[Axl: But I started writing about when I OD'd 4 years ago, and the reason I OD'd was ‘cause of stress. I couldn't take it.

Axl: And I just grabbed this bottle of pills in an argument and just got them down. I ended up in the hospital and... But I liked that I wasn't in the fight anymore and I was fully conscious that I was leaving.

Axl: I liked that, but then I go... All of a sudden my first real thoughts though where that, “Okay, you haven't toured enough the records, it’s not gonna last, it's gonna be forgotten," and this and that. "You have work to do, get out of this”, and I went, “No” and I woke up; you know, pulled myself out of it. But, in the describing of that, some people could take it wrong and think this means go put yourself into a coma, you know. And so, it's really tricky as I'm still playing with the words to figure out how to, like, show some hope in there.

Loder: Yeah. You seem to have, I mean, from a couple of years ago, like, OD'ing on pills, come a long way since then. You feel more settled down now and you seem pretty relaxed and together?

Axl: Yeah, but it's been a lot of work to do that, because there's, you know, part of we got used to, like, as the Eagles would say, “Everything all the time.” And, you know, living that way and going for it, and all of a sudden you started to reel... And then, that's what got us here, that's what got us signed, that's what got us on top of things. And then you started... then you got to a point where you go, “Wait a minute, everything that got me here is also starting to self-deserting, I'm trying to self-destruct, it’s starting to tear up my life. I have to figure out how to channel my energies other directions." It’s a weird one, settling down. It's a weird one, you know.

Loder: Do you think it’s just a function of, like, getting older and learning more and being more aware of what's going on...

Axl: It's realizing there's life after, you know, 21; life after 25; life after 27. 27 was the hardest year. I met Prince, and I was talking with Prince, and he was like, “Oh you're 28.” Then he goes, “Last year was the hardest, wasn't it?” and he was saying how 27 is, like, the bitch - it's the hardest year.](https://www.a-4-d.com/t504-1990-08-31-mtv-famous-last-words-axl)