https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQrxcAJo-SA

The Old Man and the Sea is the last published work by renown author Ernest Hemingway before his suicide in 1961.

The short story follows an old, experienced fisherman named Santiago who is down on his luck. After not hauling in a fish for 84 days, he's branded as "salao" by his peers, the worst form of unlucky. He's so untouchable that even his young apprentice Manolin is forbidden by his parents from going out to sea with him lest he befall a similar fate.

Yet despite his empty stomach and the castigation of his peers, the old man remains steadfast in his hopes of an even greater bounty. In his estimation, what he lacks in luck he will make up in craft and he sets out to sea.

The fisherman charts a course far out into the Gulf Stream where he is determined his unlucky streak will end. The coolness of dawn quickly turns into the scorching heat of the midday sun. Yet the fisherman again presses on. He snares some small fish, doing all he can to keep up his strength for the journey ahead. The sun's fury is unrelenting yet deeper and deeper he goes into the boundless ocean.

The fisherman casts out his line, pulling out all of his tricks, pushing himself to the edge of his knowledge when suddenly, there is a definitive pull off port. Something is out there, ready for the taking. The fisherman wryly maneuvers his bait, seducing the creature in closer and closer. The fisherman continues to use the utmost of his cunning to outsmart the creature and successfully baits the fish, which he suspects is a great marlin. While the bait ensnares the creature, the fisherman is unable to haul him in as he is too big and instead opts for it to tow the line as he and his boat are dragged forth by the monstrous animal.

The great fish could likely destroy the fisherman at a moments notice yet it gracefully jumps out of the water into the air in front of the fisherman which further convinces him of his majesty. He takes a liking to the creature and forms a deep bond with the now wholly revealed marlin, going as far as to call him his brother. After several days at sea, in act of weary desperation, the fisherman stabs the marlin with a harpoon.

The fisherman has long decided that the great marlin will not be eaten, it'll merely have to be looked upon with the respect and glory that it deserves yet after spearing the marvelous creature, it's blood seeps into the water, which attracts a nearby herd of sharks. The Cuban shores are a lifetime away. The fisherman does his best to defend his friend, his brother from the oncoming attack yet he is outnumbered and the sharks proceed to devour the marlin. The fisherman kills several of them in retaliation and shouts that that the sharks have killed his dreams.

It takes all of the fisherman's remaining strength just to get back to the shore. When he does, he carries in the heavy mast of his boat on his shoulder, collapses on his bed and falls into a deep sleep. When he wakes up, his fellow fisherman say how sorry they are while admiring the massive skeleton of the marlin.

The fisherman's apprentice comes into his room and upon noticing the state of his injured hands from the battle with the sharks, bursts into tears. The fisherman, meanwhile, falls back asleep, dreaming of his youth.

As I have written previously, the song Madagascar is the narrative mis-en-scene of the Chinese Democracy album and it's majesty is only further revealed by a reading of Hemingway's farewell novel.

The fisherman in "The Old Man and the Sea" ultimately finds himself defeated by the harsh ocean and confesses that he went too far out. The aging Rose, roughly 15 years Hemingway's junior at the time of writing, remains utterly defiant.

The storms of life had hit Axl hard over the course of several years with two ugly breakups, several court cases and looming lawsuits, the death of his mother to cancer, the death of his friend West Arkeen, the dissolution of his band, and the loss of band members and longtime friends Duff McKagan and Slash. The storms had gotten uncomfortably close, the waves came crashing down from inconceivable heights and Rose could only flail his arms in hopes of surviving.

When the storms finally receded, Rose was left to sort through the wreckage. He could've easily retired to his palatial estate in Malibu yet Rose decided to recast Guns N' Roses and soldier forth as the last man standing. In the early sessions for a new album, Rose scribes "Madagascar", the gospel sound of resistance, a soaring proclamation that he will not go gently into that good night and he most certainly will rage, rage against the dying of the day. It's a call to the weary and burdened everywhere, an anthem of personal triumph.

The inversion of the story is also an inversion of Hemingway himself. That Rose won't compromise on his vision, he'll secure his bounty, he'll not be defeated, and unlike Hemingway, he will manage to save his own life, all against the insurmountable odds.

It's easy to interpret Rose generically although as the song's ties to Hemingway would suggest, the roots go much deeper. The choice of hip hop inspired beats mixed with the gospel tinged french horns isn't merely for taste but as astute fans have observed, likely something of a personal confession from Rose. The sound sample from Martin Luther King Jr. is no mistake either, both as a criticism to the rich versus the rich-at-heart and like the fool in Martin's sermon, while Rose had gained the world he had yet lost himself and everything that he loved.

"Madagascar" also falls into the greater thematic framework of the "Chinese Democracy" album which pits oppressor against the oppressed and the totalitarian against their naive and powerless subjects. On it's most superficial level, the song could be seen as something of a personal redemption for the presumed racist lyrics of "One In A Million". More deeply it suggests the racial divide in America is not quite as healed as one would hope and that Rose seems to share the dream that all men could one day be seated at the table of brotherhood and that will be a sign of a true collective redemption.

And speaking of brotherhood, the specter of departed guitarist Slash looms over much of the record and heaps of contemplation has been done over whether Rose's missives and cries are directed towards former love interests or former band members. With Hemingway in view, one wonders if the marlin is not a direct metaphor for Slash, that despite a shared brotherhood, Rose realizes that one must destroy the other. Now in retrospect, one wonders if Rose did not destroy both. Another reading would see Rose himself as the marlin in deep waters, away from the snares and traps of the world, content to explore the vast oceans by himself.

The greater harvest that Rose sought to reap much like the great marlin, has undeniably evaded him. Nearly a decade after the release of Chinese Democracy, the album's bones have been picked clean by fans and critics alike and after a recently mended relationship with Slash, one wonders if the great artist has found contentment in mere survival. In the face of premature and untimely celebrity deaths and a career of incredible music that has inspired a legion of fans, one must consider Rose victorious, even in defeat.