guns n’ roses « Ryan’s Education and History Blog

This semester one of my many projects includes planning a 5-6 day unit on whatever I like for my Social Studies Methods class. After a few weeks of brainstorming and reading, I decided to choose what is called the Progressive Era in American history. If you’re wondering, my other choice was doing something about “The Hundred Years War” because I’ve become fascinated by English long bow archers. What made me choose the Progressive Era was a novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1906, The Jungle. The story is about a family of immigrants who travel from Lithuania to Chicago, Illinois to work in the meat packing industry. Not being able to speak the English language, they immediately become a target for those that wish to take advantage of their innocence. Although they eventually settle among people they can communicate with, they spend most of their time at work in horrible conditions. Whether it was the canning factories or the slaughter houses, the pay was little, the hours were long, and death seemed to be the only thing that would relieve them of this misery. The family was even forced to put their children to work who didn’t even understand why they were forced to work (and for less pay), they just did it. I can not even begin to describe how horrible the working conditions were, SinClair does a brilliant job of it himself. Before the book was published, the United States government got a hold of it and was so alarmed, they checked into the conditions, and were quite surprised to find out Sinclair’s descriptions were accurate. Sinclair stated that he wanted to write a workers version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I’ve never read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and many say that it doesn’t compare; either way Sinclair’s work is moving.
What I find particularly interesting is Sinclair’s analogy “The Jungle” to describe the conditions. I think it’s clever. This reminds me of the popular Guns N’ Roses song “Welcome to the Jungle,” which also describes the underside of a city and it’s cruelty. The song was first born when Axl Rose was hitchhiking with a friend in New York City and a homeless black man informed them that they where in the Jungle, and they were gonna die. So Rose got the idea for a song. In Seattle Axl and Slash wrote the song, but instead New York or Seattle, they describe the city of Los Angeles. Axl Rose himself explains: “I wrote the words in Seattle. It’s a big city, but at the same time it’s still a small city compared to L.A. and the things that you’re gonna learn. It seemed a lot more rural up there. I just wrote how it looked to me. If someone comes to town and they want to find something, they can find whatever they want.” I couldn’t not find a quote from Slash on the subject that did not include excessive profanity… haha….. ok.. actually I didn’t look, but most of his quotes end up that way. The best scene from the music video is when Slash is drinking from a paper bag in front of a television store, then at the end of the video they return to the scene, but he’s gone. That happens a lot in cities, people disappearing, but who seems to care? Guns N’ Roses reminds me of Sinclair because they both make efforts to talk about the negative things that exist in society (which GN’R often promoted unconsciously). Behind the excessive hairspray, leather, and cigarette smoke Guns N’ Roses was a pretty liberal band that spoke their mind about the world’s problems. The song “Civil War” is a prime example, among many others. The music video for Welcome to the Jungle shows violent clips from the news of the era, not for the violence, but to make a point, it’s a jungle out there. Another occurrence comes to mind when they band played at Freddy Mercury’s tribute concert. Freddy Mercury, lead singer of Queen was homosexual and died of aids. Many criticized Guns N’ Roses for playing at the show because it meant they supported gay rights, and they did. Security was a major issue; the bands biggest fear was getting shot. Considering the bands name, Guns N’ Roses was also quite contradictive (guns). Now that I’ve completely rambled about Guns N’ Roses (I can’t help it!) lets get back to Sinclair. Other than being labeled a socialist, Sinclair was an average guy looking to make the world better. While teaching about the Progressive Era I doubt that I will have enough time to allow students to read the book, plus the school probably wouldn’t buy copies. But should a teacher give up? Never! I’ll of course have my own copy of the book and will plan on reading excerpts from the book. The goal is to make students feel like they’re living through the time period. What was is like to walk to work in a blizzard to work? You had to go, or you lost your job. What was it like to get injured? What did that mean for your family? The message that Sinclair provides for his readers is powerful and that’s why I plan on using it. I also hope that students will become interested and read the book for themselves. HA! And No Child Left Behind cuts Social Studies funding because they claim reading is more important. There’s reading in Social Studies too! I would also ask students to think of other analogies other than the “jungle.” Now finding the video for Welcome to the Jungle may not be easy, but checking out The Jungle from you local library is easy, so check it out.

I will open this blog by paying tribute to one of my more interesting professors. He’s the man who taught me more about the Sex Pistols than I ever wished to know. More importantly he showed me how music can play an important role in the classroom. I learned all about the Sex Pistol’s in his class 20th Century Europe, but it was his class, “The History of Tourism” (his specialty) that really showed me how to incorporate music into the lesson plan. Last year as I walked to Main Hall I wondered what song he would pick to celebrate the first day of class. Not to my surprise he chose “On Holiday” by Madonna, which also happened to be the name of our text book. After we (all 5 of us) jeered him … So how many Madonna CD’s do you own? … I saw how a song relaxed the class, it showed my professors silly sense of humor, and set a friendly environment. This musical theme continued throughout the rest of the semester. Now, for example, if your teaching about the 1920’s, play the Charleston!! … do you see where I’m going with this? Possibilities are endless!

One of my other interest happens to be the rock band Guns N’ Roses. I have a hard time saying I “like” the band because I do not agree with anything they stood for. With that said, I think they’re fascinating. I don’t condone drug use, alcoholism, womanizing, rioting, excessive profanity, or the other various violent acts they promoted. But I do think it’s interesting to see how they influenced a generation of teenagers and young adults. The bands debut album, Appetite for Destruction, came out in July of 1987. Right from the start it was banned because of the albums cover art. The original cover depicts a “surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist.” My brother owned the t-shirt, much to my parents dismay. Along with an album cover change, Appetite for Destruction was slapped with a warning label because many of the songs were deemed explicit. To say the least, the band enjoyed this because they knew it meant they would sell more records, and they did.
To understand the band and their impact on the late 1980’s and early 1990’s we must first look at each of the band members. Axl Rose, the bands front man was, and still is one of the most controversial people in the music industry. During his early years he was known for his drug abuse (as all GNR members were) and foul language. Somehow he managed to keep the bands sanity on their rapid rise to stardom. Slash played lead guitar and was most noted for drinking Jack Daniels as if it where sweet iced tea, wearing top hats, smoking, crashing vans, and passing out in random places. All while getting off some of the best guitar rifts ever known to Rock N’ Roll. The other original 3 members where Izzy Stradlin (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Steven Adler (drums). Izzy, Duff, and Adler were shy, they usually refrained from making outlandish comments, and strayed away from the media. That is not say they didn’t play a large part in the bands reckless behavior. For example, after a show the 5 members where to be interviewed, but within 2 minutes it was just Axl and a very drunk Slash sitting at the table. During the early years Axl said the band was just one big family… or where they? By 1990 GNR claimed their heroine addictions where behind them, but that was not the case for Adler. In July of 1990 Adler was fired because he could not play some of the bands newly written material, but everyone knew it was because of his cocaine and heroine addiction. According to Adler, it was not uncommon for him to use $300 worth of drugs in one night. In 1996 he suffered a stroke which today leaves him with a speech impediment. Drummers are easy to find, and Guns N’ Roses moved on.

Slash and Izzy tune their guitars while Adler (according to Rolling Stone) taps the beat to “Mr. Browntsone” on the back of Slash’s chair. Brownstone is slang for heroin.
Please notice Slash’s clothing style in the pictures and selected video’s at the bottom. If I could pull it off, I’d dress like that, it’s hysterical.

Adler, Izzy, Axl, Slash, and Duff. Folks, at one time this was the definition of “cool.”

Then came 1991. The band was busy promoting it’s new double CD, Use Your Illusion. During this tour Izzy quit the band because he was fed up with touring. Izzy, by far the quietest member of what many referred to as the “most dangerous band in the world” was easily replaced. While promoting the new CD at a concert in St Louis, Missouri the band made news headlines around the world. Axl, who was now becoming known for loosing his sanity, rather than keeping it was also becoming paranoid about copyrights and concert security. The band had just started to perform “Rocket Queen” when Axl noticed a man taping the show in the crowd. He then preceded to dive, literally, dive off the stage, grabbed the mans camera, slam his mic off the ground, and then said, “Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I’m going home!” When he slammed his mic off the ground it sounded like a gunshot, so to possibly sooth the crowd Slash said, “He just slammed his mic on the floor. We’re outta here.” Guns N’ Roses left town and St. Louis rioted all night long. In the Use Your Illusion thank you section art work you can find a message GNR left to the city of St. Louis, it’s quite R-rated. Did this hurt the band? No, it only made them more popular. It’s 1991, you had the Persian Gulf War, Anita Hill, and Guns N’ Roses making news. The Use Your Illusion tour and CD turned out the be a major success. The result was some of the most expensive music videos ever made, while songs such as “Civil War” - “Live and Let Die” - “You Could Be Mine” - Bob Dyan’s “Knockin’ on Heavens Door” - and the famous ballad “November Rain” topped the charts. The success of the album also proved that these drunken buffoons where the real deal because they were going to last… or was their adventurous ride over?
The bands next project was The Spagetti Incident? The story behind the Spaghetti Incident is quite funny, but there are a few conflicting theories. Apparently ex drummer Adler loves spaghetti, and after a show someone ate his spaghetti which infuriated him. When he asked who ate it, no one really cared because my guess is they were all wasted and the story goes that everyone laughed at him. Poor Adler! Another rumor revolves around a childhood story about Adler smearing spaghetti all over his face. Of course Adler sued over this issue because he claimed they called the CD The Spaghetti Incident? to make fun of him because he was fired. I happen to like the first story the best. And Duff says spaghetti was their code name for heroin in case they got arrested.

Lets just think about this…
Duff: “Slash! The spaghetti is in my blue jean jacket!”
Slash: “WHAT!? &*%$! I want my sunglasses, it’s too bright! .. .. .. Hey man, where’d you get these sunglasses? Nice. YO Mom!!”
…Yeah it’d probably go something like that.

All the band members, with the exception of Axl, hated the CD and it ended up being the demise to a band that would have gotten there sooner or later. Ego’s were becoming too strong, and the public was starting to go away from what some called “hair metal.” The CD was released in Novemeber of 1993, but the band would never promote the CD. The name Guns N’ Roses lives on, and Axl still tours, but I feel the band officially ended when Slash left in approximately 1994 (theres no official date). There’s always talks of a reunion… Izzy, Duff, and Adler have exchanged words… but the two main members, Axl and Slash haven’t had a conversation in almost 13 years.

The above information is not meant to be a complete history of the band, it’s just my way of briefly introducing you to their style. Most of all I just wanted to talk a little about a band that was so violent, sensitive, funny, and influential to a generation. It’s what made them, and still makes them fascinating. Not that their behavior should be promoted, but should it be forgotten? Now the question that I’ve been pondering for quite some time is, how do I talk about popular culture in the classroom when it’s controversal? When talking about the 1980’s, hard rock, heavy metal, rock n’ roll, whatever you want to call it, it was a large part of the 1980’s cultural history. In the classroom I would plan on using the music as an example. I may play a music video or a song. I think that would be fun, and it would also be great for a laugh. Of course I would be careful about my selection because I believe in a certain amount of censorship, and this is only intended for the high school level. At the high school level I think the era of rock music could also bring up some interesting discussion questions.
1) As a society, have we learned anything from the 1980’s? Have we changed?
2) Compare today’s popular culture with that of the 1980’s. What’s changed? Has anything changed? And is there anything wrong with it? In what way does it influence our way of life?
How many teenagers started smoking because they saw Slash do it? I’d love to know that.
These are just a few ideas, and my goal would be to promote some critical thinking about right from wrong. I’m not trying to change people, I’m just posing the question. I could be wrong with this idea because maybe I should just stick to facts and dates. Keep cultural history out of history class? Censor cultural history, and to what extent? It’s an on going question.
It’s not just about Guns N’ Roses and music, it’s about trying to create a society that’s aware of it’s problems. Today the original members of GNR haven’t changed much, their just a lot fatter, and look about 10 years older than what they really are. Proof that it’s probably safer to be a teacher.