Jerry Cantrell Remembers How He Wrote Alice in Chains Classic Rooster At Chris Cornell’s Place

In a new interview with Gibson, Jerry Cantrell, known for the founder/guitarist of the rock band Alice in Chains, remembered the writing process of the band’s classic Rooster and took fans back to those times.

While he talks about the song, Jerry upset fans with the comments he made. As many of you know, the song was about his dad. He was touching the importance and meaning of the track.

He said:

“I remember writing ‘Rooster,’ I was staying over at Chris Cornell’s place, had a little guest room at the place out in West Seattle – a tiny little room, it just had room for like a little bed, it was kind of like a converted closet, I think.

“And I remember I stayed up all night – I may even have taken acid or whatever, I’m not sure – I remember staying up all night and writing that song, and I knew I was on to something really cool.

“I wanted something kind of washy and watery sounding, kind of Hendrixey almost.

“I was thinking about my dad; my folks got divorced when I was pretty young, so my dad wasn’t a big part of my teen years, but he was a badass and a hardass; he was an army sergeant, but I didn’t see a whole lot of him.

“So when my mother had passed, he was my only parent left, and as I became a man, I started realizing I can’t be mad at him for, like, kid shit. Every kid’s mad at their dad for something.

“I started to think about putting myself in his shoes and what he’d been through in his life, multiple tours in ‘Nam – just where he came from, things he had to deal with, and I started asking myself, ‘Would I have done any better? Could I have done any better?’…

“And I couldn’t say yes, so that was kind of the first thing in me, kind of putting myself in his shoes, trying to take the blame off of him, and trying to make peace, and have a relationship with my dad again.⁣”

Jerry concluded his words by saying it was a great song.

“That was kind of a cool song for a lot of reasons. Personally, it was – I just described it, and then it actually happened, we started to become more pals and buddies and shit, and over the years we’ve grown closer and closer.

“We built a ranch together about 20 years ago, and he’s still living on it and running it, in Oklahoma, and that song, in particular, means a lot to service members and their families.

“Because I’m a family member of a service member, so it’s kind of taken on a life of its own. I’m glad that that song had the impact that it has. I didn’t have an intent for it to other than it being kind-of a pathway for my dad and I to have a better relationship, which worked.⁣”

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