Axl Rose as Voice of a Generation?

[mlewis]

Get a Job

I have a job, thanks, and an interesting and difficult one it is too. Why don't you become a bit more articulate and eloquent and try and actually think?

[Tynia]

Great read through that article/ABC news ? thanks jazjme?

I didn?t know that one can make such a deep interpretation of SCOM. But it make a lot of sense to me, as he is not only interpreting the lyrics but ? all important ? the music layer.

Additionally, I think Curt Cloninger refers ? between the lines ? to the biblical story, from which a quote ?Quo Vadis?? (Where do you go?) comes from, as he writes ?Slash's solo is our voice ? 2,000 years after a resurrection we never witnessed, facing a future that seems insoluble.
And also: ?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?.

So, resurrected Jesus carrying cross on his arm appeared to St. Peter on his flight from Rome (persecution of Christians). St. Peter asked Jesus: ?Quo Vadis Domine?? (?Where do you go, my Lord?? And Jesus answered: ?I go to Rome to give my life again?. These words referred to St. Peter, who realized himself, that he has to come back to Rome, to defend his faith, even if he has to die for it, what indeed happened, as he was crucified as well.
So this is just a reminder to the biblical story and the famous quote.

Going back to today?s global meaning of the question ?Where do we go now?? ? we really don?t know in which direction the world is going:

The author likens this to the transition that's happened to the world over thelast decade. In the mid 90s, it seemed there was nothing we couldn't do. The philosophy of enlightened liberalism was triumphantly marching, civilization progressing, and we seemed to have conquered all of our battles.

Now- that attitude is dead. Morality, and ideas of what progress itself is, have died. Creationism and many other backward ideologies long since discarded, religious fundamentalism, moral absolutism and an almost global feudal system have all reemerged. 'Where do we go now?' indeed.

I agree with you mlewis here in 100 %

I also think SCOM?s second part is very decadent, somehow pessimistic - just the same the author writes: ?His [Slash's] 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?.

My other thought concerning SCOM:

The biggest shame is that such a great song is so much depreciated by the silly pseudo-artists trying to perform it live or doing their own covers.

e. g. Flat Pack & DJ Mylo techno cover ? the biggest harm and destruction of that great song & Slash?s riffs that one could EVER DONE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BzoBeD61NY

Also Fergie singing SCOM on The Black Eyed Peas tour & other stupid IMITATORS!

With such ?artists? Music won?t go far! It?s like going nowhere! A dead end!

What we really need in MUSIC now is ?Chinese Democracy? to be finally released!!!!?

Hope my thoughts make some sense to you all?

 

[charlesfosterkane]

amusing but i disagree with the interpretation. at least when trying to match it up with some larger cultural this or that. it is a song where innocence and experience are bridged and that's as far as it should go.

[Kid A]

I thought modernism is meaning that it could be conceived by many people as sounding like it is from today. Please tell me what your idea of modernism is.

It's complicated, and I don't have time to explain lots about it. Read this for a semi-decent introduction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism

Dude you should really read someone?s posts before quoting them.

Great read through that article/ABC news ? thanks jazjme?

I didn?t know that one can make such a deep interpretation of SCOM. But it make a lot of sense to me, as he is not only interpreting the lyrics but ? all important ? the music layer.

Additionally, I think Curt Cloninger refers ? between the lines ? to the biblical story, from which a quote ?Quo Vadis?? (Where do you go?) comes from, as he writes ?Slash's solo is our voice ? 2,000 years after a resurrection we never witnessed, facing a future that seems insoluble.
And also: ?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?.

So, resurrected Jesus carrying cross on his arm appeared to St. Peter on his flight from Rome (persecution of Christians). St. Peter asked Jesus: ?Quo Vadis Domine?? (?Where do you go, my Lord?? And Jesus answered: ?I go to Rome to give my life again?. These words referred to St. Peter, who realized himself, that he has to come back to Rome, to defend his faith, even if he has to die for it, what indeed happened, as he was crucified as well.
So this is just a reminder to the biblical story and the famous quote.

Going back to today?s global meaning of the question ?Where do we go now?? ? we really don?t know in which direction the world is going:

Whoever wrote that was obviously tripping, since the song SCOM should be replaced by Estranged.

No!

Did you read the article at all?

He suggests SCOM not because it's tragic, but because you can read it, fairly subversively or even in an (auto)biographical sense as the journey of a bright eyed young man with the world at his feet, to a lost, disillusioned, cynical and almost nervous adult.

The author likens this to the transition that's happened to the world over thelast decade. In the mid 90s, it seemed there was nothing we couldn't do. The philosophy of enlightened liberalism was triumphantly marching, civilization progressing, and we seemed to have conquered all of our battles.

Now- that attitude is dead. Morality, and ideas of what progress itself is, have died. Creationism and many other backward ideologies long since discarded, religious fundamentalism, moral absolutism and an almost global feudal system have all reemerged. 'Where do we go now?' indeed.

It's not that hard to see!

I agree with you mlewis here in 100 %

I also think SCOM?s second part is very decadent, somehow pessimistic - just the same the author writes: ?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?.

My other thought concerning SCOM:

The biggest shame is that such a great song is so much depreciated by the silly pseudo-artists trying to perform it live or doing their own covers.

e. g. Flat Pack & DJ Mylo techno cover ? the biggest harm and destruction of that great song & Slash?s riffs that one could EVER DONE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BzoBeD61NY

Also Fergie singing SCOM on The Black Eyed Peas tour & other stupid IMITATORS!

With such ?artists? Music won?t go far! It?s like going nowhere! A dead end!

What we really need in MUSIC now is ?Chinese Democracy? to be finally released!!!!?

Hope my thoughts make some sense to you all?

 

Read the link the guy provided me, post modernism is concept you really seem to have no idea about, you?re just posting stuff to create some sort of impression that you?re smart so some that idiot might be dumb enough to believe it.

Sure SCOM is a timeless classic but it isn't post modern, maybe it was in the 80s but not now. Post-modernism isn't about a song sounding great.

[mlewis]

Ummm- you can't be post-modern in the 80s and not now. Post-modernism refers again to a specific ideological movement, classically about 'the death of the author' essentially leading to the conclusion that meaning is in the power of the reader, and not the author. It's the predominant underpinning movement behind much modern literary theory.

[Kid A]

Ummm- you can't be post-modern in the 80s and not now. Post-modernism refers again to a specific ideological movement, classically about 'the death of the author' essentially leading to the conclusion that meaning is in the power of the reader, and not the author. It's the predominant underpinning movement behind much modern literary theory.

? Yeah, that, yeah.

[Tynia]

Read the link the guy provided me, post modernism is concept you really seem to have no idea about, you?re just posting stuff to create some sort of impression that you?re smart so some that idiot might be dumb enough to believe it.

Sure SCOM is a timeless classic but it isn't post modern, maybe it was in the 80s but not now. Post-modernism isn't about a song sounding great.

I'm not here to make anyone to "belive in" what I write. I just express my thoughts.? And it's still the same. I just misquoted the texts (still learning the tools here), that's why I edited my previous post - so read again if you wish. And as you can see I wasn't going into your modernism/post-modrnism talk at all.
Also thanks, but I'm not going to use your hint to read some Wikipedia stuff. I think the two last sentences of your (^ quoted) post prove that is you, who got lost in terms. And learn something about carrying on real/non-insulting-others Disscussion too.

[Kid A]

Why can't we all just get along?

[nooz]

Whoever wrote that was obviously tripping, since the song SCOM should be replaced by Estranged.

No!

Did you read the article at all?

He suggests SCOM not because it's tragic, but because you can read it, fairly subversively or even in an (auto)biographical sense as the journey of a bright eyed young man with the world at his feet, to a lost, disillusioned, cynical and almost nervous adult.

The author likens this to the transition that's happened to the world over thelast decade. In the mid 90s, it seemed there was nothing we couldn't do. The philosophy of enlightened liberalism was triumphantly marching, civilization progressing, and we seemed to have conquered all of our battles.

Now- that attitude is dead. Morality, and ideas of what progress itself is, have died. Creationism and many other backward ideologies long since discarded, religious fundamentalism, moral absolutism and an almost global feudal system have all reemerged. 'Where do we go now?' indeed.

It's not that hard to see!

The take over of the telecommunication airwaves (the 90s) and  the more recent establishment of an elitism (class) division in the distribution of information itself on the Internet are changes in communication history that are unprecedented. In terms of our innocence and ability to comprehend what was happening at the time SCOM speaks loudly to the innocence of the sixties child and the changing of the guard in terms of political power from the Veterans to our parents the Baby Boomers?

While the telecommunication industry was studying tipping points and early adapters and we wondered if they were counting us, it turns out they were.?

No cable, no internet, no cell phones, no pagers for the kids in the early nineties, demographically generation X was living through economic conditions equal to the great depression (verifiable) so AFD was reflecting the simple truth to our living conditions for a substantial period of time. (They called it Grunge and us slackers, nice spin). The music industry like the eye of the needle grew increasingly narrow and humans became logjams trying to get through it. Sameness and Gate keeping became the norm and do not dare step out of it or be in any way unmanageable (see Music Coalition Report).?

Communication became less and less innocent and more and more jaded throughout the nineties until an evening at the Baked Potato in the late nineties would reveal we were no longer even capable of communication in any sense of normal. Mean was in to the point of shooting ourselves in the foot and total isolationism became a survival tool. This too is reflected in the evolution of GNR

What is best for me is what?s best; emerged as the only axiom necessary in the new American Leadership model after 2000. This motto should be duly noted as the conscious of the Baby Boomers now running this country. What generation X?s voice or reality will be if and when the X generation ever gains political power will be interesting, our low numbers alone indicate it may never happen.

 AFD and SCOM were the prelude to the feminism of Kurt Cobain (feminist) asking ?What is wrong with me? when in fact it was society that was turning towards the colder razor edge with all to increasing regularity. Our small generation X was just along for the ride, in terms of powers the guard changed and controlled larger and larger segments of the press. My Big issue with the Rock scene of the sixties is pretty much they left us to the vultures. They stole the book and floated away on their Yachts.

 The vultures were getting meaner and making more money than ever off of our innocence, be it in the pornography Capital of the World or the profit margins at AT&T, and AOL, from this new emergence we have moved to a belief through ownership and control of the media they can do anything they want. It took a long time to pull Ma Bell apart and no time to put her back together.. Masculine and Hierarchal these are a large step away from the steps taken Two thousand years ago. Americans don?t see it is as clearly as people in other countries see our loss of symmetry.

The idea of leave it better than you found it is no longer considered heroism it?s considered idiotic and uniformed decision-making in a profit loss statement to corporate America. How exactly can you be a hero when the hero has become the loser in terms of status?

As a country of people raised to believe in heroes is it any wonder we were lost and adrift. It was a mind field of ridiculous elevations of power and greed over talent and compassion that somehow and for some reason Geffen seemed determine to let rise GNR Persist.

 Maybe its a nod to Yoko Ono's contempt for the industry that Geffen persisted and GNR broke through the emerging gate keeping at all

So the question remains as relevant today as when it was asked all of those years ago, where do we go now?? Or maybe more importantly will they let us go?