Did Axl truly ever write a single uplifting song?

[Lady Livin]

i'm not sure if this can stay in this section or if it belongs in Dead Horse, but i have been thinking about this particularly for a while and am interested in your perspective. if anyone can help make more sense of this, it'd be appreciated. i wrote this as one of my online journal entries a few weeks ago:

i had some sort of revelation last night, and i couldn't stop thinking about it all day. it's no newsflash that axl rose wasn't a very happy person, but sometimes certain things you thought you understood from the get-go start to promulgate new meanings. in the most unbiased manner i can say this, guns is the greatest therapy one could ever find. being the fundamental part of the band, axl gave us way more than what we bargained for. there really isn't a single uplifting song in the entire guns catalogue, that is if you dismiss their odes to alcohol and drugs. i try and analyze the illusions all the time, and little by little do i find myself interpreting a song to the point where it makes the most sense. for starters, take notice of each song's title from those albums:

UYI I: right next door to hell, dust n' bones, live and let die, don't cry, perfect crime, you ain't the first, bad obsession, back off bitch, double talkin' jive, november rain, the garden, garden of eden, don't damn me, bad apples, dead horse, coma

UYI II: civil war, 14 years, yesterdays, knockin' on heaven's door, get in the ring, shotgun blues, breakdown, pretty tied up, locomotive, so fine, estranged, you could be mine, don't cry [alt], my world

now, i had always felt like they were my only true outlet, and i had also recognized that they fit perfectly with any mood i should happen to be in. i think that this goes to show that i really don't have that wide a range of moods, that i'm just a sad case for a human being. by just reading the titles of these songs, you can already see where it's going to take you and what is going to be shared with the listener. i think that with the variety in guns' music, and the way they still manage to keep that punk rock outlook, it's not so much what mood in general one could be in -- it's a measure or scale of how hurt or pissed off you're feeling.

there are speculations that a lot of the material on the up-and-coming chinese democracy is going to be about stephanie seymour, someone whom axl hasn't shared intimate relations with in over a decade. it's pretty common for people to have trouble letting go of things and moving on, but it just seems axl in particular has never had any luck with that and probably won't. like myself, he was and is an extremely introvertive individual. i think that since he's hid himself from not only the fans, but every person he used to have feelings for, the only way he was or is able to get his point across is strictly through the music. i have this sort of respect for him for not abiding by the record label's requisition, and i so hope that this wait will follow through -- that he does get everything in it's place, whether he's been able to let go of certain things or not.

i'm not entirely sure what point i'm even trying to make, but i'm having writer's block again, and what i just wanted to share is what i had been thinking about, and had been concerned with, recently.

[anarchy]

Wow, all that writing and not a single capital letter. Makes it hard to read.

I would say Nightrain was uplifting.

[Lady Livin]

D is one of the most active posters here, and mine was hard to read? haha.

[GnFnR87]

Sweet Child Of Mine

[Lady Livin]

Sweet Child Of Mine

first of all, to the above poster.. like i said, that is if you dismiss the odes to alcohol and whatnot. what i want to know is, what is the meaning behind "where do we go now?" and what does that imply.

[Doc Emmett Brown]

yeah, SCOM is uplifting both music and lyrics-wise.

When you're down in the dumps, Estranged is always there for you.

Get in the Ring makes me laugh, so I'd call it uplifting as well.   

[AdZ]

 "where do we go now?"
Is referring to where do we go in the relationship.


It's still uplifting.

Patience could be seen as uplifting in some lights.

[Doc Emmett Brown]

"where do we go now?"
Is referring to where do we go in the relationship.

yeah, it sounds ominous depending on how you see it.? But the song overall has an uplifting feel to it.

Patience could be seen as uplifting in some lights.

It is a comforting song depending on my mood.  thanks to Izzy.

[Lady Livin]

any more insight?

[Eeebs]

Guns N Roses... was all about sex, drugs, n' rock n' roll... no smiling happy people sh*t (to paraphrase REM ).  I like GNR because their songs are uplifting in an energetic way.  After listening to a few tracks, I feel as if I am good to go and kick just about anyone's ass.

Music and violence connection??  Huh??  What connection?!!  

[The Estranged MrFlashbax]

Guns N Roses... was all about sex, drugs, n' rock n' roll... no smiling happy people sh*t (to paraphrase REM ).  I like GNR because their songs are uplifting in an energetic way.  After listening to a few tracks, I feel as if I am good to go and kick just about anyone's ass.

Music and violence connection??  Huh??  What connection?!!  

exactly..

to me, gnr's music isnt supposed to make you put flowers on your head and make you love everyone.. its supposed to get you pumped and, as Eeebs mentioned, kick some ass..

you can make the arguement that the UYI albums were full of sad things and i agree with you.. for example in Bad Obsession when axl's talking about his mother: "I cant stop thinkin 'bout seen you one more time.. But I already left you and you're better off left behind" its very sad.. now, i may sound like a 17 year old pussy but that part of the song really made me sad.. not sad like "aww, he misses his mom.. thats so sad" but sad like it really touched something inside me.. but what also makes the song uplifting is how upbeat the song is.. and i think that goes for almost all of em (except songs such as NR)..  i mean, anybody can bitch about their cocaine addicted girl friend but how many can make it into a badass, get your blood pumping, and if you're drunk enough you'll smash your head into the wall listening to it type of song such as you could be mine..

[Lady Livin]

yes, this is what i mean.. that the music is so brilliant, that the most uplifting song might just so happen to have the most depressing lyrics. still, it just sort of sucks that axl had that much pain to be able to write that much negativity.

and of course i realize he wasn't alone in the songwriting process. i just mean as a whole, since they obviously come out of his mouth on the records and at the shows.

[The Estranged MrFlashbax]

yes, this is what i mean.. that the music is so brilliant, that the most uplifting song might just so happen to have the most depressing lyrics. still, it just sort of sucks that axl had that much pain to be able to write that much negativity.

and of course i realize he wasn't alone in the songwriting process. i just mean as a whole, since they obviously come out of his mouth on the records and at the shows.

i see what you mean and i completely agree.. and i believe the reason the lyrics are sad like that is because axl writes about what he went through and aside from becoming the world's biggest rock star, he had a very tough life..

[Lady Livin]

but to the casual listener he's just some pompous jerk with plastic surgery.

[D]

D is one of the most active posters here, and mine was hard to read? haha.

how the hell did i get brought up in this?


i find estranged to be very very uplifting!

[MsDuffMckagan]

D is one of the most active posters here, and mine was hard to read? haha.

how the hell did i get brought up in this?


i find estranged to be very very uplifting!

Estranged is just plain Brilliant!
Erin

[Axlative]

I don't know if this qualifies, but it has to be one of the most uplifting pieces of music/lyrics GNR ever did. What I'm talking about is the bridge in My Michelle:

Everyone needs love
You know that it's true
Someday you'll find someone
That'll fall in love with you
But oh the time it takes
When you're all alone
Someday you'll find someone
That you can call your own
But till then ya better...

That's the most positive lyrics in any GNR song IMO. PC isn't too negative either. At least chorus-wise... 

[rolleri]

Did Axl truly ever write a single uplifting song?

What is that "ever"? He's still out there, you know.

[Genesis]

If SCOM isn't uplifting, I don't know what is... I have to listen to it atleast twice a day... VERY UPLIFTING

[The Estranged MrFlashbax]

If SCOM isn't uplifting, I don't know what is... I have to listen to it atleast twice a day... VERY UPLIFTING

that is, if you have a significant other or some one you like.. if not, then its rubbing salt on your wounds.. kinda like valentines day.. its great for couples but for single people its sad..