One In A Million Lyrics
(Whistle)
Guess I needed sometime to get away
I needed some piece of mind
Some piece of mind that'll stay
So I thumbed it down to Sixth and L.A.
Maybe a Greyhound could be my way
Police and Niggers, that's right
Get out of my way
Don't need to buy none of your
Gold chains today
I don't need no bracelets
Clamped in front of my back
Just need my ticket; 'til then
Won't you cut me some slack?
You're one in a million
Yeah, that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You're a shooting star
Maybe someday we'll see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high, much too high,
Much too high, yes, ow!
Immigrants and faggots
They make no sense to me
They come to our country
And think they'll do as they please
Like start some mini Iran,
Or spread some fuckin' disease
They talk so many goddamn ways
It's all Greek to me
Well some say I'm lazy
And others say that's just me
Some say I'm crazy
I guess I'll always be
But it's been such a long time
Since I knew right from wrong
It's all the means to an end, I
I keep it movin' along
You're one in a million
Oo, you're a shooting star
You're one in a million, babe
You know that you are
Maybe someday we'll see you, Oo
oh, Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high, Oo, much too high
Yeah,
Much too high, huh, no, no, oh
Ow!
Radicals and Racists
Don't point your finger at me
I'm a small town white boy
Just tryin' to make ends meet
Don't need your religion
Don't watch that much T.V.
Just makin' my livin', baby
Well that's enough for me
You're one in a million
Yeah that's what you are
You're one in a million, babe
You're a shooting star
Maybe someday we'll see you
Before you make us cry
You know we tried to reach you
But you were much too high
Much too high, ow, much too high,
Much too high, much too high
Yeah, yeee, yeah, yeee, igh!
Ow! Much too high
(Oh, much too high, ah,
much too high, ah, much too high
much too high, ow, much too high)*
*Whispered with gradual fade out
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This is a highly emotional song for me. I have no clue as to what motivated Axl to lash out at the world, but the one thing I value above all else in art is sincerity. This tune paints a picture describing exactly the emotions of some "small town white boy" as he first sets foot in L.A., and encounters people and situations he is profoundly unfamiliar with and understandably frightened of (Rose is originally from small town Indiana).
Even if it is not autobiographical (it probably is), it is a stark portrait of a young man who has never interacted with anyone who wasn't white protestant and is freaked out by his first exposure to the hostile and apathetic "big city." Writers such as Cormac McCarthy, William Burroughs, and J G Ballard often wrote about psychopaths and the nadirs of human degradation, but that did not mean the authors themselves were sadistic, violent beasts. The object of art, so the saying goes, is to hold a mirror up to reality. "One in a Million" reflects a certain reality, not necessarily shared by the majority, nakedly and without the filter of political correctness.
Not all white people have it made in the shade. A lot of racism, in fact, arises from the anger that poor, disenfranchised whites feel. You spend your whole life hearing about how America is the greatest land of opportunity the world has ever seen, and yet you're still shit-poor, your family business reliant upon moonshine and methamphetamine, and people who've been in the country a month are treating you like scum? Damned right you're going to be angry and not entirely sure who to blame for your lot in life.
I don't care if this was purposefully controversial; it was poignant when I was twelve years old, it is godd---ded poignant now.
@ChrisG Nicely put. I really think (as you and others here seem to) that Axl was looking through many pairs of eyes in that song, showing how brutal the relations between groups are and how much distrust flies in all directions.
@ChrisG Nicely put. I really think (as you and others here seem to) that Axl was looking through many pairs of eyes in that song, showing how brutal the relations between groups are and how much distrust flies in all directions.
The lyrics would likely lead to social-media mugging today, but I think it's a great, stark, brutal song that has a worthy message for just about anyone...if they can put off being offended for a few minutes.
The lyrics would likely lead to social-media mugging today, but I think it's a great, stark, brutal song that has a worthy message for just about anyone...if they can put off being offended for a few minutes.
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If you read Axl's explanation on the cover of GN'R Lies, he explains that the song is an over generalisation and gives all the reasons why he wrote it. It's very true to some extent: I've had Indian shop owners giving me the evil eye in their shops like I don't belong there when he doesn't even speak proper English. I haven't been hassled by the cops, but my bro and his mates were pulled up once by some punk cops who tried to hold just about anything they could against them. And I've never had a dark guy try and sell me stolen goods... but I've had a dark guy in Nike shoes and jacket with a Sony CD player ask me for money for the train saying he's broke. I can only assume those items were stolen. I don't have anything against the groups mentioned in this song, but yeah... I guess I see where Axl's coming from to some extent. Where I live, I can walk through the city streets and a black guy will call me a "white c", but when I retaliate with "fhead", I'm a racist all of a sudden and I have him and 20 of his mates beating the crap out of me. I feel sorry for Axl because he felt he needed to write that song.
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Awesome song about how white males are stereotyped by different groups and how those groups assign a set of beliefs to them, rather than treating them as individuals. The 2 salient stanzas are as follows:
Some say I'm lazy...and others say that's just me.
Some say I'm crazy. I guess I'll always be.
But it's been such a long time
since I knew right from wrong
It's all a means to and end
I keep it moving along
Radicals and Racists Don't point your fingers at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to make ends meet Don't need your religion Don't watch that much TV Just makin a living baby And that's enough for me
It's not surprising that this song is misunderstood as a racist looking at looking at the world rather than everyone with an ax to grind (Niggers, Cops, Immigrants, Faggots, Radicals and Racists) projecting their own prejudices. Once you get past the hot button words and listen to the lyrics, the meaning of the song is plain as day
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Republican theme song
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I honestly don't think this song is racist at all... I think it is probably a pretty acurate interprataition, of taking the bus in East LA.
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"Immigrants and faggots They make no sense to me They come to our country And think they'll do as they please Like start some mini Iran, Or spread some fuckin' disease They talk so many goddamn ways It's all Greek to me" Can anyone explain this without him being some racist asshole?
There were lots of immigrants in the 80's and they speak different languages that Axl doesn't understand. Also Immigrants and gays always start controversy and then they're the first people complaining that no one accepts them (ex. The "All mexicans are criminals" stereotype. Something had to have started it)
There were lots of immigrants in the 80's and they speak different languages that Axl doesn't understand. Also Immigrants and gays always start controversy and then they're the first people complaining that no one accepts them (ex. The "All mexicans are criminals" stereotype. Something had to have started it)
@Sniperwulf 2 As I understand it, the whole point of the song is that it was written from the point of view of a character, not necessarily reflective of Axl's feelings/beliefs.
@Sniperwulf 2 As I understand it, the whole point of the song is that it was written from the point of view of a character, not necessarily reflective of Axl's feelings/beliefs.
@Sniperwulf 2 Which verse is untrue? Let's start from there you fuckin douchebag. Does it make sense to you that some dudes like sucking dick?
@Sniperwulf 2 Which verse is untrue? Let's start from there you fuckin douchebag. Does it make sense to you that some dudes like sucking dick?
???
???
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"but I don't think Axl had something against black men..cause you know, Slash is a goddamn mulatto!" Actually, it was either on Behind the Music or the Story of: that Slash admitted that he was offended by the lyrics.
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I feel this song is talking about a guy who gets pissed off at the world, and then kind of thinks he's above it. Then there is what people are saying to him, with the whole your one in a million deal, it's like he's thinking he's better than everyone else everywhere, angry and hateful because people haven't treated him with respect. People are saying "hold on there, your feeling pretty high and mighty, but come back down a bit before you end up getting yourself hurt" all the racial slurs and such are just showing his despise for the HUMAN race, not any one in particular. The line about being a smalltown whiteboy is like saying that you judge me and hate me for what i am, well, i hate all of you. He hates the "boxes" that people are put in, and doesn't feel like it's fair, but if they're going to do it to him, he's going to give it right back. I really like this song, and listen to it almost daily, but i don't think it's meant to disrespect anybody, but more show them that disrespect is there, that people judge each other.
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This song is about all the thing that were pissing off axe at the time when he was trying to make. So i tumb it do to sixth and la maybe a grayhound could be my way. This was wrtten when he was poor and trying to make it. did anyone know that axe was in the army? Its true he was a tanker!!!!
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I understand if you guys read those lines like it been written in a racist way. but I don't think Axl had something against black men..cause you know, Slash is a goddamn mulatto!
According to US law people like Slash and Obama are black
According to US law people like Slash and Obama are black