Duff McKagan Quotes

(We wrote "Sweet Child o' Mine" later, and the "where do we go now" coda of that song actually was just sort of tacked on, which is one of the reasons we didn't anticipate it being a hit - or even a single, for that matter.)

Never miss an opportunity to keep your damn mouth shut.

Life is not a journey to the grave With the intention of arriving safely in a well-preserved body, But rather to skid in sideways Thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow, what a ride!

A few months prior, Axl had also come up with a great idea for "Patience," seemingly out of nowhere, that had immediately become the story and melody of that song. The whistle part at the beginning was another ballsy and unusual move by Axl; the song just wouldn't be the same without it. "Patience" quickly became one of my favorite GN'R songs to play live.

One of my favorite "deep thoughts" on the topic occurred when one of my other bands, Loaded, was opening for Alice Cooper a number of years back. After one particularly successful show, we got to talking about Bon Jovi. In the song "Wanted Dead Or Alive," the claim is made that "I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked them all." All? Let's ponder.
I have no doubt that Bon Jovi had played to a million people by the time "Dead or Alive" was released on Slippery When Wet in 1986. But did they rock them all? Couldn't it be that some dudes brought their girlfriends to the show and weren't necessarily into their music? What about some parents? Or maybe some people just didn't get rocked? Hey, it's happened to me. I've gone to gigs properly prepared to get rocked and it just didn't happen.

We had a tour bus! We had a couple of real hotel rooms! And catering! Fuck, yes!

When I was thirty, I asked a nurse to let me die. In a couple days, I'm going to play "Cheap Sunglasses" alongside the man who wrote it.

How peaceful death seemed, a simple and beautiful way out. Take me down. Take me home. Paradise ...

took something serious away from it. I told myself I would never get so deep into my cups that I wouldn't be able to play.

At the end of the European leg, our lead guitar player pulled a knife on our bus driver in England. I

loyal people have a mom they think is a saint.

a couple years prior we were hitchhiking to a gig with no gear. Now we were on a fucking tour bus. We could eat for free at a catered backstage buffet. Life was good.

You dirty so and so.

Fortunately I never came to enjoy the effect of heroin for its own sake, but floating away on a silk pillow was infinitely nicer than grinding my teeth in a drunken, paranoid stupor at the end of a coke binge.

Here's what I believe. Shit fucking happens. That's rule one. Everybody walking the planet knows that. Rule two: things rarely turn out the way you planned. Three: everybody gets knocked down. Four, and most important of all: after you take those shots, it's time to stand up and walk on - to continue to live.

That's right: Duff McKagan, king of beers, viscount of vodka, count of coke. Champion of the world. Asshole.

We had no idea it would be the last time we would ever be able to walk around L.A. without feeling like we were in a fishbowl, isolated and on display.

(we had added an unruly pug somewhere along the way)

Helicopters - "ghetto birds," as the other residents called them -

Place pain in a steel box and let it float away," Benny would say. "Pain will always be there - it's how you deal with it that matters.

Don't be a pussy. don't shy away from a situation just because it's tough. if you need to protect the one you love or things are tough at work ... pin those ears back and remember who the fuck you are.

forge ahead. try harder. do the thing that is directly in front of you, and don't think beyond that. head down. ears pinned back. move in a direct line.

Sometimes we have to face things, face people, face situations in life that we don't like to deal with," he said. "It can feel like everybody is out to get you. That's when you have to refuse to succumb, make people realize you are a force - but you also have to give and take in these situations.

Slash was already in a league of his own and watching him play guitar was a "holy shit" moment.

When it comes to your values and personality, you are what you do in adverse situations.

we did an acoustic set at CBGB on October 30, 1987, where we debuted "Patience.

I always loved writing, but I feel like I really started writing when I got my BlackBerry . It was the first time I could take these crazy thoughts in my head and actually get them out. This little device became my journal on the road.

We rehearsed at the space twice a day regardless of anything else going on in any of our lives. Many of the songs that made up Appetite and Lies - as well as more than a few from Use Your Illusion - came together in this back-alley lair. When