Pictured: Alternate Universe Axl Rose. The reason that these lyrics are bad are not the reasons usually given. There are certainly a number of terms used that fall far below acceptable cultural sensitivity levels, even for the time that it was released, and those issues have only gotten worse with age. Yet despite the fact that Axl uses derogatory words that he definitely should not have, the song itself is not racist, homophobic, misogynist or xenophobic in the sense that it validates or glorifies those bigotries. The song's narrator is a literary fabrication, a character, and not one we are meant to think good things about. Rather than tearing this apart by individual lines or sections, I am going to print the lyrics below and then discuss them at the end. Guess I needed some time to get away I needed some peace of mind Some peace of mind that'll stay So I thumbed it down to sixth in L.A. Maybe a Greyhound could be my way Police and niggers, that's right Get outta my way ...