Sweet Child o' Mine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

"Sweet Child o' Mine"
Single by Guns N' Roses
from the album Appetite for Destruction
A-side	Sweet Child o' Mine (LP Version) (US) Sweet Child o' Mine (Edit/Remix) (UK)
B-side	It's So Easy (LP Version) (US) Out Ta Get Me (LP Version) (UK)
Released	August 18, 1988 May 1989 (UK 2nd release)
Format	7" vinyl, 10" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CS, CD
Recorded	1987
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	4:12 (Radio Edit) 5:56 (Album Version)
Writer(s)	Axl Rose Slash Izzy Stradlin
Producer	Mike Clink
Guns N' Roses singles chronology
"Welcome to the Jungle" (1987) "Sweet Child o' Mine" (1988) "Paradise City" (1989)
Appetite for Destruction track listing "Think About You" (8) "Sweet Child o' Mine" (9) "You're Crazy" (10) Greatest Hits track listing "Welcome to the Jungle" (1) "Sweet Child o' Mine" (2) "Patience" (3)

"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 18, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart,^[1] becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S. It reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

Contents [show] 1 Background and composition 2 Music video 3 Reception 4 Uses in popular culture 5 In film 6 Cover versions 7 Live intros 8 Formats and track listing 9 Personnel 10 Chart positions 11 References

[edit] Background and composition

Slash has been quoted as having a disdain for the song due to its roots as simply a 'string skipping' exercise and a joke at the time.^[3] In a VH1 special, it was stated that Slash played the riff in a jam session as a joke.^[3] Drummer Steven Adler and Slash were warming up and Slash began to play a "circus" melody while making faces at Steven. Izzy asked Slash to play it again, meanwhile Axl was upstairs in his room and heard the 'jam session' going on downstairs and couldn't help but write lyrics. He based it on his girlfriend Erin Everly. With Steven Adler's added drum part, Izzy Stradlin's chords and Duff Mckagan's bassline the harmony became the core of the song. Originally, there was a third verse to the song. However, this verse was later cut from recording as the band's producer, Mike Clink, felt the song would carry on for too long. The final dramatic breakdown was not added until Clink suggested the band add one. They agreed, but weren't sure what to do. Axl started saying to himself, "Where do we go? Where do we go now?" Clink suggested that he sing that, and "Sweet Child o' Mine" was born. In an interview with Hit Parader magazine in 1988, bassist Duff McKagan noted:

“

The thing about 'Sweet Child o mine,' it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, 'What is this song? It's gonna be nothing, it'll be filler on the record.' And except that vocal-wise, it's very sweet and sincere, Slash was just messing around when he first wrote that lick.[3]

”

[edit] Music video

The "Sweet Child o' Mine" video depicts the band rehearsing in the Huntington Ballroom at Huntington Beach, surrounded by crew members. All of the band members' girlfriends at the time were shown in the clip. Axl Rose was dating Erin Everly at the time, whose father was Don Everly of the Everly Brothers fame. Duff's girlfriend Mandy from the all-female rock band "The Lame Flames" was there, as was Steven Adler's girlfriend Cheryl. Izzy Stradlin's dog was also featured. The video was extremely successful on MTV, and helped launch the song to success on mainstream radio.
In an effort to make "Sweet Child o' Mine" more marketable to MTV and radio stations, the song was cut from 5:56 minutes to 4:12, with much of Slash's guitar solo removed. This move drew the ire of the band members, including Axl Rose, who commented on it in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone: "I hate the edit of 'Sweet Child o' Mine.' Radio stations said, "Well, your vocals aren't cut." "My favorite part of the song is Slash's slow solo; it's the heaviest part for me. There's no reason for it to be missing except to create more space for commercials, so the radio-station owners can get more advertising dollars. When you get the chopped version of 'Paradise City' or half of 'Sweet Child' and 'Patience' cut, you're getting screwed."
The edit was released on the 7-inch vinyl format of the single as a 'Remix' while the 12" vinyl format contained the longer LP version.
On an interview on Eddie Trunk's New York radio show in May 2006, Axl Rose stated that his original concept for the video focused on the theme of drug trafficking. According to Rose, the video was to depict an Asian woman carrying a baby into a foreign land, only to discover at the end that the child was dead and filled with heroin. This concept was rejected by Geffen Records.
There is also an alternative video for "Sweet Child o' Mine" with different shots, all in black and white.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Reception

	"Sweet Child o' Mine" A 30 second sample of "Sweet Child o' Mine" featuring the famous introductory riff.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"Sweet Child o' Mine" placed #37 on Guitar World's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos." It also came in at number three on Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, and at number 196 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[4] In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 6 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The introduction's famous riff was also voted number-one riff of all-time by the readers of Total Guitar magazine. It was also in Rolling Stone's 40 Greatest Songs that Changed the World. It places number 7 in VH1's "100 Best Songs of the 80s", and placed #210 on the RIAA Songs of the Century list. On a recent BBC poll, the song was voted to have the "greatest guitar riff ever".^[5]
The song came 1st in Kerrang!'s Slash's top 30 guitar anthems.^{[citation needed]} The song is currently ranked as the 91st greatest song of all time, as well as the best song of 1987, by Acclaimed Music.^[6] In October 2009 it came first in Kerrang!'s 100 greatest riffs.^{[citation needed]}