Like rock_hawk, when I first heard this song, I thought of Chris Cornell saying this to a child. And I actually wasn't a fan of this song the first couple times I listened to the album, even though I really like Cornell. But this song's grown on me, and I now think that this is one of my favs from the album.
I still think that the intro's weak, and this song is not Slash's best guitar work, but the chorus MORE than makes up for any shortfalls, and is as memorable as any chorus on the album IMO. And of course, Cornell's voice is amazing, as always. The lyrics are great, and really uplifting. They're not hard to understand, and they're honest.
The meaning I take away is this: The world will try to screw you over, change you, hurt you, and mock you. But you need to keep going, keep the fire alive, and not let the negativity of this world bring you down. The reason I think he's talking to a child is because it sounds like he's preparing someone who is not familiar with, or has not experienced, the "real world".
Like rock_hawk, when I first heard this song, I thought of Chris Cornell saying this to a child. And I actually wasn't a fan of this song the first couple times I listened to the album, even though I really like Cornell. But this song's grown on me, and I now think that this is one of my favs from the album.
I still think that the intro's weak, and this song is not Slash's best guitar work, but the chorus MORE than makes up for any shortfalls, and is as memorable as any chorus on the album IMO. And of course, Cornell's voice is amazing, as always. The lyrics are great, and really uplifting. They're not hard to understand, and they're honest.
The meaning I take away is this: The world will try to screw you over, change you, hurt you, and mock you. But you need to keep going, keep the fire alive, and not let the negativity of this world bring you down. The reason I think he's talking to a child is because it sounds like he's preparing someone who is not familiar with, or has not experienced, the "real world".