Alice in Chains - Rooster - [1993]

I didn't really know of Alice in Chains until their legendary Jar of Flies came out, but that quickly got me interested in the rest of their catalog. Rooster [video | lyrics] wasn't a huge hit when it came out, only peaking at #7 on US Mainstream Rock Tracks, but since then it has become a classic 90's tune.  Most know it, most love it, but considerably less know the story behind it.

I guess if you have seen the music video you have an idea, but I never saw it and probably wouldn't have grasped the meaning as I was 11.  It's a pretty graphic video and seems like an outtake from Platoon or Apocalypse Now. The father of guitarist/singer Jerry Cantrell was a member of the 101st Airborne Division deployed in Vietnam between 1965-70. Rooster is Jerry Jr.'s perception of what his Dad went though during that time.

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

...

                                             My buddy's breathing, his dying breath

Oh god please won't you help me make it through? 

The family had always called Jerry Cantrell Sr. "Rooster" due to the way his hair stood up mohawk -style when he was younger, and the nickname followed him into the war.

Here they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah

 You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, ya know he ain't gonna die

His father never spoke about the war to the rest of the family, so the writing of this song was an attempt by Jerry to reach out to his father. The interview that was used for scenes in the video, was the first time his father had ever spoken about the war and first time he heard it played in the studio he broke down crying.

Walking tall machine gun man
They spit on me in my homeland
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills 'gainst mosquito death

It's hard to describe this, but after hearing a soldier's sad thoughts of kids at home while experiencing the horrors of war, and then knowing he got spit on when he finally did get back, is overwhelming to me.  "Gloria sent me pictures of my boy," mentioned in the second verse is obviously Jerry's Mom, Gloria Jean Cantrell, who sent off pics of their son to Jerry Sr. while he was deployed.

The "pills" he mentions for "mosquito death" were anti-malarial pills all soldiers were ordered to take referred to as 'CP pills' (Chloroquine and Primaquine) though Dapsone was also used in other areas.