At the close of Guns 'N' Roses' "epic" nine minute, forty second long video for "Estranged," after Axl's suicide attempt has been foiled by samaritan cetaceans and slash has popped out of the turgid waved for one final solo, we cut from Axl's sneaker sinking into the dpeths as Izzy Stradlin pulls him to safety via rope ladder extended from helicopter to Axl chilling with one of his savior dolphins. The dolphin makes clicking noises, as is his wont, and the phrase "Lose Your Illusion" is scribbled across the screen in Axl's handwriting.

What I wonder now, having watched the video for the first time in a long many years is, is this supposed to be a translation from the dolphin?

What might the implications of this be? Does this fundamentally reshape how we understand Use Your Illusion? Or at least Use Your Illusion II? Does the dolphin signify something other than the problematically gendered redemptive nature, the maternal ocean? Is this a self conscious critique of GNR as a cultural form and as a political project? Or is the dolphin just telling Axl Rose to lose the stupid Charles Manson T-shirt?