One In A Million

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

this is a "guilty of being white" song.

Can't we all just get along?

This song is him giving his views, which would be perceived by many people as racist and homophobic etc. When he says 'don't point your finger at me' he is telling people who are ready to attach him for the views he has just expressed to back off. He does have the right to freedom of speech after all even if the things he says are deeply offensive and ignorant.

I think as well as a big 'fuck you' to political correctness this song was probably intended to raise loads of controversy and publicity for GnR.

great.....wut r u on...its fuckin amazing

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!!!!

This song came out when I was in the 8th grade and I thought it was fucking insane for the lyrical content, and if I said I loved it people would judge me a racist but I am now 26 and I think it is fucking genius. Also I've never seen Mr. Roses Balls but I'm guessing they are fucking huge.