Guns N’ Roses, “One in a Million” | Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘

On the 9^th edition of Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘 (2021), we explore the outlandishness behind the song “One in a Million” performed by Guns N’ Roses.

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ring on the outlandishness! Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘 is a column that falls under the umbrella of Controversial Tunes 😈🎶.  Like its parent column, Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘 provides background information and insight into rock and metal songs that raise eyebrows and stir the pot.  The records featured on Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘 can be classic or brand new. On the 9^th edition of Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘 (2021),  we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “One in a Million” performed by 🎙 Guns N’ Roses.

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Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Police and ni**ers, that’s right, get out of my way / Don’t need to buy none of your gold chains today.” Holy sh#t – there’s no other way to put it.  🎙 Axl Rose, a white man, thought it was acceptable for him to use the hard N-word… Wow! Rose, of course, is a larger-than-life character in one of the biggest bands of all time, 🎙 Guns N’ Roses.  Still, he ‘tried it’ with his poor choice of free speech on 🎵 “One in a Million,” a prime example of outlandish rock if I do say so myself.

It doesn’t stop with the hard N-word as a perturbed, pissed off Rose speaks his mind far too frankly.  For some context, the story goes that Axl, who moved to Los Angeles from Indiana, has a bone to pick with ‘The City of Angels.’  Clearly, L.A. wasn’t an angelic experience.  It gets even more fucked messed up on the second verse.  “Immigrants and f*ggots, they make no sense / They come to our country and think they’ll do as they please.” Dammmnnn… the ‘f’ word to refer go gays? Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, Axl! He continues, “Like start some mini Iran or spread some fucking disease / They talk so many goddamn ways, it’s all Greek to me.” So, Rose exemplifies being an asshole, homophone, xenophobe, and racist? Charming.  Of course, Rose had to be aware of the controversy that would be generated.  He ‘gets ahead of it’ on the third verse:

“Radicals and racists, don’t point your finger at me
I’m a small-town white boy just trying to make ends meet
Don’t need your religion, don’t watch that much TV
Just making my living, baby, well, that’s enough for me.”

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Final Thoughts 💭

Yikes, yikes, yikes!  Axl Rose does something that far too many folks do – justify things.  In 1988, he was more able to get away with it, particularly his insensitive remarks towards gays.  Still, AIDS was rampant in the 1980s, with much of the blame laid on homosexual males.  Honestly, that line about “spread some fucking disease” might even be worse than referring to gays as faggots because it’s IGNORANT. Yes, Rose, a ‘fish out of water’ teen experienced some adverse experiences when moving to LA – culture shock – but this response via song is… controversial, controversial, controversial.  Guns N’ Roses had every right to release this polarizing eighth track from 💿 G N’ R Lies (freedom of speech), but perhaps, Rose could’ve been more sensitive to the groups he criticizes.

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🎙 Guns N’ Roses • 💿 G N’ R Lies • 🏷 Geffen • 🗓 1988
Guns N’ Roses, “One in a Million”: Outlandish Rock 🎸🤘 No. 9 [📷: Brent Faulkner, Geffen, The Musical Hype, Paul Brennan on Pixabay, Pexels, Sebastian Ervi, SHVETS production, Vinícius Caricatte]

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