A day after Izzy Stradlin announced he won’t be participating in the well-publicized Guns n’ Roses reunion (presumably making room for Richard Fortus, he of Axl’s version of the band), the guitarist posted a version of him performing Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle With You.”
It’s only the fourth video to appear on what we can only assume is Stradlin’s YouTube channel, “classicrocksstuffs;” his third, a cover of Jonathan Edwards’ “Sunshine,” was posted yesterday, and the previous one three years earlier.
This particular cover, however, would appear to be some sort of explanation or, at the very least, message as to why he’s not taking part in the reunion. There are some telling lyrics, especially the chorus: “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right/Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”
Later in the song, Stradlin sings, “Trying to make some sense of it all/But I can see it makes no sense at all/Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor?/’Cause I don’t think that I can take anymore.”
There’s also this: “And your friends they all come crawling/Slap you on the back and say/Please, please.”
Yes, we know Gerry Rafferty, not Stradlin, wrote the song, but is it only a coincidence that Stradlin posted the song only a day after publicly stating he’ll be a no-show for the reunion without providing any explanation? Does he think the quasi-GNR reunion “makes no sense at all?” Is he borrowing someone else’s poetry to do his dirty work? Something to think about.
See the URL to the video below, which Stradlin chose not to make embeddable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdZZTUxC7dY&spfreload=10
ВалокАлександровск
February 11, 2017 at 3:57 pm
RE:Is Izzy Stradlin Sending a Message to Guns n’ Roses? – BlastEcho Валок GregoireBesson Ухта
Colleen Reeves
April 13, 2019 at 10:50 pm
Izzy your better than best your greatest I freaking love you and your music don’t stop baby please don’t ever stop Thank you for sharing your beautiful God given talent with us all stay beautiful