Jerry Cantrell on Writing Alice In Chains' "Rooster" For His Father
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- Jerry Cantrell talks to Dean Delray about the story behind Alice in Chains' hit song "Rooster". Jerry wrote "Rooster" while he was living at Chris Cornell and Susan Silver's house in 1991:
• Jerry Cantrell Wrote A...
Interview for Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast in July 25, 2016. Listen to the full interview here: • Let There Be Talk: Jer...
Jerry Cantrell talks about Andrew Wood, Chris Cornell and Kurt Cobain:
• Jerry Cantrell on Andr...
More Jerry Cantrell/Alice in Chains videos:
• Jerry Cantrell/Alice i...
Part of the reason Rooster is such a peerless song is that it doesn't try to force a side or a message. It isn't decisively pro-war or anti-war, but exists somewhere in that place where soldiers have really been. Lost, sweating, falling, wandering, wondering. Something you can't quite grasp unless you've been there.
that was beautiful. thank you.
It’s an amazing song and I couldn’t agree more. It’s almost a somber song and me and all my buddies listen to it and we all get the message in it.
DTOM ... VERY well said brother.
Yeah....also, despair, and hope.
Well said.
Jerry Cantrell is my favorite artist of all time. He's is the sniper everyone fears. And... Layne was the Sniper Rifle. If you can't feel an AIC song, your already dead.
Well said. Those guys are something else
I was reading somewhere once where Jerry said something like, "I knew we had to have Layne. He gave me the voice I always wanted."
I like the analogy but Layne is the bullet; the band is the rifle.
Spot on analogy man. Jerry was the sniper all along, the band was the rifle and Layne (RIP) was the bullet.
INCREDIBLE description of them.
Man, Jerry is such a great dude. Genuine, bright, thoughtful. I hope my kids turn out like him.
Vietnam. My Dad is a Marine Corps combat veteran from Vietnam. Great father... but he was/is nuts, thanks to that experience.
'Rooster' always made me respect my Dad and his dedication to my family. Unlike Jerry, my Dad never abandoned, did his goddamn best, dealt with his problems best he could... and still alive to this day, 50+ years married to my Mother. My Dad always told me "You will not join the military. I will kill you if you do, before they do."
I've always regretted that I never ever considered serving (because my Dad raised me that way.) All these years later, having spoken to peers my age, veterans (of Iraq/Afghanistan wars) my age... they tell me that I should be thankful, and that they understand what my father told me. According to them, my father has served and requires me to carry on, minus the damage that war does to a soul.
God Bless all those who have served. What they have done is a great honor for every citizen of our country. Amen.
Very well said.
thanks for sharing. that was beautiful. my dad was the same way.
My Dad's and my story to a T. He joined the Army a year out of HS in 67 and was only over there for a year during the Tet Offensive and then returned home. I was born a year or two later, and he held it together for a long time but the wheels eventually came off for him and our family. And I swear no one knew why - we all blamed him for his problems. If only... He always told me the same thing - he'd shoot my toe off before he'd let them draft me. I see vets now - especially ones from the Gulf War and how many of them struggle the same way. Every one of them is a hero to me.
Amen 🙏👏
TrackHead Studios his father never abandoned them they left him.....his mom didn’t feel safe being around Sr. So they left. He explained this in an open interview.
My father served during nam he was in the Navy on a river boat..he never talked about the exp. But when I played that song he said it said it all about his time there..one of the best songs if you have a member of your family that served in that war..
How could anyone thumbs down this... I think we all blame our parents for things.. one can realize we can put ourselves in their shoes and understand. Make peace with your parents before they are gone. They did the best they knew how.
Ain't found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere
Here they come to snuff the rooster, aww yeah, hey yeah
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, ya know he ain't gonna die
Here they come to snuff the rooster, aww yeah, hey yeah
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, ya know he ain't gonna die
Walkin' tall machine gun man
They spit on me in my home land
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills 'gainst mosquito death
My Buddy's breathin' his dyin' breath
Oh god please won't you help me make it through
Here they come to snuff the rooster, aww yeah
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no ya know he ain't gonna die
Jerry broke that down perfectly for us kids of Vietnam vets. Thanks jerry for helping some of us stop blaming our fathers and understanding. As a Combat vet myself, now I understand completely what my kids cant.
"War Is Hell".
An indeed..Jerr embodied "Rooster" with it.
Just a True Master at his craft.
Humble cool dude.
As a 90s kid.. the greatest Song writer, guitar player period.
And his pops ..a Hero simply.
🇺🇸💙🇺🇸☝👑☝
One of Alice in Chains' best songs.
A large percentage of genXers have at least one family member that was in Vietnam. I literally cannot listen to Rooster without getting emotional to this day.
My uncle did two tours in Vietnam as a Marine. After returning home from his second tour, he disappeared and was never found. A lot of men came home from this war forever changed and a lot of Vietnam veterans got addicted to hard drugs. I unfortunately never got to meet him, but this song makes me tear up damn near every time.
Or a family member who was forced into some kind of military service in support of the war. And a lot of these jobs weren't cake either. Like maintaining nuclear missiles.
@@0v3rgr0wn I tear up when I hear it.
What I don’t understand is, there was clearly an interview with Cantrell Sr that was filmed and some of it was chopped up and used in the official music video…….. but why hasn’t the interview been put out in full? I mean, at the very least that’s a veteran speaking about his experiences and deserves to be heard.
Great song, so emotional, intense, great video and I like so listen to Jerry speaking and explaining the meaning of the songs and the stories around them, he has a beautiful voice
What Jerry is saying about his Dad and his Service in Vietnam spans Generations. He hit the nail on the head. Most veterans either don't talk about their experiences or reluctantly do. My own Grandfather was a Veteran of World War II as a member of The First Special Service Force and saw some Bloody fighting in Italy. He never talked about too much until later in Life. Rooster is a masterpiece of a song 100 % honest and truthful what Servicemen went through wether it would be WWI/WWII/Korea/Vietnam/Iraq or Afghanistan
dirt was sooo dark,top 10 of all time.
Better than Nevermind.
Yup easily
You just described my whole Childhood.. I forgave him too when I got older and realized that it was his 3 tours in Vietnam that made him that way.. THX..
If I'm not mistaken Jerry Cantrell wrote Rooster in Chris Cornell's and Susan Silver his ex wife's house over looking the lake.
True story told by Jerry
Actually it's about his father who was in the Vietnam war back in the day. His father was nicknamed rooster
@@THRASHDEATH1995 that's correct, but he wasn't talking about the meaning of the song, he was talking about when and where he wrote it, and he was correct.
@@THRASHDEATH1995 try reading
@@THRASHDEATH1995 learn how to read
It’s a hard lifestyle. Lived it for ten years, and my dumbass can’t let go of it, and the only thing I want to do is go back. It causes hell between my wife and I, hell my whole family. They always ask why I’m just empty, and I can’t tell them... it’s definitely hard.
I remember hearing this song in the 1990s.
I always liked the way it sounded.
I did not know who did it or what it was about.
Recently I have learned a bit about the song and what it was about.
Happy Father's Day.
My Dad was a WWII vet.
I did not have near the appreciation for the sacrifices that he made for country and family that I should have had.
He did not respect "Draft Dodgers," but he did not want his sons to go to war.
R.I.P., Dad.
I was blessed to have the Dad that I had.
This is awesome much love there dad & Jerry strong men there!!
Thank you Jerry, my dad was in Vietnam and suffered throughout his life from the memories.
Thats funny. 1993 Lallapalooza at Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale Ca. My friend and i walked there and back cuz we lived locally in Duarte. My friend was whining about leaving so we left during AIC...i was pissed...but anyway, theres a desert area you walk through down this trail going back to the Encanto area of Duarte. The sun was coming down and they started playing rooster. It was echoing through the whole desert area and the sights/smells and sounds were a moment i never forgot. Thanks Jerry. I shook your hand once in the fountain room at House of Blues in Hollywood after a Camp Freddy show in 2005. Shook Slash's hand and talked to most of the people trying out for Rock Star INXS....another night I'll never forget.
I'm so proud and feel so glad that Jerry Cantrell's dad survived his multiple tours in Vietnam! Of course, I wish that he wasn't so irreversibly scarred by what he saw and experienced there!
So glad that Jerry didn't go the way of Layne and Mike.
He comes off as articulate and very likeable.
Wonderful interview.
much respect for you mr. Jeryy thank you for your music and can't wait for your next solo album
I recognized deans voice right away , super cool dude especially with joey Diaz
great story. Gives me a new light of the song and he did a great thing trying to understand someone else's shoes with their traumas and tragedies of their lives.
I can only imagine from the horrors you see on film and the stories told by those there, from both sides.
Dammit man, you are all that, 😮, so much respect 👌🙏
One of the greatest song ever
This song touched me so strongly that I remember where I was and what I was doing the very first time I heard, "Rooster." It was "deep!"
I love Jerry so much.
Jerry to me is a top 100 guitarist ever.
Where is the interview with his dad talking about this?🤔
Jerry not having his father in his young adult life allowed Alice to happen. Jerry was homeless when his mother passed..so he had to go live in a squat that Layne had a space in..
The demo version of the song is the absolute best!
That's sweet Father & Son!!
Jerry Cantrell......H E R O !!
Does anyone know where I can find the interview of his father?
Great interview!
Great Interview!
Apocalypse Now my favorite war movie. Directors Cut...
It's the first song I think of by AC.
I thought the lyric was "Gloria send me pictures of my boy" not "sent."
Wish Jerry had a son too
awesome snapshot of american history
Big mouth strikes again......Full metal Jackect was the ultimate????? ever realy watched Apocalypese Now??
apocalypse now is the ultimate. will never be topped.
@@nathansmith4529 love the smell of napalm in the morning
Layne and Jerry the ultimate in harmony. I love his solo stuff, but Staley could’ve made it better
all fucked up now...forgive me......hate the guy that UNDERSTANDS and knows it all.....
war sucks.........
Ive always thought Jerry wrote it for laynes father
Jerry's own dad appears in the video and so does Jerry. They even show Cantrell Sr.'s picture as a young soldier.
Seattle Music History It was written about Jerry Cantrells father when he served in Vietnam. The reason its called rooster is because they said Jerry's dad looks like a rooster when firing his gun. They actually talk about it in some old interview clips. Jerry's dad is the rooster! 🐓
I believe the rooster is slang for M60 machinegun they used i Vietnam, love this tune, I was in Balkan war myself serving the UN. So sad about dear Layne/Mike and really like that they play on in AIC. Peace to all.
@@mortenc2373 Its not in this case. Rooster was Jerry's dad's nickname as a young man growing up in Oklahoma.
@@emilynelson7393 Jerry Sr's nickname as a kid was Rooster because of the way his hair stood up.
Great Interview!