Guns N’ Roses is participating in a little revisionist history.
It’s getting more common for stars and entertainment companies to apologize for their old decisions, from Molly Ringwald reexamining “The Breakfast Club” last year in light of #MeToo to Disney scrapping the Siamese cats from “Lady and the Tramp.”
But bassist Duff McKagan doesn’t want to apologize for “One in a Million,” the song that listeners have accused of racism, homophobia, and xenophobia since it came out in 1988. Never mind that Guns N’ Roses chose not to include it on the rock band’s recent album reissue. McKagan insists it’s simply misunderstood.
He told Yahoo Entertainment this week that the song is told from the point of view of a character who espouses those reprehensible views. It’s not about being afraid of “immigrants and faggots” or black people (the song employs the N-word), it’s critiquing those who are.
But that’s not the story frontman Axl Rose told Rolling Stone in 1989. Rose said he used the N-word because “you’re not allowed to.” And when he says “immigrants,” he only means the ones who own 7-Eleven stores. And when he sings about “faggots,” it’s only because he “had some very bad experiences with homosexuals.”
Despite what McKagan says 30 years later, it sounds like “One in a Million” was more of a venue to air some personal problems than a social critique. Or maybe the perspective the song espouses is that of its own band.
McKagan could’ve admitted the band regretted the song, but that might dampen his foray into social activism. The bassist is keeping relevant with a new song, “Last September,” which he says is inspired by the #MeToo movement.
If he must revisit his past, at least McKagan can pretend listeners totally misinterpreted Guns N’ Roses’ progressivism all this time. It may feel a little insulting to listeners to have the band’s history blatantly rewritten this way, but McKagan may be clever to gloss over his past rather than apologize for it.
Last year, comedian Kevin Hart was disinvited from hosting the Oscars because of his old offensive tweets and Disney fired “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn for the same reason. Gunn appeared contrite and was rehired some months later. Hart refused to apologize, however, arguing that he had done so already. He was not reinvited. McKagan probably didn’t want to take the gamble.
Americans don’t want to end up with some Orwellian thought police, but it’s reasonable to call out an artist who says something wrong. It’s also possible to tell when artists are faking apologies, and it may be worse than when they don’t even try.
