My step dad was in Vietnam and he has never talk about it in the 30 yrs I’ve known him. He struggles with PTSD but won’t get treated. His treatment alcohol and weed. He tries everyday to forget his past. Now we see what is happening in the Middle East. Will we not ever learn from the past? We should be finding ways to sustain life as a human beings going forward. 🙏✌️❤
Unforunately we will never learn from our past. Too many greedy politicans and business men who use us for their gains and destruction. One thing thats always true of history, it will repeat itself.
The bankers in Europe are responsible for starting these wars because war is very profitable! Not the people they use the people against each other to stir the pot ! People need to wake up to what they are doing ! They create both sides loan both sides money to fight! The people die and the power brokers get rich !
Amen brother, very well said 🙏🙏 V**Too bad WE, US good American people(among those of US from every single country and race) get stuck fighting for the rich men, and women, north of Richmond.. fighting over whatever BS they happen to be arguing over today.. it's damn sickening, I'd LOVE to be able to send the criminal TRAITOR piece's of garbage that think they are above US to go fight overseas for whatever BS they're mad or greedy about... Now THAT would be a start to putting things right❤️🙏❤️🙏
Nice review of an amazing song. What a tribute. The Rooster was Cantrell's fathers nickname, and that was him being interviewed at the start of the video. These guys are so freaking good.
Guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote ROOSTER about his father's experiences in Vietnam and when Jerry saw his dad in the audience at one of their shows when AIC opened for Iggy Pop, and Jerry asked Layne (and the guys) to play ROOSTER and they did. It was the first time Jerry's dad heard Jerry's music and knew that his son understood him through that song. It brought Jerry and his dad closer together. And Layne had a vital part in that reunion. (Meanwhile Layne's own biological father was an opportunist). Jerry's dad was nicknamed Rooster when he was a kid and his hairstyle resembled that of a rooster comb. Although, maybe he used rooster as a call sign during his military career. But he didn't earn the nickname in the military, he had the nickname back when he was a kid. Jerry Cantrell, Sr had multiple tours in Vietnam and like most Vietnam vets, he didn't talk about it. The most he ever said about it was at the beginning of the official video for ROOSTER which he agreed to be a part of after hearing the song. Like all kids who hate their parents, Jerry Cantrell was no different. He was staying in a small guest room in Chris Cornell's house (Cornell was married to AIC manager Susan Silver) and the guest room had a tiny window. He was staying there and thought about what his dad may have experienced and wrote the lyrics. They demoed ROOSTER and WOULD? when they spent two days working on the acoustic songs for the SAP EP. The songs on SAP and those two songs were demoed using the money Cameron Crowe gave them for recording WOULD? for the SINGLES movie. Layne sang the hell out of WOULD? and ROOSTER. The harmony in the beginning and end on the album is Ann Wilson of Heart, but Layne does the harmonies on the official video and live versions perfectly. The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because he was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged from the years of drug use. He was just high enough to do the show so he didn't get dope sick and chase away withdrawal symptoms. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had taken with his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide. With Unplugged... Sean Kinney (drummer) and Mike Inez (bass player) argued with Jerry about whether Layne could even pull off the high notes in some of the songs in his condition, which is why Jerry gave them that “I told you so” smirk after Layne hit that long, high note in DOWN IN A HOLE. He did the same thing again when Layne hit a high note in ROOSTER. Layne was one of the few singers who was always better live than studio version. The fact that Sean and Mike didn’t have any confidence that Layne could do the show and Jerry being the only one that knew deep in his heart that Layne could do it because Layne had done so many things against the odds over the years no matter how high he was at the time. When Jerry needed him to be there where it counted, Layne always pulled through. Knowing how he sang ROOSTER in Tilburg, The Netherlands, in 1993 when his “yeahs” and screams were so loud and high I’m surprised the rafters didn’t come crashing down around him and then watch him sing the same song so low-key on Unplugged knowing he could do to the song what he did in Tilburg is heartbreaking. Knowing he initially sang the hell out of WOULD? on the official video and album and seeing the end of WOULD? on Unplugged . . . and knowing how deep into his addiction he had gotten by that point is heartbreaking. The entire show was a success because Layne DID have a powerful performance despite his condition. He proved to his cynical bandmates that he could still sing the high notes and he pulled it all off beautifully while the same four guys (Metallica) who had mocked him for his addiction sidelining Alice In Chains from ever doing extended tours back in 1994 sat in the front row. The mistakes he made screwing up SLUDGE FACTORY (and I think he screwed up GOT ME WRONG once or twice, but Toby Wright didn’t keep that in editing) were endearing, at least to me. They didn’t take away from the performance, it added something to the performance that, had it been removed after everyone had seen it, wouldn’t have made the show what it was. That line "they spit on me in my homeland." TV News anchor Walter Kronkite basically told the American public that we lost the war and between that and the college kids (who went to college to escape being drafted into the military) would protest the soldiers coming home. They would do protest rallies at the airports and protest the returning soldiers by spitting at them, throwing urine and other stuff on them. An uncle of mine drove a supply truck in Vietnam (to this day he won't talk about his experience). A family friend of ours said that he and his buddies came home, saw the protesters at the airport, and re-enlisted because it was safer in Vietnam than in the US with the protesters. At least in Vietnam, they knew who the enemy was. I'm NOT saying Vietnam was anything the US should have ever been in. I'm just relating stories of people I know who served there. Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12-year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne kept his humor and wit even to the end of his life. Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He stacked his own vocals with melodies and harmonies underneath. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and found out Sean Kinney was dating original bass player Mike Starr's sister. He wrote the lyrics for the original songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons. At the age of 34, he looked more like an 80 year old man. He knew he screwed up, between the drugs and his own depression and then his former fiancee dying, Layne just couldn't find a way to dig himself out of his own mess and at the end with his teeth problems and organs failing on him, he gave up trying. He lost sight of who his true friends were and who was using him. He was never going to give up the drugs. Instead, he tried to attain the same high he felt the first time he did drugs and could never achieve it. Layne encouraged Jerry to sing more, after all, they were Jerry's lyrics he should sing them. Vice-versa, Jerry encouraged Layne to play the guitar which is how you get Layne playing guitar on HATE TO FEEL and ANGRY CHAIR as well as I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING on the Mad Season above album. Jerry encouraged him on the guitar and was proud that Layne grew as a guitarist. Though, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine taught Layne more chords than ANGRY CHAIR and HATE TO FEEL. The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team. Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period. Layne had done so much for Jerry, giving him a place to live, money, clothes, food, guitars and gear, a band. But getting a front-row seat to watch what had happened to Layne over the years, Jerry had to watch his best friend deteriorate in a span of 12 years (1990-2002), and Jerry couldn't do anything about it. Jerry had talked himself blue in the face but Layne didn't want help. Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway." "My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018) “Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
I LOVE that he cares enough to try and understand completely where each band is coming from with the lyrics, instrumentals are AMAZING but lyrics touch the soul ❤
Were you a SAW gunner? IIRC, the reason for the nickname Rooster in Vietnam was that the muzzle flash of the M-60 looked like a rooster's tail, so it was often given to machine-gunners...and I'm sure it woke everyone up when it started ripping...but it could just be a random name as IIRC, Jerry Cantrell's father was a tunnel rat...
@@42Mrgreenman no it was because of my haircut. i left a little in the front and it would stick up. i was on a QRF team and and i mostly used the Mark 19.
@@benjirials163 Dude, awesome! Always wondered what it was like using an auto-grenade launcher...I can imagine the explosions laying waste to a vehicle or position. (Not to glorify the horrors of war, but that thok sound it makes when firing combined with the explosions of live rounds must be quite the experience). Are you familiar with MikeBurnFire? Him and his Marine buddy sit around and tell military stories from around the Iraq war on his YT channel, and they're funny as hell...
My dad was an Army Green Beret and fought in Vietnam and he struggled so badly until they finally began to recognize PTSD and he got some help. Extremely nice reaction!
I’m a daughter of a Vietnam veteran and I can attest to what Jerry Cantrell’s dad said and went through. It was brutal for the soldiers (of Vietnam) and the way they were treated was despicable. 🇺🇸
My dad is a vietnam vet! He is 76 years old and has never talked about it with family! He has many army buddies that he takes trips with and it has seemed to help! Great reaction!!
There are so many legends I never got to see them when they were alive but I got lucky and scored free tickets to the tail end of their 1996 Pacific tour. Lane Stayley was an absolute beast on the vocals RIP and was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.
I loved that you actually listened and heard the song, you got it and didn’t react just to react. You reacted from actually listening, bravo! Check out more AIC, their MTV unplugged is the best unplugged MTV ever did. Glad I found you and now subscribed.
Joined your channel almost from the get-go and have really enjoyed your reactions as well as your enthusiasm, exploration, and enjoyment of new and/or unfamiliar genres, artists, and eras. Thank you for reacting to Rooster, which guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote as a tribute to his father (Jerry Cantrell, Sr.), who was an Army Airborne machine-gunner in Vietnam and who suffered from PTSD resulting from his experiences there. As a child, Jerry Sr. was nicknamed Rooster due to his shock of red hair. Coincidentally, US military machine gunners were referred to by the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) as “roosters” because the burst of flames from their weapons resembled a rooster’s comb. If you do choose to react to more of AIC, I would recommend that, for any and all reaction requests for tracks specifically from their 1996 MTV: Unplugged, that you react first to the version on the album/studio and then react to the one from Unplugged. Doing so allows you to 1) react blind, 2) hear each track according to the band’s vision of how they were supposed to sound, 3) have a little bit of familiarity going into the live performance, and 4) see and hear the contrast between Layne’s voice and appearance when he was young, healthy, and in his prime, compared to the empty shell he’d become Unplugged performance , during which he was skin and bones, missing several teeth (which unfortunately did affect his clarity of diction and increased the nasality within his singing voice), dope sick as hell and slowly dying from years of heavy heroin and cocaine addiction. My suggestions for more songs (in no order): - Them Bones - Down in a Hole - Junkhead - No Excuses - I Stay Away - Would? - Rotten Apple - Rain When I Die - Man in the Box (make sure it’s the uncensored music video, or use a lyric vid). My favourite video of AIC’s is their live performance of Love Hate Love from Live at the Moore, December 1990. Layne’s vocal prowess will blow your fucking mind from here to LV-426 and back. Edit: sorry for the novel!
Glad you understand the emotions and experiences going on this song...Very deep and heavy...Love what you are doing.... This band is the very best talent from the 90s. For real Brother.
The rooster is what the guys in the army nicknamed his dad because he was the machine gun man and when he shot the gun his head would go back and fort like a chicken clucking but he said he said “don’t call him the chicken call him the rooster” and from that point forward his nickname was “rooster”. Great reaction!!
Vietnam - had an uncle that was in. A lot of the boys (men) in that war did not sign up to be in the military. They were drafted and sent (willing or not). Sent to do things they were not in favour of. And made to survive. Additionally, Vietnam was America’s first intervention in dealing with what is now considered “terrorist tactics”. The North Vietnam fighters were not exactly - Geneva convention, identifiable uniformly soldiers. And coming home to a land where elders feel like you “lost”, and younger people viewing you as a baby killer - no matter what you had to do to survive. You came home to a lot of “no respect”. Which fostered the movement thanking (us, like me) for my service (4 years, Army, (West Germany). If you would like to learn more - Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon are two movies that deal with the experiences of Vietnam.
😂 Thank you for your understanding of what PTSD is. You didn't say it, but you described it. I have it and it took 35 years to get help. 82nd airborne ranger and seen first hand piles of children we had to burn. I was stabbed once and shot twice. No fucking fun bro. Lost a lot of brothers. TY for going deeper to understand war and sacrifice.
My granddad talked to me about the Vietnam war , and told me things that he never told anyone else. I remember sitting on the porch with him at about 5 o’clock in the morning, and he told me about him, holding his friend in the jungle and a big piece of his head had been shot off, but he was still alive, and the only word his friend would say was, momma. Then he died. My granddad was a hard dude… But that was the first time I ever saw him cry.
The breakdown “rooster” the dads call sign. But it’s also interesting “The rooster “is chosen as a sacred sacrifice because the Vietnamese think it connects the world of the living and the world of genies.
I love your reactions dude. My dad is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran who actually got malaria when he served his tour. He came back to the states and served aboard Marine One. I've always kind of wanted him to hear this song, but he also never talks about his time in the military. So i'm still uncertain and afraid to show it to him...
Yeah, that war was particularly rough. My uncle was in it. It really fucked him up, he was just a teenager. He said they would send little kids at them with bombs on the kids, so you had to shoot kids. You couldn’t tell who was innocent and who was the enemy in the villages. It really fucked him up. Not to mention the terrible things the U.S. soldiers were doing to the Vietcong. It was just terrible on both sides, and it was a draft, so people were there who didn’t even want to be a soldier. Terrible. War is always terrible.
Glad you really liked the song + video. Its depth and intensity are too much for some people. The clip is really merciless, and actually needs a content warning. That drop is obviously one of the hardest ever. The guitar on the instrumental section uses a wah-wah pedal, giving it a “w” kind of sound to the riffs. The lead guitarist is known use it a lot with his playing. Overall, this tackles the ugliness of war as heavy as can be.
Heavy.. Definitely not saying I understand too much about war. But I do understand it has many levels. To the pawns it's a matter of life and death, ultimate sacrifice, to the chess players it's a money game. May humanity overcome this monstrosity and may we put our minds together to actually do something extraordinary. Peace
Dude! You r amazing in picking things up, even things i didn notice in years listening to their music. First i watched NWA's Straight Outta Compton reaction, and now this one, you are awesome, thanks for the vid! +1 Subscribe here. Cheers from Brasil!(with S because we write that way and we need to value our roots! I'm from northeast from the country, so, we suffer a lot of xenophobia just cause we r born in here! So if you ever come here, come to Recife - Pernambuco, we dont measure people for the way they talk or behave, we got u, bro, you will be receiving a very warm welcome!
I have been robbed, and beaten and threatened many times with weapons and fists in my life. But being in a war is probably way worse having to worry about that shit all day every day. I'm glad for you fellas that made it out and are still living with the shit you went through. Keep living please.
In the context of the song, dig this, most Vietnam recruits (who were drafted by the U.S. military, taken from 18 yo and up to 25, consent be damned) but most recruits it was discovered, didn't want to be in Vietnam, go figure, so they wouldn't actually try and kill the [enemy?] Vietcong (VC), the drafted kids, who had 0 fucks to give, would just shoot their M-16's towards the "enemy" because some Major asshat told them to open fire...then there were those that became another animal, they absorbed the experience, and became stone-cold killers...the u.s. military trains civilians to become soldiers by training them to turn off their conscience, but the military never gave them a toggle switch to turn that primal instinct off...a visceral damning of warfare and the military.
My dad's buddy wa in Nam. When he got good drunk and high he'd tell dad horrific stories - like having to kill toddlers because they'd strap grenades to them and send them toward US soldiers. I've talked to NVA who immigrated here, they'd conscript you and if you refused they'd kill your whole village. The commies had no respect for life. It was a hellscape, and then they came back and got spit on. I have read that the 'Rooster' was the M-60 squad automatic weapon. When fired at night flash out the barrel looked like a rooster tale. The biggest dude in the squad usually carried it because it was heavy. And the Viet Cong hated it because it'd just chew right through them, so the 'Rooster' was always the top target.
You wanna live the life? Game changing watershed moments? “Ghost Troop and the Battle of 73 Easting” by Mike Guardia. I’m the Fish. Rhymes with Carpenter
Rooster was also a popular brand of snuff used by soldiers during Vietnam. Who weren’t allowed to smoke while on patrol. Which may have been part of the reason his dad got that nickname.
This was one of my best friends favorite songs. I found him drowned in his hot tub while I fished in his backyard. 5 minutes and he was gone. Couldn’t revive him. Actually this is quite therapeutic. Appreciate you
I absolutely love watching reaction videos on RUclips and I absolutely love to see people of all walks of life expand their lives and minds to all genres of music but I have one suggestion to everyone who reacts, if y'all can do some not a lot just some research on the back stories of the music that you're reacting to I think you would enjoy the song more? Just sayin
I really enjoy your authentic reactions. My father was a Vietnam Veteran as well. If you want to explore more veteran oriented songs/videos, check out Five Finger Death Punch "Gone Away" or "Wrong Side of Heaven". You may also enjoy their tribute to first responders "Blue on Black" and/or "When Season's Change"
You gotta check out the band Mad Season and react. Layne is the main singer and other members are from Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. I think they only released one album but it was killer.
Absolutely, my grandfather was a tunnel rat on Saipan during WW2...he told me a few stories, and it sounds TERRIFYING...nothing but a pistol and a flashlight to protect yourself in almost pitch blackness with no room to maneuver...my grandfather would have actually died on that island if not for a brash new commander who had just arrived and took the point position...when they entered the Japanese bunker, he was immediately shot multiple times, but that allowed my grandfather to survive the confusion of that particular fire fight...
Shon, I have been watching some of your reactions for awhile now. I have a real question for you: Are you finding a new respect for Rock and Roll Music and its impact on our culture here in the USA?
You talk about what's normal for you at home? Once you get back there is a new normal and you have trouble adjusting at home. I was in Iraq and we did convoys and patrols. I was the gunner in my humv. Imagine going out everyday knowing you may have to kill someone or get killed yourself. You never leave your tent or the base without a weapon. Then you get home and go out to stores, restaurants and such. I didn't own a gun and felt naked in public. Several times I collapsed shaking violently because of panic attacks while in public. People would gather around and my wife would have to tell them I just got back. Anymore I just stay home. Was medically retired and had trouble holding jobs because of the PTSD. I'm still closed off from society. Don't have friend I hang out with or go out for fun.
Now try to imagine song coming out, after 12 years of songs about nothing except parties and girls and drinking. Suddenly after all that, this Seattle garage band shows up, singing about sh-t that’s REAL.
Imagine coming back home after being forced to commit atrocities and try to raise your family and be a warm, loving, well adjusted human being to your wife and kids? Many of them came back to splintered lives and homelessness, a lifetime of medical issues and being "spat on in their homeland." No one can understand the trauma unless they experienced it. It is truly sad. This video is hard to watch, but it is a perfect match to the song.
luv luv AIC. esp this song. my partner had a couple horrific experiences in Viet Nam, and has PTSD from it. song is awesome but still hard to listen to
My step dad was in Vietnam and he has never talk about it in the 30 yrs I’ve known him. He struggles with PTSD but won’t get treated. His treatment alcohol and weed. He tries everyday to forget his past. Now we see what is happening in the Middle East. Will we not ever learn from the past? We should be finding ways to sustain life as a human beings going forward. 🙏✌️❤
Unforunately we will never learn from our past. Too many greedy politicans and business men who use us for their gains and destruction. One thing thats always true of history, it will repeat itself.
The bankers in Europe are responsible for starting these wars because war is very profitable! Not the people they use the people against each other to stir the pot ! People need to wake up to what they are doing ! They create both sides loan both sides money to fight! The people die and the power brokers get rich !
How old was your dad when you were born?
Amen brother, very well said 🙏🙏
V**Too bad WE, US good American people(among those of US from every single country and race) get stuck fighting for the rich men, and women, north of Richmond.. fighting over whatever BS they happen to be arguing over today..
it's damn sickening, I'd LOVE to be able to send the criminal TRAITOR piece's of garbage that think they are above US to go fight overseas for whatever BS they're mad or greedy about...
Now THAT would be a start to putting things right❤️🙏❤️🙏
I'm soooo sorry!! How can a child get sent to hell and come back and exist???!!! Makes me SICK
Nice review of an amazing song. What a tribute. The Rooster was Cantrell's fathers nickname, and that was him being interviewed at the start of the video. These guys are so freaking good.
Guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote ROOSTER about his father's experiences in Vietnam and when Jerry saw his dad in the audience at one of their shows when AIC opened for Iggy Pop, and Jerry asked Layne (and the guys) to play ROOSTER and they did. It was the first time Jerry's dad heard Jerry's music and knew that his son understood him through that song. It brought Jerry and his dad closer together. And Layne had a vital part in that reunion. (Meanwhile Layne's own biological father was an opportunist).
Jerry's dad was nicknamed Rooster when he was a kid and his hairstyle resembled that of a rooster comb. Although, maybe he used rooster as a call sign during his military career. But he didn't earn the nickname in the military, he had the nickname back when he was a kid.
Jerry Cantrell, Sr had multiple tours in Vietnam and like most Vietnam vets, he didn't talk about it. The most he ever said about it was at the beginning of the official video for ROOSTER which he agreed to be a part of after hearing the song. Like all kids who hate their parents, Jerry Cantrell was no different. He was staying in a small guest room in Chris Cornell's house (Cornell was married to AIC manager Susan Silver) and the guest room had a tiny window. He was staying there and thought about what his dad may have experienced and wrote the lyrics.
They demoed ROOSTER and WOULD? when they spent two days working on the acoustic songs for the SAP EP. The songs on SAP and those two songs were demoed using the money Cameron Crowe gave them for recording WOULD? for the SINGLES movie. Layne sang the hell out of WOULD? and ROOSTER.
The harmony in the beginning and end on the album is Ann Wilson of Heart, but Layne does the harmonies on the official video and live versions perfectly.
The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because he was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged from the years of drug use. He was just high enough to do the show so he didn't get dope sick and chase away withdrawal symptoms. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had taken with his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide.
With Unplugged... Sean Kinney (drummer) and Mike Inez (bass player) argued with Jerry about whether Layne could even pull off the high notes in some of the songs in his condition, which is why Jerry gave them that “I told you so” smirk after Layne hit that long, high note in DOWN IN A HOLE. He did the same thing again when Layne hit a high note in ROOSTER.
Layne was one of the few singers who was always better live than studio version. The fact that Sean and Mike didn’t have any confidence that Layne could do the show and Jerry being the only one that knew deep in his heart that Layne could do it because Layne had done so many things against the odds over the years no matter how high he was at the time. When Jerry needed him to be there where it counted, Layne always pulled through.
Knowing how he sang ROOSTER in Tilburg, The Netherlands, in 1993 when his “yeahs” and screams were so loud and high I’m surprised the rafters didn’t come crashing down around him and then watch him sing the same song so low-key on Unplugged knowing he could do to the song what he did in Tilburg is heartbreaking. Knowing he initially sang the hell out of WOULD? on the official video and album and seeing the end of WOULD? on Unplugged . . . and knowing how deep into his addiction he had gotten by that point is heartbreaking.
The entire show was a success because Layne DID have a powerful performance despite his condition. He proved to his cynical bandmates that he could still sing the high notes and he pulled it all off beautifully while the same four guys (Metallica) who had mocked him for his addiction sidelining Alice In Chains from ever doing extended tours back in 1994 sat in the front row. The mistakes he made screwing up SLUDGE FACTORY (and I think he screwed up GOT ME WRONG once or twice, but Toby Wright didn’t keep that in editing) were endearing, at least to me. They didn’t take away from the performance, it added something to the performance that, had it been removed after everyone had seen it, wouldn’t have made the show what it was.
That line "they spit on me in my homeland." TV News anchor Walter Kronkite basically told the American public that we lost the war and between that and the college kids (who went to college to escape being drafted into the military) would protest the soldiers coming home. They would do protest rallies at the airports and protest the returning soldiers by spitting at them, throwing urine and other stuff on them. An uncle of mine drove a supply truck in Vietnam (to this day he won't talk about his experience). A family friend of ours said that he and his buddies came home, saw the protesters at the airport, and re-enlisted because it was safer in Vietnam than in the US with the protesters. At least in Vietnam, they knew who the enemy was. I'm NOT saying Vietnam was anything the US should have ever been in. I'm just relating stories of people I know who served there.
Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12-year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne kept his humor and wit even to the end of his life.
Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He stacked his own vocals with melodies and harmonies underneath. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and found out Sean Kinney was dating original bass player Mike Starr's sister. He wrote the lyrics for the original songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons. At the age of 34, he looked more like an 80 year old man. He knew he screwed up, between the drugs and his own depression and then his former fiancee dying, Layne just couldn't find a way to dig himself out of his own mess and at the end with his teeth problems and organs failing on him, he gave up trying. He lost sight of who his true friends were and who was using him. He was never going to give up the drugs. Instead, he tried to attain the same high he felt the first time he did drugs and could never achieve it.
Layne encouraged Jerry to sing more, after all, they were Jerry's lyrics he should sing them. Vice-versa, Jerry encouraged Layne to play the guitar which is how you get Layne playing guitar on HATE TO FEEL and ANGRY CHAIR as well as I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING on the Mad Season above album. Jerry encouraged him on the guitar and was proud that Layne grew as a guitarist. Though, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine taught Layne more chords than ANGRY CHAIR and HATE TO FEEL.
The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team.
Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period.
Layne had done so much for Jerry, giving him a place to live, money, clothes, food, guitars and gear, a band. But getting a front-row seat to watch what had happened to Layne over the years, Jerry had to watch his best friend deteriorate in a span of 12 years (1990-2002), and Jerry couldn't do anything about it. Jerry had talked himself blue in the face but Layne didn't want help. Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway."
"My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018)
“Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
You sure can break down, and analyze these songs, with the best of ‘em my friend.
I LOVE that he cares enough to try and understand completely where each band is coming from with the lyrics, instrumentals are AMAZING but lyrics touch the soul ❤
Agreed. So much better than the 80% of these reactors, who say they love a song, but cannot say why.
i was in iraq in 2003 and my nickname was rooster. i blasted this song everyday bro
Were you a SAW gunner? IIRC, the reason for the nickname Rooster in Vietnam was that the muzzle flash of the M-60 looked like a rooster's tail, so it was often given to machine-gunners...and I'm sure it woke everyone up when it started ripping...but it could just be a random name as IIRC, Jerry Cantrell's father was a tunnel rat...
@@42Mrgreenman no it was because of my haircut. i left a little in the front and it would stick up. i was on a QRF team and and i mostly used the Mark 19.
God Bless You Rooster! Thank you!
@@benjirials163 Dude, awesome! Always wondered what it was like using an auto-grenade launcher...I can imagine the explosions laying waste to a vehicle or position. (Not to glorify the horrors of war, but that thok sound it makes when firing combined with the explosions of live rounds must be quite the experience).
Are you familiar with MikeBurnFire? Him and his Marine buddy sit around and tell military stories from around the Iraq war on his YT channel, and they're funny as hell...
@@42Mrgreenman i was glad i wasnt on the recieving end. lol
My dad was an Army Green Beret and fought in Vietnam and he struggled so badly until they finally began to recognize PTSD and he got some help. Extremely nice reaction!
I’m a daughter of a Vietnam veteran and I can attest to what Jerry Cantrell’s dad said and went through. It was brutal for the soldiers (of Vietnam) and the way they were treated was despicable. 🇺🇸
My dad is a vietnam vet! He is 76 years old and has never talked about it with family! He has many army buddies that he takes trips with and it has seemed to help! Great reaction!!
One of the greatest songs ever recorded 🙂🤘🏼
One of my favourite songs EVER!!
There are so many legends I never got to see them when they were alive but I got lucky and scored free tickets to the tail end of their 1996 Pacific tour. Lane Stayley was an absolute beast on the vocals RIP and was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.
The lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote this song about his father who was nicked named Rooster
now watch the unplugged version 🤘
My favorite unplugged ever.
Thank you for keeping it respectful. So many of these reaction videos piss me off because they don't know the backstory. Layne is a legend. Rip LS. 🙏
man i all ways feel a tear when this starts.
I loved that you actually listened and heard the song, you got it and didn’t react just to react. You reacted from actually listening, bravo! Check out more AIC, their MTV unplugged is the best unplugged MTV ever did. Glad I found you and now subscribed.
Joined your channel almost from the get-go and have really enjoyed your reactions as well as your enthusiasm, exploration, and enjoyment of new and/or unfamiliar genres, artists, and eras.
Thank you for reacting to Rooster, which guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote as a tribute to his father (Jerry Cantrell, Sr.), who was an Army Airborne machine-gunner in Vietnam and who suffered from PTSD resulting from his experiences there. As a child, Jerry Sr. was nicknamed Rooster due to his shock of red hair. Coincidentally, US military machine gunners were referred to by the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) as “roosters” because the burst of flames from their weapons resembled a rooster’s comb.
If you do choose to react to more of AIC, I would recommend that, for any and all reaction requests for tracks specifically from their 1996 MTV: Unplugged, that you react first to the version on the album/studio and then react to the one from Unplugged. Doing so allows you to 1) react blind, 2) hear each track according to the band’s vision of how they were supposed to sound, 3) have a little bit of familiarity going into the live performance, and 4) see and hear the contrast between Layne’s voice and appearance when he was young, healthy, and in his prime, compared to the empty shell he’d become Unplugged performance , during which he was skin and bones, missing several teeth (which unfortunately did affect his clarity of diction and increased the nasality within his singing voice), dope sick as hell and slowly dying from years of heavy heroin and cocaine addiction.
My suggestions for more songs (in no order):
- Them Bones
- Down in a Hole
- Junkhead
- No Excuses
- I Stay Away
- Would?
- Rotten Apple
- Rain When I Die
- Man in the Box (make sure it’s the uncensored music video, or use a lyric vid).
My favourite video of AIC’s is their live performance of Love Hate Love from Live at the Moore, December 1990. Layne’s vocal prowess will blow your fucking mind from here to LV-426 and back.
Edit: sorry for the novel!
Glad you understand the emotions and experiences going on this song...Very deep and heavy...Love what you are doing.... This band is the very best talent from the 90s. For real Brother.
The guitarist father was in the Vietnam war, and his nickname was Rooster
As a son of a Vietnam Veteran, and dad has extreme ptsd, I can relate to this song. I"m not a hero, but my dad is.
The rooster is what the guys in the army nicknamed his dad because he was the machine gun man and when he shot the gun his head would go back and fort like a chicken clucking but he said he said “don’t call him the chicken call him the rooster” and from that point forward his nickname was “rooster”. Great reaction!!
Rooster was also the term for a sniper in the military. They would find somewhere up high and hidden to "roost" and wait for a target.
Vietnam - had an uncle that was in. A lot of the boys (men) in that war did not sign up to be in the military. They were drafted and sent (willing or not). Sent to do things they were not in favour of. And made to survive. Additionally, Vietnam was America’s first intervention in dealing with what is now considered “terrorist tactics”. The North Vietnam fighters were not exactly - Geneva convention, identifiable uniformly soldiers. And coming home to a land where elders feel like you “lost”, and younger people viewing you as a baby killer - no matter what you had to do to survive. You came home to a lot of “no respect”. Which fostered the movement thanking (us, like me) for my service (4 years, Army, (West Germany).
If you would like to learn more - Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon are two movies that deal with the experiences of Vietnam.
So glad to be in the generation that can watch your Boston reaction. Right next to an Alice In Chains reaction, man. I love the music in my life..
One of their best. 🔥❤️
😂 Thank you for your understanding of what PTSD is. You didn't say it, but you described it. I have it and it took 35 years to get help. 82nd airborne ranger and seen first hand piles of children we had to burn. I was stabbed once and shot twice. No fucking fun bro. Lost a lot of brothers. TY for going deeper to understand war and sacrifice.
The returning soldiers from Nam, was spit on and food thrown on them, called them all kinds of names
My granddad talked to me about the Vietnam war , and told me things that he never told anyone else. I remember sitting on the porch with him at about 5 o’clock in the morning, and he told me about him, holding his friend in the jungle and a big piece of his head had been shot off, but he was still alive, and the only word his friend would say was, momma. Then he died. My granddad was a hard dude… But that was the first time I ever saw him cry.
I love this song. I appreciate your interpretation of the lyrics. It truly shines a light on rock/metal bands or songs that bring a message. ❤💖🦋
My fav song featuring Layne is River of Deceit when he was with Mad Season.
Another deep song about Vietnam is the song "19" by Paul Hardcastle. A song you may find the message really hits hard.
One of my favorite songs thanks for the reaction
Great reaction Rahshon. Changing years, check out "In the Year 2525" from the '60's
The breakdown “rooster” the dads call sign. But it’s also interesting “The rooster “is chosen as a sacred sacrifice because the Vietnamese think it connects the world of the living and the world of genies.
I love your reactions dude.
My dad is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran who actually got malaria when he served his tour. He came back to the states and served aboard Marine One.
I've always kind of wanted him to hear this song, but he also never talks about his time in the military. So i'm still uncertain and afraid to show it to him...
Guess you can say your fathers got his pills gainst mosquito death.
Love Hate Love live at the Moore for Laynes best vocal performance ever
R.I.P Layne ❤
Stop war
Alice in chains 🔥🔥🔥
Hello from Kazakhstan 🇰🇿🎸🔥
Yeah, that war was particularly rough. My uncle was in it. It really fucked him up, he was just a teenager. He said they would send little kids at them with bombs on the kids, so you had to shoot kids. You couldn’t tell who was innocent and who was the enemy in the villages. It really fucked him up. Not to mention the terrible things the U.S. soldiers were doing to the Vietcong. It was just terrible on both sides, and it was a draft, so people were there who didn’t even want to be a soldier. Terrible. War is always terrible.
Down in a hole (MTV unplugged) is my favorite, should definitely check that one out next
Glad you really liked the song + video. Its depth and intensity are too much for some people. The clip is really merciless, and actually needs a content warning. That drop is obviously one of the hardest ever. The guitar on the instrumental section uses a wah-wah pedal, giving it a “w” kind of sound to the riffs. The lead guitarist is known use it a lot with his playing. Overall, this tackles the ugliness of war as heavy as can be.
I’ve been listening to this for years and you point out in one go some things I was missing. You’re good very good
Great reaction 👏👏👏 the lyrics are deep ☮️
Another BANGER is " Man in the box 😂❤💕
Just saw them live in Vegas. They ended the show with Rooster.
Great analysis and reaction Man...Well done..
Love your reaction, and willing to follow you for more...!!!
This song is about the Vietnam war. Rooster was the lead singer's dad's nickname in his company.
Actually the song is about the Jerry Cantrel’s dad-(the lead guitarist)
Bruce 1978 okla. I witnessed your pain from this war 😢 I have never forgotten you and wish I could of helped you❤
Heavy.. Definitely not saying I understand too much about war. But I do understand it has many levels. To the pawns it's a matter of life and death, ultimate sacrifice, to the chess players it's a money game. May humanity overcome this monstrosity and may we put our minds together to actually do something extraordinary. Peace
Dude! You r amazing in picking things up, even things i didn notice in years listening to their music. First i watched NWA's Straight Outta Compton reaction, and now this one, you are awesome, thanks for the vid!
+1 Subscribe here.
Cheers from Brasil!(with S because we write that way and we need to value our roots! I'm from northeast from the country, so, we suffer a lot of xenophobia just cause we r born in here! So if you ever come here, come to Recife - Pernambuco, we dont measure people for the way they talk or behave, we got u, bro, you will be receiving a very warm welcome!
I have been robbed, and beaten and threatened many times with weapons and fists in my life. But being in a war is probably way worse having to worry about that shit all day every day. I'm glad for you fellas that made it out and are still living with the shit you went through. Keep living please.
In the context of the song, dig this, most Vietnam recruits (who were drafted by the U.S. military, taken from 18 yo and up to 25, consent be damned) but most recruits it was discovered, didn't want to be in Vietnam, go figure, so they wouldn't actually try and kill the [enemy?] Vietcong (VC), the drafted kids, who had 0 fucks to give, would just shoot their M-16's towards the "enemy" because some Major asshat told them to open fire...then there were those that became another animal, they absorbed the experience, and became stone-cold killers...the u.s. military trains civilians to become soldiers by training them to turn off their conscience, but the military never gave them a toggle switch to turn that primal instinct off...a visceral damning of warfare and the military.
My father's job in Vietnam was to keep Helicopters in working order.
Great job Shon!
Five finger death punch wrong side of heaven is too much to handle
My dad's buddy wa in Nam. When he got good drunk and high he'd tell dad horrific stories - like having to kill toddlers because they'd strap grenades to them and send them toward US soldiers. I've talked to NVA who immigrated here, they'd conscript you and if you refused they'd kill your whole village. The commies had no respect for life. It was a hellscape, and then they came back and got spit on.
I have read that the 'Rooster' was the M-60 squad automatic weapon. When fired at night flash out the barrel looked like a rooster tale. The biggest dude in the squad usually carried it because it was heavy. And the Viet Cong hated it because it'd just chew right through them, so the 'Rooster' was always the top target.
He really looks like his father wow.
Thank you for your reaction
I remember they opened with this at lollapalooza right as the sun was going down. I'll never forget that moment. Great stuff, thx for sharing
Awesome response and you should definitely look up Alice In Chains unplugged it’s amazing!
Excellent reaction.
You wanna live the life? Game changing watershed moments? “Ghost Troop and the Battle of 73 Easting” by Mike Guardia. I’m the Fish. Rhymes with Carpenter
Rooster was also a popular brand of snuff used by soldiers during Vietnam. Who weren’t allowed to smoke while on patrol. Which may have been part of the reason his dad got that nickname.
This was one of my best friends favorite songs. I found him drowned in his hot tub while I fished in his backyard. 5 minutes and he was gone. Couldn’t revive him. Actually this is quite therapeutic. Appreciate you
I absolutely love watching reaction videos on RUclips and I absolutely love to see people of all walks of life expand their lives and minds to all genres of music but I have one suggestion to everyone who reacts, if y'all can do some not a lot just some research on the back stories of the music that you're reacting to I think you would enjoy the song more? Just sayin
My uncle went to Vietnam and he came back all kinds of effed up. He died from agent Orange.
If you really wanna hear Layne GO OFF, check out a live version of "Love, Hate, Love"
I really enjoy your authentic reactions. My father was a Vietnam Veteran as well. If you want to explore more veteran oriented songs/videos, check out Five Finger Death Punch "Gone Away" or "Wrong Side of Heaven". You may also enjoy their tribute to first responders "Blue on Black" and/or "When Season's Change"
My only regret subscribing to your channel is that you only do one video a day. Maybe 2. I love your reactions
Great reaction!
masterpiece
You gotta check out the band Mad Season and react. Layne is the main singer and other members are from Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. I think they only released one album but it was killer.
Yes it is about the vietnam war
This song is about Jerry Cantrell father that was a tunnel rat. Song is deep
Absolutely, my grandfather was a tunnel rat on Saipan during WW2...he told me a few stories, and it sounds TERRIFYING...nothing but a pistol and a flashlight to protect yourself in almost pitch blackness with no room to maneuver...my grandfather would have actually died on that island if not for a brash new commander who had just arrived and took the point position...when they entered the Japanese bunker, he was immediately shot multiple times, but that allowed my grandfather to survive the confusion of that particular fire fight...
Know a living tunnel rat from Nam. Can't get any fucking help!
… lying in the cut. We out here, Sarge. Ain’t dead yet…
I have subscribed 3 times. I appreciate your uploads. I don’t think I am doing this write… Keep on buddy, I’m trying
After Jerry’s dad heard this song , he asked his dad how close was the song to the war, his dad said to him too close.
"Man in a Box" is next 😀👍
Paul Davis Cool night
Dude. Look up tunnel rats from Vietnam. Effing crazy.
This whole damn album....
This about the Vietnam war
It is what it is. Fight for the guy on your left and your right and hope it turns out ok..
Shon, I have been watching some of your reactions for awhile now. I have a real question for you: Are you finding a new respect for Rock and Roll Music and its impact on our culture here in the USA?
Hi bro, i would love to see you reacting to "Wham Bam Shang-A-lang"
Dude, I love your take on this song! Great job!!
Also if you haven’t already react to free bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, you’ll get a ridiculous amount of new viewers 😂
As good as this is, the unplugged version hits different. My dad was in nam and has never ever talked about it. Layne and Jerry = legendary combo.
You talk about what's normal for you at home? Once you get back there is a new normal and you have trouble adjusting at home. I was in Iraq and we did convoys and patrols. I was the gunner in my humv. Imagine going out everyday knowing you may have to kill someone or get killed yourself. You never leave your tent or the base without a weapon. Then you get home and go out to stores, restaurants and such. I didn't own a gun and felt naked in public. Several times I collapsed shaking violently because of panic attacks while in public. People would gather around and my wife would have to tell them I just got back. Anymore I just stay home. Was medically retired and had trouble holding jobs because of the PTSD. I'm still closed off from society. Don't have friend I hang out with or go out for fun.
I’m going to keep telling you to listen to HED PE song title Renegade try it you’ll love them!
Dude, please check out Gunslinger by Avenge Sevenfold...along the same lines as Rooster.
Check out Alice in Chains, Rain When I Die
Now try to imagine song coming out, after 12 years of songs about nothing except parties and girls and drinking. Suddenly after all that, this Seattle garage band shows up, singing about sh-t that’s REAL.
Imagine coming back home after being forced to commit atrocities and try to raise your family and be a warm, loving, well adjusted human being to your wife and kids? Many of them came back to splintered lives and homelessness, a lifetime of medical issues and being "spat on in their homeland." No one can understand the trauma unless they experienced it. It is truly sad. This video is hard to watch, but it is a perfect match to the song.
Good stuff. Nice reaction. Check out more Boston.
luv luv AIC. esp this song. my partner had a couple horrific experiences in Viet Nam, and has PTSD from it. song is awesome but still hard to listen to
very good analysis...buy a shirt
I did not get this and my bell is on
Army green was no safe bet. That is whack
Great song. I can't watch the video.