The Tragic Story of a Grunge Masterpiece

Here's the true story of Jerry Cantrell, his father, and Alice in Chains' "Rooster."

#AliceinChains #JerryCantrell #Loudwire #LayneStaley #Rock #Grunge #Metal #Dirt

[Cheddar_Wizard]

No one talks about Jerry enough. A total mastermind in every sense of the word.

[trixrabbit]

As a combat vet with a Purple Heart I can say that this song hits close to home. I didn’t know the story behind it till now.

[shatteredsoldier]

As a child I had no idea what this song was about. I wasn’t allowed to watch MTV back then. Now as a combat vet this song hits home.

[coral]

As A Daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, The First time I heard this Song. I stopped dead in my tracks and bursted into tears. It helped me to understand why my Dad was the way he was. I however can't relate to the broken Father relationship. My father is and was my Rock.

[robdixson]

Another reason this song resonated so strongly is a lot of people of Jerry's generation grew up with Vietnam vet fathers, so that war and the effects of it was always part of home and family life.

[artwallace]

This song always had a deep connection to me as my pop was a Tunnel Rat in Vietnam. Never ever talked about it but I knew it left deep scars in his soul that plagued him. It wasn't until he passed in 2003 from an aneurysm did I find out what he really had to endure there and the fact that he made it back after 2 tours made me have 100x more respect for him that he was able to bury that shit and be a great and loving person and father

[Dr.VonBraun]

Jerry is criminally underrated. He deserves so much more. <3

[paulhilton]

That opening vocal harmony still gives me chills.

[lisalarosa]

My father was stationed in Nam 3 times. Stationed in Korea one time. He's now buried in Arlington Cemetery. When this song came out, I was astonished. I was never close to my father, like Jerry. It was great they had a happy ending, because of the music. To say the least, I never got that with mine.

[nikkine_]

You can’t tell me you didn’t know it was Rooster the moment those little snippets of harmonizing vocals came in.

[Mr.Kthulu]

"You got too close." Holy smokes dude.

[matthewbragulla]

Loudwire doing high quality video essays now? I'm with it

[vixstert.]

My father was a Vietnam Vet too.... I completely get it. I blast that song whenever I hear it!
You should do more videos like this, Loudwire....

[bellezbubbles]

Every time I hear the story behind Rooster, it brings me into tears. That song is a beautiful testimony to his dad, whether you agree on the whole Vietnam War situation or not. That's why I love Jerry's writing so much, he can put himself into somebody else's shoes and describe the way they feel to a T. I'm a big AIC fan and sometimes, I see some of the fanbase minimising Jerry's contribution to this band. Yes, Layne Staley was the voice of its generation and very few vocalists will ever top him in the pantheon of Grunge or Rock as a whole, but AIC wouldn't be where they are if it wasn't for Jerry. And Sean. And both Mikes. And of course Layne and William. Anyway, thanks again for this video and I strongly recommend you to read David De Sola's biography of the band if you want to know more.

[carlhicksjr]

So, I never knew the origins of 'Rooster'.
And I'm a combat vet [Central America, mid-80s].
In my mind's eye, Rooster has always been a song about combat. Not so much the lyrics but the tempo, the bass, the timing of the lyrics.
Combat itself is incredibly fast-paced and adrenaline filled. Most of your time in actual fighting you're reacting faster than your brain can process. But when you get out of danger, the emotional soul-searching and processing of combat events feel JUST LIKE the molasses-like pace of the song. It's slow, grinding, with sharp highs of emotion and deep lows of numbness. And it's relentless and unforgiving. Your mind forces you to into a state where you simply can't ignore what it's trying to show you.

[CC-tezf]

"You got too close" - when I heard that, I stopped the video and sat in silence. Powerful stuff!

[KenGaska]

Those little isolated vocal moments thrown in are powerful and haunting.

[ShelBelSapphire]

"You got too close" really hit me for some reason.
I never really sat down and listened to this song to be honest, as they weren't a band I really took the time to get into. Definitely a new found appreciation for it though.

[Faven]

AIC was the only band from Seattle who I liked to be honest. I could click with their music the most. I still listen to them all the time. I was finally able to see them play live in September.

[petermorgan]

Excellent video. Never realized how much Jerry looks like his Dad.