I’m on the beach in Costa Rica taking shrooms and watching the sun kiss the sea so no Rubesletter this week. Sunset tip: The real light show begins after the sun disappears…

In the meanwhile, I rec’d ya read The Final Comeback of Axl Rose. John Jeremiah Sullivan wrote it back in 2006 and it’s absolutely super in a “Frank Sinatra has a Cold” kinda way. (Thanks for the tip, JZ.) Sullivan is obviously a super fan who reveals layers about himself (and Axl) that you don’t see coming. Gorgeously written even if you’re not a G’nR fan. And if you are it will definitely strike a (distorted minor) chord.

This part below freaked me out a bit. I’ve heard "Sweet Child," "Paradise City," "November Rain," and "Patience" thousands of times, but it never occurred to me they all end with the exact same, haunting lyrical theme.

Axl has said, "I sing in five or six different voices that are all part of me. It's not contrived." I agree. One of them is an unexpectedly competent baritone. The most important of the voices, though, is Devil Woman. Devil Woman comes from a deeper part of Axl than do any of the other voices. Often she will not enter until nearer the end of a song. In fact, the dramatic conflict between Devil Woman and her sweet, melodic yang—the Axl who sings such lines as Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place and If you want to love me, then darling, don't refrain and Sometimes I get so tense—is precisely what resulted in Guns N' Roses' greatest songs…

And what does she say, this Devil Woman? What does she always say, for that matter? Have you ever thought about it? I hadn't. "Sweet Child," "Paradise City," "November Rain," "Patience," they all come down to codas—Axl was a poet of the dark, unresolved coda—and to what do these codas themselves come down? Everybody needs somebody. Don't you think that you need someone? I need you. Oh, I need you. Where do we go? Where do we go now? Where do we go? I wanna go. Oh, won't you please take me home?

OK, I’ll be back next week. You’ll just need a little…

-Matt