The only Catcher In The Rye thread you need!

[doooodickiebr]

beautiful song...sounds old school if ya know what i mean

[Verse Chorus Verse]

I love the outro; the lyrics and vocal delivery are quite powerful. Plus, I love how it's placed right between my other two favorites from CD, TWAT and Scraped.

[Pinball Wizard]

Since the leaks, I never really cared about this song. It was OK and everything, but it never meant so much to me, at least as much as the other leaked songs.

But I bought the book last week, the same day as I bought my CD, I'm only a few pages away from finishing it and, well, now this song is one of my favorites! When I listen to the lyrics of "Catcher in the Rye" I immediately remember some parts of the book, and, well, it's such a weird feeling that I can't put on words. All I can say is that, after reading the book, this song means something to me.

[GeraldFord]

I like the off-beat piano that sort of comes out of nowhere.

[marknroses]

I can't say that lyrically, CITR has any impact on me at all. Typically I do look for meaningful lyrics in a GNR song. I can;t quite sing along with it.
But musically, its very dynamic and works really. It sounds like a very easy going song, which is great for traveling nice to hear on a GNR album and only serves to diversify their portfolio even more and in the course of things, attract a bigger fan base overall.
 
MNW

[AXL DEMOCRACY]

 I think the song has very little to nothing to do with Lennon's killer and is all about Axl and his siblings' childhood and abuse and loss of innocence. I've been saying it since I first heard the leak. The song seems to be the most personal and emotional for Axl out of all the new songs in my opinion.

I think you can re-read the Rolling Stone interview he did with Kim Neely in 1992 and get an idea of where this song came from.
 Axl's first memory - having a toy gun.

"you gave that boy a gun" - also a symbolic/metaphoric statement. Gave Axl his weapon in this life - his gift of expressing his anger and emotions through his voice - by both singing and also speaking out against what had happened as he did in this interview subsequently angering many of his family members and severing his bonds and relationships with them.

I dont know where this song got the history of being about Chapman. I know people unfortunately think of Chapman when they hear or see the book The Catcher In The Rye but I dont think he has anything to do with this song. The only parallel I can see with Chapman and the novel/the killing of Lennon - was in some ways a loss of innocence for many as it represented the end of a dream that Lennon stood for. It was a devastating event in many people's lives. My mom is a great example. Lennon being murdered is one of my first solid and vivid memories for me as a child. I had trouble sleeping that night and went into my mom's bedroom where she was watching t.v. My dad and uncle were in the living room watching the football game. Moments later the news was announced by Howard Cosell and my dad rushed into my mom's room. They were/are HUGE Beatles fans - my mom being a HUGE Lennon fan and my dad a HUGE McCartney fan. Those memories of my mom breaking down into my dad's arms...it was very very emotional for me and still is.

So that is really the only parallel I can see between Chapman/Lennon killing and this song.

I think the feeling of the novel resonated with Axl and was his way of exploring and expressing the themes he (and his siblings) suffered and went through and thought about in his own childhood and adolosence.

Here is a take on the song by a great poster at another forum.  I really agree with his take on it regarding any parallel and link between Chapman, Lennon, and Ax's experiences.

To me, Catcher is about the world losing John Lennon and Axl losing his childhood innocence, with some lyrics referring to one or the other or both. From a child abuse standpoint "how a body took a body and gave that boy a gun" would deal with how Axl had his innocence stolen by being raped as a child which lit a certain fire inside of him. The last line can easily reference both the loss of innocence of the world when Lennon died as well as the loss of innocence when a child is abused.



As for the solos; there are three guitar solos credited on this song in this order; Thal, Robin, and Thal.  The way I am scoring it, I see the solos as this:
Ron's first solo is from and including at 59 seconds - 1:57.
Then Robin's solo (the solo that replaced Brian May's) is at 2:23 - 3:00.   It sounds a lot like Robin's "pick up" and style though it contains a bit of fast "noodling" at 2:32 which sounds like Ron's style but could very easily be done by Robin too.   The rest of the solo sounds very much like Robin.  And is fantastic.
I am thinking then the outro solo is Ron's as he is credited last and that it is the last solo on the song starting at 4:13.
If I am scoring solos right.

[ThatGuy]

personally, i think its the solo beginning at 4:13 that sort of puts a damper on the song.  a bit too much.  good solo, wrong spot.  i am slowly getting used to it though, still love the song 

[Black Betty]

You're not scoring the solo's right. The main and the end are Ron the other "queenish" fills in the right channel are all Robins. Technically Robin doesn't have a solo, but he is credited for his fills.

[AXL DEMOCRACY]

Can you give me a time on where Robin's "fills" appear?

[ppbebe]

The guitar from the 2:22 mark sounds very much queenish to me. to the end.

[otgm]

My 2nd fave song on the album after Better. I'm not a Queen fan by any means but this song somehow reminds me of Queen a lot.

[CheapJon]

before the album had been released, of all the leaked songs, this was actually the song i had listened the least too, dunno if it was due to the quality.. now it's my most played song on the album

[jeffaz02t]

This is the leaked song I liked the least. I have no idea what I was thinking!!!!!  The melody, lyrics, the GUITAR SOLO by Ron (as good as May's work on the leak was, BF really brought it on this song) everything about this song is great. The na na na parts are great too. After digesting CD for a few weeks now, this is my favorite song on the album...

[mikeaxl]

you people waited years for this record, you get it, it is arguably 1-14 the best record in eons and you still criticize and denigrate. i am confused ?

[italysfinest1985]

I thought this song was absolutely beautiful since it leaked. The album version however, makes it one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Period.

[The Catcher]

I thought this song was absolutely beautiful since it leaked. The album version however, makes it one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Period.

I agree. Catcher In The Rye and There Was A Time alone makes the album brilliant in my eyes. This I Love is right up there with them. After 3 weeks of listening to the album, I've finally managed to narrow it down to my top 3 right there

Edit:

Oh shit, what about Street Of Dreams and IRS?

Oh well, back to the drawing board...

[hebbesy]

Ok here goes, I have just had my lunch at work, sitting at my desk with ipod on shuffle and Catcher has arrived, im on 5th listen to now, everytime I seem to pic a different feeling from the song, there is a mix of sadness and also rejoice in this song.
The sadness being the loss of innocence and childhood, the joy being the overcoming of this sadness and finding that you have a deeper streangth and purpose to your life.

The way the song builds to a climax like someone coming out of a depression and finding peace is just brilliant. I get images of vast oceans and sky's with the song floating across these all driven by Ron's solo's, this song is way better than the leak and without compromising the emotional content of the song.

[ShotgunBlues1978]

This was one of my least favorite tracks amongst the leaks, but has become one of my 3-4 favorite tracks on the album based upon the final version.  It was always brilliant lyrically but I thought the leak, aside from Brian May's solo, was kind of flat and dull.  The final version is a thing of beauty, the guitars during the final verse are just great

My favorite line is the final one, "Sometimes the only thing we counted on when no one else was there"

Because that's how I feel about Guns music.  May sound corny but there have been some real tough times where Axl's music and lyrics helped pulled me through.  I'll never know the guy but it's a comfort knowing someone as talented and successful as him experiences the same feelings and emotional struggles that I do.  Awesome song

[jarmo]

May sound corny but there have been some real tough times where Axl's music and lyrics helped pulled me through. 

That's what separates good music from truly great music.

Great music makes you feel something.





/jarmo

[Ali]

This was one of my least favorite tracks amongst the leaks, but has become one of my 3-4 favorite tracks on the album based upon the final version.  It was always brilliant lyrically but I thought the leak, aside from Brian May's solo, was kind of flat and dull.  The final version is a thing of beauty, the guitars during the final verse are just great

My favorite line is the final one, "Sometimes the only thing we counted on when no one else was there"

Because that's how I feel about Guns music.  May sound corny but there have been some real tough times where Axl's music and lyrics helped pulled me through.  I'll never know the guy but it's a comfort knowing someone as talented and successful as him experiences the same feelings and emotional struggles that I do.  Awesome song

That's not corny at all.  That's how I feel too.  I am anything but ashamed of that.  I'm proud actually.

Ali