2000 Intentions

It's been quite the week here in GN'R land. Very satisfying.

I'm very happy with the new batch of leaks.

"IRS" has finally gelled, and I got my wish for a finished, studio version of "Rhiad."

But the big story for me is "new song #2."

It's still unrevealed what the name of this song is.

"This I Love," "2000 Intentions," "No Love Remains," "Hearts Get Killed," "Message For You," have all been bandied about.

But it really is "Prostitute."

If my affections are misunderstood,
And you decide I’m up to no good,
Don’t ask me to endure them just for you.

Ask yourself: Why I would choose to prostitute myself,
To live with fortune and shame?

This is it. The 'Big Gun.'

This is not at all what I expected "Prostitute" to sound like, but I am not disappointed one bit.

I have to say, that Axl Rose is a clever gent.

We were teased for years about this song. All the time I expected something more along the lines of "Nightrain."

Now that I've listened to this track on repeat for 3 days straight, I have no doubt that Axl has still got the magic.



"Prostitute" really, really grows on me. My best description is that it's the new "Estranged." It has no real chorus, very little repetition, a tragic, yet hopeful vibe, and amazingly beautiful melodies.

The other thing I wanted to write about was the party-line that these are "older, unfinished demos."

I do not believe it.

These are the finished versions. Period.

The guys over at AntiQuiet who leaked these songs insist that they came straight from the record company, and I believe them. Direct quotes follow

"There IS NO FINAL COPY OF CHINESE DEMOCRACY. Several CDs of material were turned into the label, and are now out of Axl's hands. Read what you will into that, but the album has not hit the presses. If it had, we'd all have the entire thing by now.

...

Kids, love it or hate it, these are the finished songs. No matter what anybody tries to spin otherwise, whatever smug "insider" is gonna laugh and say I'm part of some GN'R misinformation machine, the simple fact is that we leaked the songs, we know where they came from, and that enables me to say with unwavering certainty that these are 9 of many, many finished new GNR songs to come.

I may be "some guy" to the rest of you, but I'm here to set the record straight, and that's what I've been doing.

...

Pay attention to the people "confirming" that they're demos, or are now or ever have been in GN'R BUT AREN'T AXL, the one man who has total control, final say over and complete awareness of exactly who and what is on the album.

Did those others have anything to do with Wednesday's leak? Absolutely not, they're speculating based on information they may be confident about, but simply isn't true. They're the finished product. Argue all you like, chase each other's rumor-mill tails around and take the word of know-it-all outsiders all you like. What was turned in to the label is what you're hearing. End of fucking story.

We were sent a zip file of the songs. No money changed hands. The source is direct, and the motivation is purely based on the love of music. Yes, believe it or not, it is just for the fans. There was no strategy, GN'R is not involved, we don't have more songs yet, these are definitely the finished product, and I'm getting tired of repeating myself so please spread this knowledge."

-Johnny Firecloud

That's the story I choose to believe. You can take it or leave it. I just hope we get a couple more songs sometime "soon."

I've got one last thing to say.

On Thursday morning I burned myself a CD with this tracklist:

Better
Chinese Democracy
If the World
IRS
Madagascar
Rhiad and the Bedouins
The Blues
TWAT
Prostitute
Oh My God
Catcher in the Rye
No Love Remains [cut]
Silk Worms [Live]
Chinese Democracy [Live, Boston 2002]
The Blues [Live, Boston 2002]

I'm really, really happy to have this CD.

Thanks,

Mack