Walker's Wheelhouse

My 1989 Volvo 240, unsurprisingly, only has a tape deck, and until I outfit it with a super sweet portable CD player, I’ve been listening to tapes. Just kidding, by the way, I think having a portable CD player in my car would be really embarrassing. Though, it would also remind me of the Yelawolf fan who gave me a ride in Austin who was basically The Coolest/Drunkest Driviest/Living In His Car-iest, so I’m not kicking the idea out of bed just yet. 

Anyway, I’ve had a good time buying cassette tapes and reveling in how cheap they are, which I quickly remembered is because they don’t sound great nor are they convenient, finding a specific track-wise. But they’re still nice in a nostalgic way and also in a forcing you to listen to entire albums type of way. I bought a bunch of tapes, but the only two I seem to listen to are Buddy Holly’s Greatest Hits and G n R’s Use Your Illusion II. Buddy Holly is great of course (“No he’s not!”-No one), but I forgot how amazing Use Your Illusion II is. I listen to it at least once, up to two times, through a day in the car.

This song, Estranged, has emerged as my dark horse favorite (“Dark horse???-My brother, G ‘n R enthusiast). I love it when Axl gets ballad-y and sings lyrics like, “With all the changing seasons of my life/Maybe I’ll get it right next time.” Break my HEART, Axl! Also Slash has like 17 guitar solos. But more importantly, this video has it all. I mean, literally, there is not one thing that exists that is not in this video. There’s multiple dream sequences, a large scale police raid, a toy dinosaur, Axl as a ghost, a cowering Ghost Axl taking a shower fully clothed, DOUBLE GUITAR, a white limo, private jets, private jets with dolphins coming out of them, a Slash rising from the ocean guitar solo, an underwater scene, an ocean liner, a dinghy, a helicopter rescue, live stadium show shots, a diverse panoply of children and, of course, groupies. Duh. 

If I were to parse this video, I’d say it deals with Axl’s feelings of removal or, estrangement, from reality. Because, when you’re a rock ‘n roll superstar selling out stadiums with hundreds (thousands) of groupies waiting in the wings, you’re living a dream life, and reality and fantasy meld together, making it difficult to distinguish between what/who is “real” and what/who is not, as demonstrated in this video by Sunset Blvd turning into a river complete with leaping dolphins. I mean, if I were to parse, I’m not saying I am. (That was me, copping out). Whatever, this video is probably about coke and whores (and dolphins). 

So if you have ten minutes, which of course you do, you’re reading this, watch the video. 

Also I can’t wait until I create my own TV show and insist that this song in its entirety be the opening credits. And that’s how I’ll lose my own TV show but I will not compromise on this one.