During a recent conversation with Classic Rock, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan said that he believes ‘God is mad’ at us while discussing his new solo album, ‘Lighthouse.’
The question asked about the song ‘I Saw God On 10th St.,’ where God is pictured as an angry, homeless person cursing and spitting on the street and what inspired this particular portrayal of God. McKagan replied by saying:
“‘God On 10th St.’ is about how we’re all f*cking up. If there is a God, he might be that f*cking dude on the corner who’s spitting and cursing, and we think he’s got some mental illness. Nah, that’s God, and he’s f*cking pissed at the whole thing, and he’s f*cking pissed at you.”
McKagan’s Further Vision Of An Angry Divine Presence
Previously, the bassist had explained the following about the same track in a press release:
“The ultimate jurist of us all, pissed off, squinting eyes to ward off what he sees, spitting frequently with no care for who may be around. The Creator. God. Allah, Shiva, or whomever. I think I see him sometimes over on 10th St., hands in tight fists, and toes curled up and tense.”‘
Crafting ‘Lighthouse’ Into A Story
‘Lighthouse,’ Duff’s third solo album and his first in four years, following ‘Tenderness,’ arrived on October 20. He worked with producer Martin Feveyear on new songs, recording them in his Seattle studio, which opened in 2019. He chose 11 tracks for the record out of 60 he had written. Speaking of how he reduced the material for the album to just 11 songs, the rocker explained to Spin in November:
“I knew when I recorded ‘Lighthouse’ that I wanted it to be the first song on the album. When I got to ‘I Just Don’t Know,’ I knew it would be the last song. From there, I tried to fill it in, almost like a novel, with peaks and valleys and a story from beginning to end. I like to listen to records from cut one to the end. I grew up at a time when records took you through stories, and that’s what I tried to do with ‘Lighthouse.’ I want to tell the truth, our truths. You don’t need a lot of fancy riffs and sh*t to get your message across.”
The record features collaborations with musicians like Slash, Paul McCartney’s drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, and Iggy Pop, blending acoustic and electric elements.
You can listen to the entire album below.
