Duff McKagan pictures God as an old man. He has white hair and a matching beard, and he tends to lean up against walls in the city. The vivid vision of a deity sparked “I Saw God on 10th St.,” off McKagan’s upcoming solo album LIGHTHOUSE, out October 20.
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McKagan envisions how he sees God in “I Saw God on 10th St.” “The ultimate jurist of us all, pissed off, squinting eyes to ward off what he sees, spitting frequently with no care for who may be around,” he explained in a press release. “The Creator. God. Allah, Shiva, or whomever. I think I see him sometimes over on 10th St., hands in tight fists, and toes curled up and tense.”
It all seems like such a joke / Are we going up in smoke / I see disaster up around the bend sings McKagan on the acoustic-punk track. The song picks up more than a minute in with bass and drums, as McKagan ponders some of the disparities in religion — Some say we will end in fire / Repent now or there is no hope.
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Working over the past two years with longtime producer/collaborator Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan, Queens of the Stone Age, Brandi Carlile), McKagan started breaking into a collection of songs. He recorded those songs at his own studio in Seattle, which he opened in 2019.
LIGHTHOUSE is McKagan’s third solo release and marks his first new music in four years since his second solo album Tenderness, which was produced by Shooter Jennings. Earlier in 2023, McKagan also released a three-song EP, This Is The Song, in support of Mental Health Awareness Month.
The 11-track album is a vulnerable and revealing one for McKagan. The project mixes acoustic and electric through songs like “Hope,” featuring Slash and Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., “I Just Don’t Know” with Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, and an alternate version of the title track, featuring Iggy Pop.
“The crashing, the cresting waves, the falling through of all that surrounds you,” said McKagan describing the album. “Life sometimes tosses us around, and we feel the want of comfort and the pull of home. A ship tossed like a toy through the Cape, sails ripped and the wood groaning with the scraping of its ballast. A soul trying with all its might to find peace and a center.”
He continued: “Find a lighthouse. I have my lighthouse. Its beacon swirling in the darkness with her warmth and promise of nurture, love, laughter, and all that is true. Won’t you be my lighthouse, give me light and bring me home.”
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McKagan is currently on a North American tour with Guns N’ Roses through October 16, and is co-hosting the SiriusXM radio show Three Chords & The Truth with his wife Susan Holmes McKagan.
‘LIGHTHOUSE’ Track List:
“Lighthouse”
“Longfeather”
“Holy Water”
“I Saw God on 10th St.”
“Fallen”
“Forgiveness”
“Just Another Shakedown”
“Fallen Ones”
“Hope” (featuring Slash)
“I Just Don’t Know” (featuring Jerry Cantrell)
“Lighthouse (Reprise)” with Iggy Pop
Photo: Charles Peterson / Courtesy of Big Hassle Media
