Many people have thought that this is a song about drugs (as is the
case with many other songs by AIC), but guitarist Jerry Cantrell, who
wrote the song, has said that "Rooster" is about his father, whose
nickname was "Rooster" when he served in Vietnam. In the liner notes
for the "Music Bank" box set, Jerry Cantrell says "Rooster was my
dad."
The lyrics "Here they come to snuff the rooster" use "to snuff" in the
sense of "to kill." Basically the line means "Here they [the enemy
soldiers] come to kill me [Jerry Cantrell's dad]."
From a RIP interview with Jerry Cantrell:
"RIP: 'Rooster' is about your dad, right?
JERRY: Yeah, it's his nickname. It's about my pop when he was in
Vietnam. He's really proud of that one... The song really touched home
with him, 'cause it's something he never talks about and we've never
talked about. I asked him about it once, and he said, 'That's dead,
son, let it lie.' When I was getting this vibe, thinking about him a
lot... he'd lived through two tours of Vietnam; he's been a prison
guard. The guy has lived a life. And I was thinking about the things
he might have thought and felt there. It was pretty close. It hit home
to him."
From RIP February 1993: Alice In Chains - Digging Dirt
http://users.stargate.net/~holliday/INT1.HTM
Here are a few online references for you:
"The song that garnered the band the most attention, some of which was
to do with the controversial film clip, was Jerry Cantrell's tribute
to his estranged father. In Rooster, Jerry tries to reach out to his
father by recounting his time in the Vietnam conflict where his call
sign was Rooster.
Ain't found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids, Household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere..."
FasterLouder: Alice In Chains - Dirt
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/music/3031/
"The song 'Rooster' is based on the experiences of Jerry Cantrell's
father, who fought in the Vietnam war; the name was his nickname as a
soldier."
Wikipedia: Dirt (album)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirt_(album)
"Rooster is simply an unforgettable track and is actually a song about
Jerry Cantrell's father who served in the Vietnam War. He was called
'The Rooster,' and this is a particularly personal song for the junior
Cantrell."
Amazon: Alice in Chains - Greatest Hits
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005MKDW
"Cantrell, whose great-grandfather was a Wild West train robber, was
born in Tacoma, Wash., in 1966. At this time, his father was a solider
fighting in Vietnam, and his mother, an amateur organist and melodica
player, was raising Cantrell, his older brother and younger sister.
?One of the first memories I have was my dad coming back from Vietnam
in his uniform when I was 3 years old,? says Cantrell, ?and my mom
telling me that he was my dad.? After the war, Cantrell?s father
bounced from one Army base to another, including stints in Germany and
Alaska. But three years in Vietnam took their toll on his father, and
when Cantrell was 7, his parents got divorced...
On Dirt, Cantrell wrote about his father?s Vietnam experiences in the
song, ?Rooster,? which sparked a new bond between Cantrell and his
estranged dad, who agreed to appear in the video and later traveled
with Alice in Chains on the road to introduce the song."
Understanding Vietnam: Postwar
http://people.clarkson.edu/~winklebh/vietnam2/postwar.html
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "alice in chains" rooster meaning
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22alice+in+chains%22+rooster+meaning
Google Web Search: "alice in chains" rooster father
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22alice+in+chains%22+rooster+father
I hope this is precisely what you need to know. If anything is unclear
or incomplete, or if a link doesn't work for you, please request
clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you rate my
answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
