| Sweet Child o' Mine | |||||
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| by Guns N' Roses | |||||
| Album | Appetite for Destruction | ||||
| Released | May 14. 1988 | ||||
| Recorded | 1987 | ||||
| Genre | Classic Rock Ballad, Glam Metal | ||||
| Length | 5:55 | ||||
| Writers | Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin | ||||
| Label | Geffen Records | ||||
| Producer | Mike Clink | ||||
| Appetite for Destruction chronology | |||||
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"Sweet Child O' Mine" is the ninth track on Guns N' Roses' 1987 album Appetite for Destruction. It was released as the third single from the album on 14 May 1988, and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, the only Guns N' Roses song to ever do so. It is arguably the band's most popular song, with the riff being featured at the top of many "best riffs" lists in magazines and the like. And there is no recording of the song here.
Lyrics
She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
[Sky sky]
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and cry
Woah oh oh
Sweet child o' mine
Woah oh oh oh
Sweet love of mine
[instrumental]
She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I'd hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child i'd hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain
To quietly pass me by
Oh oh woah
Sweet child o' mine
Woah oh oh oh
Sweet love of mine
[Break down Guitar riff]
Oh oh yeah
Woah oh oh oh
Sweet child o' mine
Oh oh woah oh
Sweet love of mine
Woah oh oh oh
Sweet child o' mine ooh yeah
Ooh sweet love of mine
Cha
[Guitar solo]
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go
Where do we go now [Sweet child o' mine]
Ooh where do we go now
Ay ay ay ay ay ay ay ay
Oh where do we go now
Ah oh oh oh oh
Where do we go
Oh
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Oh oh oh oh
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Oh
Where do we go now
No no no no no no no
Sweet child
Sweet child o' mine
[end]
Big Daddy[]
A new version of the song was included in the movie Big Daddy which was released in 1999. This version is edited to a 4:42 running time. The first half of the song is taken from a live version of the song with re-recorded vocals by Axl. At around the 3 minute mark, during the solo, the recording fuses into a studio version of the song with the 1999 lineup of the band.
Personnel[]
- W. Axl Rose - lead vocals
- Slash - lead guitar
- Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals
- Steven Adler - drums
Big Daddy Version[]
Live Section[]
- W. Axl Rose - lead vocals
- Slash - lead guitar
- Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals
^not sure about what lineup it was recorded with so if anyone could fill in the blanks that would be great^
Studio Section[]
- W. Axl Rose - lead vocals
- Robin Finck - lead guitar
- Paul Tobias - rhythm guitar
- Tommy Stinson - bass
- Josh Freese - drums
- Dizzy Reed - keyboards
- Chris Pitman - keyboards
Music video[]
The "Sweet Child o' Mine" video depicts the band rehearsing in the Mendiola's Ballroom at Huntington Park, surrounded by crew members. All of the band members' girlfriends at the time were shown in the clip: Rose's girlfriend Erin Everly, whose father is Don Everly of The Everly Brothers; McKagan's girlfriend Mandy Brix, from the all-female rock band the Lame Flames; Stradlin's girlfriend Angela Nicoletti; Adler's girlfriend Cheryl Swiderski; and Slash's girlfriend Sally McLaughlin. Stradlin's dog was also featured. The video was successful on MTV, and helped launch the song to success on mainstream radio. the music video was shot in March 1988. To make "Sweet Child o' Mine" more marketable to MTV and radio stations, the song was edited down from 5:56 to 4:13, for the radio edit/remix, with much of Slash's guitar solo removed. This drew the ire of the band, including 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." A 7-inch vinyl format and cassette single were released. The album version of the song was included on the US single release, while the UK single was the "edit/remix" version. The 12" vinyl format also contained the longer LP version. The b-side to the single is a non-album, live version of "It's So Easy". On an interview on Eddie Trunk's New York radio show in May 2006, 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" in the same place, but with different shots and filmed in black and white. The song was used over the closing credits to the 1988 horror movie "Bad Dreams." According to writer/director Andrew Fleming on the DVD commentary, the choice of the end title song was the greatest drama in the whole making of this film. Fleming wanted to use a live version of the song “Burning House of Love” by "X," while 20th Century Fox executive Ralph Sall suggested “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by then-unknown band "Guns ‘N Roses," thinking it would be cheaper and a possible hit. Fleming liked Sall’s suggestion but didn’t think it was as appropriate. Eventually Sall got his way. “I think we licensed it for about five cents,” Fleming said. “And only weeks after did it actually become a hit.” According to Fleming, "Guns ‘N Roses" were also going to do a video that incorporated clips from the movie. “They came in and watched it and were stoked by the movie,” Fleming said. “But then Axl Roses girlfriend, Erin Everly, said the song was about her. She didn’t want a song about her to have clips from a horror movie in it. So she got her way. We didn’t get a video, but Ralph was right about the song.”