Episode 50: The Haunting Echoes of 'Rooster' by Alice in Chains

Tonight, we took a deep dive into the haunting track Rooster by Alice in Chains. From its chilling melodies to its raw, emotional lyrics, we explored the song’s powerful storytelling, the personal history behind it, and the way it captures the weight of war and survival. Join us as we break down the eerie atmosphere, Layne Staley’s haunting vocals, and the emotional depth that makes Rooster one of the most unforgettable songs in rock history.

The Link for the isolated bass track

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/461065-rooster-isolated-bass-whats-the-effect/

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Transcript

(0:20) Welcome back to Mandatory Music, a podcast where we dive deep into stories behind the (0:25) songs that shaped music history. (0:27) My name is Sebastian. (0:28) Here with me as always, my bestie from north up of the province, Mike.(0:34) How are you? (0:35) I'm good, buddy. (0:36) I'm really good. (0:37) Good, good.(0:38) We're not watching the Oscars. (0:40) No, I forgot they were on until this morning, to be honest with you. (0:43) They're on upstairs and I was watching it, you know, it's just like whatever.(0:46) I have not seen a single one of the Best Picture movies. (0:49) Oh, then that's... (0:50) Well, I want to see Dune, but I still haven't seen the first one. (0:53) I don't know what's going on there, like why I haven't seen it, but that's gonna, I have (0:56) to fix that.(0:58) Yeah, I think this year I've seen zero of anything that's been nominated. (1:00) I'm not really interested. (1:02) Actually, I'm interested in Conclave.(1:03) That's interesting. (1:04) I know that one for Best Adapted Screenplay. (1:07) So that's like the Ralph Fiennes one that he's like a cardinal and the Conclave is like (1:11) the voting of the next Pope or whatever.(1:13) It's Popey stuff. (1:15) Popey stuff, yeah. (1:16) It might become, you know, might be a little more on the, on the, what's going to be happening (1:21) probably in a couple of months.(1:22) Anyways. (1:23) No, but I'm, I'm good. (1:26) Yeah, I listened to lots of music this weekend, played some drums today, played some guitar.(1:30) Did some plumbing yesterday. (1:31) That's always fun. (1:33) He also ran when he wasn't supposed to.(1:35) I'm allowed to run as long as it didn't hurt. (1:38) I did, I went as slow as I could and it, so it's still not slow enough, but it's, I went (1:45) as slow as I could. (1:46) Have you ever been to an acupuncturist, Mike? (1:49) No.(1:49) Cause I've been to one two weeks in a row and he's doing cupping on me and needle work. (1:55) Okay. (1:56) So, okay.(1:57) Then the needle, the needles. (1:58) Yes. (1:59) What, what did you go into acupuncture for? (2:02) My lungs.(2:03) Oh, your lungs, really? (2:04) Cause I've been, I've been on, I've had the whooping cough for like three months basically. (2:10) So he's like, your lungs have been to battle. (2:12) So we're going to work on your lungs to help regenerate your lungs and repair that stuff.(2:16) So. (2:17) Okay. (2:17) A lot of the cupping that he did on my back is all the centers that are aligned with the (2:21) lungs, so to speak.(2:22) Yeah. (2:22) For the most part. (2:23) And then he worked on my knee cause I had torn meniscus when I played soccer.(2:26) So, but yeah, I'm have purple holes or purple circles all over my back. (2:31) Those cuffing marks are awesome. (2:33) They stay forever.(2:34) Yeah. (2:34) That's a gooder. (2:36) Seb's got a big round hickey on his shoulder.(2:38) Yep. (2:39) Okay. (2:39) So let me ask you, it's the, the acupuncture you're going for your lungs.(2:43) Is it help? (2:44) You've been two weeks. (2:45) So have you noticed a difference? (2:49) I can't answer that because I'm also doing keto. (2:51) So my body's completely screwed up right now.(2:54) So I feel like my body's also going through a detox because I'm going through keto. (2:59) So I, I had, I got a cold for three days and all of a sudden it's kind of better today. (3:04) Okay.(3:05) So my body's just all over the place right now. (3:07) It's, I'm just shocking the living daylights out of my body in the last two weeks. (3:12) So.(3:12) Okay. (3:13) Um, but yeah, I don't know. (3:16) I'll let you know.(3:17) So they, they, they always say the acupuncture isn't a one-time thing. (3:21) Like you have to go progressively for a couple of times before you'll see any of the benefits. (3:26) But the proof is in, in the, the cupping, like the fact that my shoulder is so purple (3:33) and that's not, that's just one of like eight, 12 different things.(3:37) So do you know what cupping does? (3:39) Like, do you know the science behind it? (3:41) Not really. (3:42) Okay. (3:43) So what they do is they put on these heated glass orbs, basic cups, and it's supposed (3:49) to suction up your skin.(3:51) So it's supposed to suction it into the cup. (3:53) So basically imagine if someone took like a handful of your muscle and just pinched (3:56) it, but like not hard, but just like pinched and hold it. (3:59) So it kind of feels like that.(4:01) Like you feel pressure, but it doesn't hurt. (4:03) And it's supposed to suction out all that blood that's in the, what's the word I'm looking (4:10) for? (4:10) Fascia? (4:11) In the fascia and like the deep muscle fibers that doesn't get rotated out. (4:15) So it extracts that to the surface and then lets new blood come in and recirculate with (4:20) like fresh new blood and oxygen.(4:22) So it's, yeah, so it's supposed to, but the whole concept behind like cupping and (4:26) acupuncture and all like this old age Chinese medicine is like, theory wise, it's using (4:31) your entire own body and you're manipulating your body to send help naturally without medicines. (4:39) So like the needlework is supposed to agitate areas of your body and then your brain's (4:43) like, hey, we're being attacked over here, send the army. (4:46) And then it sends like fresh blood and white blood cells to that area to help regenerate (4:49) and stuff.(4:50) So yeah, so I think it's working. (4:53) Interesting. (4:53) Well, that's good.(4:54) I'm glad. (4:55) I can't answer that because I'm also never started keto and I'm like fresh, like a week (5:00) and a bit into keto, so I'm all weird that way. (5:03) So I can't really truthfully answer that question because I don't know what's going (5:06) on in my body right now.(5:08) I did, I did keto years ago for a little while. (5:10) Once you got used to it, it was really good. (5:13) But yeah, I stopped because yeah, it just wasn't, well, especially in my house with (5:19) kids and mom and all that stuff, it was, it was hard to, it was hard to maintain it.(5:25) And I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult considering that I work in a pub. (5:28) And so when you see like 45 plates of nachos go out in one shift, you're just like, I don't (5:35) want it. (5:36) Give me some of that.(5:36) Yeah. (5:38) So, but we're doing keto, we're not doing the carnivore diet. (5:41) So there's a big difference.(5:43) Like the carnivore diet is basically meat, salt, and water. (5:47) Yikes. (5:47) That's all you eat, meat, salt, and water.(5:51) And with, with keto, your concept of keto is, well, yeah, you eat a lot of meat, but you're (5:57) trying to stay under 30 grams of carbs a day. (6:00) Wow. (6:01) So just put that into context for everyone.(6:03) A can of Coke has like 45 grams of carbs. (6:08) So you can have half a can of Coke and that's all the carbs you can eat. (6:12) So basically, but it allows us to eat like steak, eggs, cheese, avocados.(6:18) I eat a lot of avocados cause it's a lot of healthy fats in there and there's no carbs (6:22) in an avocado. (6:22) It's all fat. (6:23) Healthy, good fats.(6:25) Bacon. (6:26) Bacon is great. (6:27) Yeah.(6:28) Well, you didn't have to go into keto to tell us bacon is great. (6:31) It's true. (6:32) Yeah.(6:32) Because bacon is amazing. (6:33) Bacon is good. (6:34) Bacon is good.(6:36) Yeah. (6:37) So that's new. (6:37) That's a new development for me.(6:39) Well, I've kind of cut out gluten again and. (6:41) Attaboy. (6:41) And dairy cause I was back on the train and.(6:43) Oh, well that's a, that's a by-product of keto is that you're gluten free. (6:47) Yeah. (6:48) Well, there you go.(6:48) You can't eat bread on it, right? (6:49) So. (6:50) No. (6:50) So I. (6:50) Or really anything with flour.(6:52) So. (6:52) Yeah. (6:52) It's the, the joint pain is getting to be a little bit much.(6:55) Yeah. (6:55) So I figured I'm going to try and stop again and see if it helps. (6:59) Cause.(6:59) Yeah. (7:00) Yeah. (7:00) July is, is coming and I'm not running a lot.(7:03) You got a competition to do. (7:05) I've got, well, I've got, I just got to get back. (7:08) I just got to get back feeling good, but I've been cross training.(7:10) Cross training is my friend. (7:12) A lot of bike riding. (7:13) I'm going to start swimming this week too.(7:14) So I'm going to. (7:16) Yeah. (7:16) Uh, but anyways, enough about our personal lives.(7:19) What dude, what are we talking about? (7:21) Today. (7:22) Tonight. (7:23) Tonight.(7:24) Today. (7:24) Today, this episode we'll be exploring one of the most haunting and powerful tracks to (7:30) emerge from the grunge era, Alice in Chains Rooster. (7:34) Yes.(7:35) So I never deep dive this song until we decided to do it. (7:42) I had no idea what it was about until this week. (7:45) Oh, that's funny.(7:46) None. (7:46) That's amazing. (7:47) So from my research, it's a song of war, survival and personal redemption.(7:52) Absolutely. (7:53) It's not just another grunge anthem. (7:56) It's deeply personal tribute from guitarist Jerry Cantrell, and I believe he wrote the (8:01) entire song.(8:02) He did. (8:02) If I'm not mistaken. (8:04) It's a song about his father, a Vietnam war veteran, and his call sign was Rooster.(8:11) So you know how like army people like Maverick, Goose, Iceman, they all have call signs. (8:15) So his dad's name was Rooster, which completely changes all of the lyrics when you actually (8:21) listen to it in that context. (8:23) Oh, without a doubt.(8:24) Melodies are haunting. (8:26) There's so much raw emotion behind it. (8:29) In my mind, while it's my favorite Alice in Chains song ever, I also think it's probably (8:37) the most popular or the most widely known.(8:41) It may not be the best song in terms of like the Alice in Chains purists, because some (8:45) of them will like different songs, but in terms of like a casual fan, I think if there's (8:50) one song they know, it's probably Rooster. (8:53) Also probably Down in a Hole too. (8:55) I would think Rooster maybe more than Down in a Hole.(8:59) It'd probably be like Rooster and I Stay Away or No Excuses from Jar of Flies. (9:05) They might know. (9:07) But when you say it might not be their best, I'm kind of an Alice in Chains purist.(9:13) I've loved them. (9:15) Back in the day, I'm going to hold up a tab book of D.I.R.T. (9:17) There it is, D.I.R.T. (9:20) Cut my teeth on these things called books with tablature in it instead of using the (9:23) internet because it wasn't a thing. (9:26) You know, I think Rooster might be their best song because it's their most complete, because (9:34) there's so many.(9:35) Well, there's so much emotion in that song. (9:37) There's a lot of emotion. (9:39) There's a million layers of guitars, like it's just not them just up there playing them (9:44) bones and just thrashing out.(9:46) You know what's fascinating about this song? (9:48) And I'm going to compare these two different songs, right? (9:51) So you have Rooster and you have Smells Like Teen Spirit. (9:55) When you look at Smells Like Teen Spirit, there's nothing to that song. (10:01) It's too, it's bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.(10:06) And then when it goes into the verse part, it's literally those, it's just the two notes (10:11) of that. (10:12) Yeah, and the bass is just following the same. (10:15) It's the same chords, right? (10:16) So there is no progression of music in that entire song.(10:21) It's just like as soon as Smells Like Teen Spirit hits you, they pretty much go from (10:25) the beginning to the end. (10:27) It's the same like last week when we did Lord Humongous. (10:29) It's like, boom, right out of the gate, this is what you get, everything, and right till (10:33) the end.(10:34) It's just the same riff over and over again. (10:35) Cards on the table and this is it. (10:37) Yes.(10:37) Rooster has a fantastic progression of layered instruments and layered sounds and stuff. (10:44) And like it really starts to take off after the first verse where Jerry Cantrell comes (10:48) in with the wah pedal, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, like there's so many subtle layers to (10:54) the song that just gets, it just grows bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and better (10:58) and better and more intense and more emotional and more personal as the song goes through. (11:03) So, yeah, it's a fantastic song.(11:08) And I was never a Rooster, I was never an Alice in Chains fan back in the day. (11:12) Like I wasn't until 20 years after them. (11:16) I didn't appreciate them the way everyone else did.(11:20) So I think sort of because I listened to Dirt today for the first time in a long time. (11:27) I guess it's not, if I listen to Alice in Chains, it's not something I go to anymore (11:31) because this album is, let's use the Nevermind comparison. (11:37) Nevermind is just, it's like sort of punky and just, it's not lighthearted, but it's, (11:43) you know, like there are themes to the songs, but Dirt has this like shroud of darkness (11:50) in every single song.(11:53) Like this dread. (11:54) Let me say something and I want to ask you this question if you agree with me or not. (12:00) Nirvana is the epitome of the image of grunge, whereas Alice in Chains is the emotion of (12:07) grunge.(12:10) Like they're like the emotional heartbeat of that era. (12:13) Like when you break down the songs, it's like what we were feeling. (12:17) Yeah, I think so.(12:19) You see what I'm trying to say? (12:20) I do. (12:22) Because everybody was wearing the Kurt Flannel and, you know. (12:25) Because he had captured that image of grunge and he was put out on his.(12:28) He did, he was the poster boy for it, right? (12:30) No matter, I think no matter what Kurt sang, it wasn't going to be taken deeply. (12:35) Actually, they have deep songs. (12:36) Of course they do.(12:38) They have more deep songs on in ERO than they do Nevermind, because Nevermind was just songs. (12:44) But I'm probably going to get crap for that, but I'm not a big Nirvana fan. (12:48) But yeah, and when I was younger, you know, I sort of dwelled in the sort of the, I don't (12:56) know.(12:56) I dwelled on the darker side of my mind and I just. (12:59) Yeah, we all did, man. (13:01) We all think, well, we're teenagers, right? (13:02) We were probably within 92, probably we were 15.(13:06) Of course, we were, you know, angsty and all that. (13:09) And this spoke to me more than say Nirvana, Pearl Jam, like out of the big grunge bands. (13:17) These guys were just.(13:19) Like on another level of darkness. (13:23) And yeah, and I know they get thrown into the metal category a lot, Alice in Chains. (13:29) I don't consider them metal.(13:30) That's not fair. (13:31) It's not fair. (13:32) It's like saying Soundgarden's metal.(13:34) They're not metal. (13:35) Soundgarden's more metal than Alice in Chains. (13:38) Yes, for sure.(13:38) I will agree with that. (13:39) If you look at some of their heavier songs, they're like, you know, like Rusty Cage and (13:43) Spoonman and Jesus Christ Pose. (13:45) Those are all heavy songs.(13:47) I would agree. (13:49) Yeah. (13:50) But yeah, I just.(13:53) This song is funny because I was, when I was riding my bike today, I was listening to this (13:56) and I'm like, man, Rooster's like the one bright spot. (13:58) Then it's like, no. (14:00) Like it's like musically, it kind of is.(14:03) But then the lyrical content is probably the heaviest because most of the rest of the record (14:08) is a lot about drugs and a drunk head and heat to feel, stuff like that. (14:15) But this song is, yeah, I don't know. (14:18) It's about his dad.(14:19) Like if you look, it's legitimately about his father, of Jerry Cantrell's father and (14:24) the fact that he was a war hero, I guess, and was in the Vietnam War and whatnot. (14:30) But like a lot of the, you know, when you think about that context, the fact that he (14:36) wrote this about his father, who's a military guy and you, and his name was Rooster and (14:41) you hear the line, here they come to snuff the Rooster, you know, here they come to kill (14:46) the Rooster, here they come to take him out. (14:48) Like I never put that together until this week when I was like, what is Rooster about? (14:53) Because I never, never even thought to put that in there.(14:56) No. (14:56) Right. (14:57) So I was like, it's about his dad.(15:00) I'm like, I had no idea. (15:01) So what's interesting is that Jerry's dad, like a lot of war vets, they don't talk about (15:07) what they did, what they saw, what they experienced, right? (15:10) They keep it all. (15:11) PTSD though, man.(15:12) Oh, absolutely. (15:13) They keep it inside. (15:14) It's a hard thing to share.(15:15) And they don't, they don't speak of it. (15:16) So Jerry wrote the song, not knowing anything about what his dad went through, because his (15:21) dad told him nothing, absolutely nothing. (15:23) So which.(15:23) Yeah, that makes sense, man. (15:24) Talk about deep insight on Jerry's part to sort of extrapolate as much as he did at how (15:31) old, how old he was, 28, whatever, how old he was when he wrote the song in 91, I think. (15:36) But it's, I don't know, like I couldn't imagine, like we were joking before.(15:42) Like I said, we were going to go do some humanitarian work and then we're going to drop our kids (15:45) off to help out. (15:46) And we're all, all four of us would go to Ukraine and help out, which I would love to, (15:50) but I would never want to put my kids into that kind of. (15:53) You're just joking about that, drop the kids off at Kiev and then you go, all right, I'll (15:56) pick you up in six months.(15:57) Get off the plane and I just slowly back and go back on the, on the plane. (16:00) If you guys have lived in the first world for too long, you got to see what the other (16:03) side is like. (16:04) Yeah.(16:04) And obviously, you know, my heart's go to everybody in Ukraine and whatever. (16:08) Yeah, same, same. (16:09) With Captain America down south right now, but whatever.(16:12) Can we talk about that? (16:13) No, we're not. (16:16) But I lost my train of thought. (16:18) Oh, but so his dad saw him perform the song once.(16:22) Oh boy. (16:23) Yeah. (16:24) So tell me about this.(16:25) Let me tell you about this. (16:27) Where is it here? (16:28) I had it. (16:29) Oh, I just lost it.(16:33) So go ahead. (16:34) No, I was just going to say, like. (16:37) For all of our listeners.(16:39) Listen to Rooster and then please listen, if you want, go to YouTube and listen to the (16:45) unplugged, the MTV unplugged version of it, and you will get a sense of how connected (16:51) Layne Staley was to the words, to the lyrics. (16:55) Like just watch him perform the song, Layne Staley, and how he's coming from such a deep (17:01) place. (17:02) And I think a lot of people appreciate and understand how great of an artist Layne Staley (17:09) is today.(17:10) But I don't think people realized where he was going in his psyche to sing these songs (17:17) because he was going to darkness. (17:19) He was going to his inside of his soul. (17:21) He was going to these places.(17:22) And you can visually, viscerally see it on the unplugged MTV unplugged video. (17:30) And he's, he's, I've, we lost him way too early, man. (17:35) Layne Staley would have been arguably the greatest grunge vocalist to ever come out.(17:40) Chris Cornell, maybe like a 1A, 1B possibly. (17:45) I think so too. (17:47) That's why Chris did the Mad Season stuff in the 20, whenever that was, the anniversary (17:52) in 2015.(17:53) But I found the quote. (17:55) So in 92, Jerry was asked, have you ever shared your song with your dad? (18:00) He said, yeah, he's heard the song. (18:02) He's only seen, he only seen us play once.(18:04) And I played the song for him when we were in this club opening for Iggy Pop. (18:08) I'll never forget it. (18:09) He was standing in the back and he heard all the words and stuff.(18:12) Of course, I was never in Vietnam and he won't talk about it. (18:14) But I wrote what I wrote this. (18:17) Oh, my God.(18:18) This doesn't even make any sense. (18:20) But when I wrote, when I wrote it, it felt right. (18:23) The like these things.(18:25) Oh, my God. (18:25) I can't even read tonight. (18:26) It's fine.(18:27) I can't read on most normal lights. (18:29) This is brutal. (18:30) And I just got new glasses too.(18:32) Like these were things that he might have felt or thought. (18:36) And I remember when we played it and he was in the back by the soundboard and I could (18:39) see him. (18:40) He was back there with his big gray Stetson hat and his cowboy boots.(18:43) He's a total Oklahoma man. (18:45) At the end, he took his hat off and held in the air and he was crying the whole time. (18:49) Oh, amazing.(18:50) Sounds like Jerry got it right. (18:51) Yeah. (18:52) And you know what? (18:53) There's a there's there's a deeper there's a deeper message there, too.(18:56) Right. (18:56) Because I was talking with people about this recently, and it's like when you. (19:05) Sons and daughters subconsciously.(19:10) Want approval and acceptance from their parents. (19:14) Constantly. (19:15) And so I have to imagine that Jerry Cantrell's father was pretty stoic and wasn't really (19:21) like he had some stuff going on with him internally.(19:25) He was in war. (19:26) He's a war veteran. (19:27) And this was a way for them to connect themselves, I guess, because you're always searching (19:33) for a way to like prove to your father.(19:37) Yes. (19:37) You know, your son is or whatnot or you know, you know what I'm trying to say, right? (19:41) Absolutely. (19:41) I'm all over the place with everything today.(19:44) You are, that's okay. (19:44) But you're always trying to prove your worth, but you're trying to prove that you're you (19:49) know, you're good enough to be your father's son. (19:53) Yeah.(19:54) Right. (19:54) And we had this another conversation. (19:57) It's like you're you're you as the son, I have a really good father figure in my life.(20:04) Like my dad is a hero of mine and he's an amazing human being. (20:08) Yeah, he's an amazing human being. (20:09) He's a great human being, right? (20:10) Yes.(20:11) So I don't have to go into my life to try to work out a situation where I want to be (20:16) better than my father, because my father is probably the best human being that I ever (20:20) I've ever met. (20:22) But some people look at their fathers or their parents and goes, I need to be better than (20:27) the way I was raised, which would happen to my dad because my dad's dad was very bad (20:33) towards my father. (20:33) I can imagine.(20:35) Yeah. (20:35) Yeah. (20:35) I don't know why we're going on this tangent, but here we are.(20:38) Yes. (20:38) But we do love your dad and your dad is a great man. (20:41) Well, essentially, Rooster is a is an homage to Jerry Cantrell's father, really.(20:45) It's like it's it's trying to write a song to make your dad happy and proud of you, of (20:51) what your son is doing, I think. (20:54) Yes, absolutely. (20:57) So as we said, he didn't talk about I'm going to just catch on the dad thing for a minute.(21:01) Yeah. (21:01) So in 2006, Jerry was interviewed again and they asked him about his dad and his experience. (21:07) And he says that experience of Vietnam changed him forever.(21:10) And it certainly had an effect on our family. (21:13) So I guess it was a defining moment in my life, too. (21:15) He didn't walk out on us.(21:17) We left him. (21:18) It was an environment that wasn't good for anyone. (21:20) So we took off to live with my grandmother in Washington.(21:23) And that's where I went to school. (21:25) So I didn't have a lot of where he got injected into the Seattle music scene. (21:28) Yeah.(21:28) So he says he didn't have a lot of a lot of my father around. (21:31) I started thinking about him a lot during that period. (21:34) So obviously have resentments, blah, blah, blah.(21:38) So, yeah. (21:38) So do you think this could have been like an olive branch song? (21:42) Probably. (21:43) Like because they were disconnected and he wrote the song as an olive branch to try to (21:46) connect them again.(21:48) Maybe that was probably just thinking that right that in the subconscious. (21:52) Yeah. (21:54) But another thing that I found because I want to get off this depressing shit.(22:01) But I was listening today and. (22:04) Allison Chains drummer, Sean Kinney. (22:08) He he's the kind of drummer that I don't want to compare him to people, but he (22:12) sound sounds like Lars to me.(22:14) And then here's here's why. (22:17) Why is it a lot of snare rolls and high hats or no? (22:21) No, not now. (22:22) Like older, like nine.(22:24) Like sort of. (22:25) Oh, get me going on 72 seasons. (22:27) No.(22:28) In the high end. (22:28) No, it's actually the opposite. (22:31) There is no high hat in the song, except for there's a couple of just single (22:33) high hats in the beginning and the end.(22:35) But he plays the ride symbol a lot. (22:37) And the drum beat is a little sort of like it follows the guitar to a T. (22:42) So that's what I mean. (22:43) It's like Lars.(22:43) Lars follows Headfield's guitar. (22:46) So I think Sean was following Jerry's lead as opposed to. (22:50) And and just sort of having that sort of correlation with most drummers don't (22:54) follow the guitar player.(22:56) They're holding down the beat with Mr. (22:58) Bassman. (22:58) And the bass man also basically following Jerry as well. (23:02) So everyone's funneling the music funneling itself into the guitars as (23:07) opposed to, OK, well, we're just going to hold it back here and the guitar (23:11) is going to do his thing.(23:12) Well, it's it's every like it's like the spiral going in the guitars at the (23:16) bottom of the spiral and everyone's funneling towards. (23:19) I just thought it was interesting that there was there was virtually no (23:22) high hat. (23:23) And I was like, I wonder what the song like during the chorus.(23:25) You're right, though. (23:26) The drums are pretty subdued in the song. (23:28) Yeah.(23:28) And it's a very slow pace. (23:29) Like when the drums come in, it's like, oh, that's really slow. (23:32) It's like half it's like a halftime feel.(23:34) And it's I don't know, I just and there's obviously not a lot going on (23:38) guitar wise or bass. (23:39) It's just it's very simple. (23:41) Like the intro is is bar chords with you take you know, you have the (23:46) the saying it's F sharp, but it's two and a half a step down.(23:49) So whatever it is. (23:50) It's a very rise and fall riff, too. (23:53) Yes.(23:53) Yeah. (23:54) And can we talk about the bass line for a little bit? (23:56) Like when it comes in? (23:58) Yes. (23:58) So good.(23:59) It's so it's so smooth sounding, too. (24:02) And I don't know, maybe it was the headphones I was wearing. (24:04) But when the song kicks in, it's like it's the bass is dead center.(24:08) And then the guitars are like off to the side. (24:11) Yeah. (24:12) Right.(24:12) Like they're weird. (24:13) Who's playing the second guitar? (24:15) Who knows? (24:16) Probably probably can't tell. (24:17) I would say they overdubbed it.(24:19) Obviously, they overdo it. (24:20) Like they can't do that live. (24:21) No, they would just do.(24:22) I'm assuming they just did it with one guitar live. (24:24) So you're missing probably all the overdubs overdubbed live. (24:26) But it's yeah.(24:27) But the bass line's neat because it's like an extension. (24:31) Pretty sure it's done on a fretless bass, though. (24:33) I wouldn't be surprised.(24:34) That sounds about right because it's so smooth. (24:36) It's got it's so smooth. (24:39) And, you know, R.I.P. (24:41) Mike Starr.(24:42) Another one bit the dust too early. (24:44) Yeah. (24:45) Yeah.(24:46) Well, he left the band shortly after this and then he just. (24:49) Kept going down the road. (24:54) Electric bass pick.(24:57) Oh, OK. (24:58) That's according to Songster. (24:59) So Songster gets stuff wrong all the time.(25:02) So I don't know what you're talking about. (25:04) Songster is as reliable as Wikipedia, my friend. (25:09) Yeah, the bass line is very cool.(25:10) It's like like during the acoustic parts, the bass line like (25:13) drives the song. (25:14) And then, you know, then everything else, once it really (25:17) kicks in, funnels to me, it funnels towards Jerry and John (25:20) Kinney's drum. (25:21) Yeah, like his drum playing.(25:22) I'm not a good drummer. (25:23) Like I'm I missed your four on the floor. (25:25) Let's just keep it simple.(25:26) Like cashmere. (25:27) I can play that song. (25:28) Yeah, look at me.(25:30) This song could be weird to me. (25:33) Drum wise, it's just strange. (25:35) I don't know what the tempo is too lazy.(25:38) I'm sorry. (25:39) Go on. (25:39) No, no, no, no.(25:41) I'm just I'm just I'm mumbling at this point. (25:43) I'm just there is there is a YouTube video. (25:46) Of just the isolated bass track for Rooster, which (25:51) is kind of fascinating.(25:52) I bet I have to check that out because. (25:55) It would be like. (25:57) That would be pretty neat to listen.(25:59) So, yeah, well, reading, reading, reading the (26:03) forms on it, there's, you know, at the OK, what is (26:07) it, the two and nine mark? (26:08) There's like a there's like the bass changes (26:13) to distortion and a flanger as well. (26:17) But. (26:18) At the two or nine mark to nine mark.(26:20) Hold on. (26:21) I'll. (26:22) Yeah, you'd have to go to the isolated bass thing.(26:25) Oh, because there's so many overdubs during that (26:27) part. (26:31) Yeah. (26:33) Two or nine.(26:33) I'm just going to see if I can hear it. (26:37) No. (26:39) So what the part is talking about is when it goes (26:41) into the second chorus.(26:43) And. (26:45) Because there's there's a lot. (26:47) I send you the link in the idea room.(26:50) Click that and go to the two or nine mark. (26:52) You'll hear it very clearly. (26:55) Very clearly.(26:55) OK. (26:56) So, yeah, so you can just Google (27:00) Rooster bass track on YouTube and (27:02) if anyone's interested to follow along (27:05) with what we're talking about here. (27:07) Yeah, absolutely.(27:09) But this is the beauty of like, well, it's (27:11) just like another of A.I. (27:13) and. (27:14) And technology to extrapolate all (27:17) this fun stuff out of these songs. (27:21) Yeah.(27:22) Two or nine. (27:24) I wish I could share it. (27:25) I wish I could have it.(27:26) So it's on with us. (27:27) But. (27:29) One.(27:29) Cool. (27:30) OK, so I'm talking about right now. (27:33) Yeah.(27:34) So, yeah. (27:35) So the bass goes all Cliff Burton. (27:37) If we'll keep this in Metallica land, goes (27:38) Cliff Burton distorted with a (27:41) flanger.(27:42) Yeah. (27:42) It's very cool. (27:44) And it's and the sound is.(27:45) So, yeah, I'm going to I'll put the link (27:48) maybe in the description of the episode. (27:50) Yeah. (27:51) Because it's.(27:53) Wow, it's a. (27:55) It's totally different. (27:57) Like you don't hear it with (27:59) everything else, because the bass (28:01) track is obviously much more subdued (28:03) because they got to fit in the lyrics and (28:05) the drums and the bass. (28:06) But when you isolate the bass track, it's (28:08) like, what is going on here? (28:09) Like it's distortion flanger.(28:11) Yeah. (28:11) So but what about what it does? (28:13) Having that bass distorted and having (28:16) that flanger. (28:16) It's almost echoey, too.(28:18) It is. (28:19) And it thickens. (28:20) It's like that.(28:20) That's why that chorus is so impactful, (28:22) because it's. (28:24) Yeah. (28:24) Just beats you over the head.(28:26) And you think you think it's all Jerry's (28:27) guitar. (28:28) Clearly. (28:30) Clearly we were wrong.(28:31) But yeah, I know that's that's a good catch (28:33) because that that is amazing. (28:36) Yeah. (28:36) So there is a bass chat website (28:39) on there.(28:39) I can't find it on YouTube. (28:40) But yeah, Mike and I will hopefully link (28:42) it in the show notes. (28:44) Yeah, if I remember, I will.(28:45) I'll probably forget by then. (28:46) Well, I'm going to do it right. (28:47) I'm going to get it up tonight because I (28:48) want to get it.(28:49) I want it out tonight. (28:51) And then that's another interesting (28:53) thing. So just quickly off a tangent, (28:55) if anyone ever.(28:57) I'm just going to talk Rolling Stones (28:59) for like five seconds here. (29:00) My favorite Rolling Stones, one of my (29:02) favorite Rolling Stones songs is Give Me (29:04) Shelter. (29:04) And there is an isolated track (29:07) of the.(29:09) I can't remember her name, the lady (29:11) that sings the part. (29:12) If you listen just to her (29:14) sing the isolated track. (29:16) Very man.(29:17) It is scary. (29:18) It's scary how much she's just. (29:20) How much emotion she's putting (29:22) into that thing.(29:23) So into that line. (29:24) So with that's a rumor has (29:26) it. (29:26) Rumor has it.(29:28) Here we go. (29:29) When she was performing that song, (29:30) she was in an early (29:32) pregnancy and she miscarried (29:34) the next day because they threw (29:35) like the floor is. (29:37) Yeah, that she sang so hard (29:39) and put out so much.(29:40) No, it probably had nothing (29:42) to do with it. (29:42) But yeah, she miscarried like the (29:44) next day. (29:45) Good.(29:45) Who knows? (29:46) Because she like she I wish I had (29:48) her name, but she let (29:50) left everything on the floor and it (29:52) was awesome. (29:52) And apparently in the booth it was (29:54) I think Mick and Keith were in there (29:55) to trying to get her psyched up (29:57) and get her to really.