interesting conversation on that 1160 page masterpiece.

I took it as he thought it was dangerous as well.

absolutely, if u live with something and get influenced by the wrong things, they can make u become very self destructive. I definitely believe that.

be cool if schools made listening to "catcher" mandatory along with reading the book  :hihi:

great book.

Great read.
I too always felt the same way about the chicken soup!

I think the song CITR ends really really weird. Not saying that as a negative. It doesn't wrap up. Just stops oddly. Trying to find the words to describe this better. Like it seems some notes short of its natural conclusion. That of course may just be the point. Might be even more deep as fuck. Any thoughts?

I think as the actual release date of the album recedes farther into the past, all of the drama regarding the album's release will start to be over looked and the opinion of the album will begin to change.

I'm not saying that translates into sales or anything else, just that the album will be recognized as a masterpiece critically.

Now that's a great article and hope will make people see a different perspective of the album.

I missed that list of books that Axl posted, very interesting.

Would love to hear what Axl could come up with inspired by "The Stand"..

I've actually never read this book before, but an article like this has me motivated to check it out.  Catcher is hands down my favourite song on the album (and of all time).

All this talk of Axl's reading habits, and no mention of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged? The book is considered by many literary critics and casual readers to be the best book of the 20th century. The novel is both a cult classic and a critical success. On college campuses, it is like the Bible or Koran, very life-changing and influential to many people, especially young people. It is an ode to individualism, a rejection of mass conformity and socialism.

Can't wait to hear how this epic novel influenced Axl's music and lyrics. I was a little bothered by the fact that Axl stated the book wasn't directly related to the song when they have the same title.

Yeah kind of an alternative Axl Rose article to read.

I'm sure there will be many more articles once g'nr starts touring, once they do.

But yes, very well written and positive.  :peace:

Well, he said that Catcher was more about the Lennon assassination than the book... and that Atlas Shrugged only has a vague reference to that book. That doesn't make for an interesting newspaper article, though.

Like Rock N Roll music !  :rofl:

At last - an interesting read, it really is nice to read an article that isnt focusing on the usual tired speculation.  Thank you Guardian! 

I agree. Very interesting article. I always thought Axl had a James Dean quality about him.

This whole talk makes me remember Axl's interview to Kurt Loder back in the 90s. Kurt said that some religious people were burning rock albums, including GNR's, and Axl would say that people mustn't be afraid of art, and that art is powerful. Then he mentions how he thinks "The Wall" is a piece of art and that some of his friends spend years inside the album.

The same thing with the book. It's foolishness to think that 'Catcher' was responsible for Lennon's death. The book is ingenuous, and in no way inspires any kind of conflict, or acts of murdering.