Lyrics That Rock: Rooster by Alice In Chains – Ep 3

Episode 3 – Rooster by Alice In Chains

Show Notes

Rooster by Alice In Chains

On February 22, 1993, the world was treated to one of the most iconic songs to come out of the grunge era in the form of Rooster by Alice in Chains. Today we’ll take a look at the song, it’s memorable lyrics and what exactly Jerry Cantrell had to say about those lyrics, on this episode of Lyrics That Rock.

Lyrics

Verse
Ain’t found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stingin’ 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

Chorus
Here they come to snuff the Rooster,
Yeah, here come the Rooster,
You know he ain’t gonna die
no, you know he ain’t gonna die

Verse
Walkin’ tall, machine-gun man
They spit on me in my homeland
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills ‘gainst mosquito death
My buddy’s breathin’ his dyin’ breath
Oh, God, please, won’t you help me make it through?

Chorus
Here they come to snuff the Rooster,
Yeah, here come the Rooster,
You know he ain’t gonna die
no, you know he ain’t gonna die

ABOUT THE SONG

“Rooster” is a standout track by the American rock band Alice in Chains, featured on their landmark 1992 album Dirt. Released as the fourth single from the album on February 22, 1993, the song became one of the band’s most enduring hits. It originally appeared as the fifth track on the album’s first pressing, with some later editions placing it as the sixth track.

Written by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, “Rooster” quickly made an impact on the rock charts, spending 20 weeks on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reaching a peak position of number seven. The song’s success helped solidify Alice in Chains as one of the defining bands of the 1990s grunge movement.

A notable moment in the song’s legacy came in 1996, when an acoustic version of “Rooster” was performed during Alice in Chains’ MTV Unplugged concert. This performance was included in the Unplugged live album, further expanding the song’s reach. Both the studio and demo versions of “Rooster” were later included in the 1999 box set Music Bank, offering fans a glimpse into its creative process.

The song also appeared on several of the band’s compilation albums, including Greatest Hits (2001) and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006). In 2018, Metal Hammer ranked “Rooster” at number 12 on its list of “The 100 Best Metal Songs of the 90s,” and in 2020, it was ranked number two on their list of “The Top 10 Best Alice in Chains Songs.”

As one of the band’s most recognized tracks, “Rooster” remains a defining piece of Alice in Chains’ catalog, known for its powerful instrumentation and lasting impact on rock music.

ABOUT THE LYRICS

From SongMeanings.com

user cmetz says:

Rooster is about a lot more than just Vietnam. At the peak of my depression, I would listen to the Unplugged version every night while trying to fall asleep. To me, Rooster is about isolation, giving up all hope, and wanting to give up; but at the same time knowing that you can’t. Sometimes, even when everything is destroying you and you’ve gotten nowhere, you have no choice but to keep going. It’s not necessarily a message of hope, but a realization that sometimes you have no choice but to survive.

Written by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, “Rooster” is a deeply personal song, dedicated to his father, Jerry Cantrell Sr., a Vietnam War veteran. The title itself was a childhood nickname for Cantrell’s father, who served in the U.S. Army during the war.

The song’s lyrics reflect Cantrell’s emotional struggle with his father’s experiences in Vietnam, a theme that resonates through the heavy, brooding tone of the music.

Cantrell had this to say about the song:

During a 1992 interview with Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine, in response to the question “Do you feel you communicated with (your father) with this song?”,

Cantrell responded:

Yeah. He’s heard this song. He’s only seen us play once, and I played this song for him when we were in this club opening for Iggy Pop. I’ll never forget it. He was standing in the back and he heard all the words and stuff. Of course, I was never in Vietnam and he won’t talk about it, but when I wrote this it felt right…like these were things he might have felt or thought. And I remember when we played it he was back by the soundboard and I could see him. He was back there with his big gray Stetson and his cowboy boots — he’s a total Oklahoma man — and at the end, he took his hat off and just held it in the air. And he was crying the whole time. This song means a lot to me. A lot.

In the liner notes of 1999’s Music Bank box set collection, Jerry Cantrell said :

It was the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused. This was all my perception of his experiences out there. The first time I ever heard him talk about it was when we made the video and he did a 45-minute interview with Mark Pellington and I was amazed he did it. He was totally cool, totally calm, accepted it all and had a good time doing it. It even brought him to the point of tears. It was beautiful. He said it was a weird experience, a sad experience and he hoped that nobody else had to go through it.

Get Deep With Rooster

“Rooster” remains one of Alice in Chains’ most powerful and enduring tracks, standing as a testament to the band’s ability to blend raw emotion with hard-hitting rock. The song’s success helped elevate the band to iconic status within the 1990s grunge scene, and its lasting impact is reflected in its continued presence in the band’s live shows and on compilation albums. With its compelling guitar riffs and unforgettable vocal delivery, “Rooster” has cemented itself as a defining song in Alice in Chains’ catalog, recognized not only for its musical prowess but for its ability to resonate with listeners on a deeply personal level.

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