My Michelle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "My Michelle" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Cover for Appetite for Destruction | ||
| Song by Guns N' Roses | ||
| from the album Appetite for Destruction | ||
| Released | July 21, 1987 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 3:39 | |
| Label | Geffen Records | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Clink | |
| Appetite for Destruction track listing | ||
| "Paradise City" (6) |
"My Michelle" (7) |
"Think About You" (8) |
"My Michelle" is a song written by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses and released on the band's 1987 debut album Appetite for Destruction.
[edit] Composition and lyrical intent
The song is about a friend of the band, a girl named Michelle Young who is thanked in the 'Appetite For Destruction' cover sleeve. According to Axl they were in a car together when "Your Song" by Elton John came on the radio and Michelle 'happened' to mention that she'd always wanted someone to write a song about her.
Axl's first attempt was a sweet, almost romantic song, but one that had absolutely nothing to do with the reality of Michelle's life. He was unhappy with this version and re-wrote it, this time seeking to be completely honest. At first he was reluctant to share the song with Michelle, afraid that she would be offended, but when he finally showed her the song she was pleased with its honesty and the fact that Axl hadn't tried to avoid the darker aspects of her life, most notably her drug addiction, the death of her mother and her dad's work in the pornography industry, all of which are mentioned within the first verse:
Your daddy works in porno
Now that mommy's not around
She used to love her heroin
But now she's underground
So you stay out late at night
And you do your coke for free
Drivin' your friends crazy
With your life's insanity
Michelle Young commented in an interview[citation needed]
| “ | I'm the subject of the song "My Michelle". I was driving Axl to a gig and "Your Song" by Elton John came on the radio. I said that I wished somebody would write a beautiful song about me. But, you know the song. At the time, I didn't care because I was so fucked up, but what it says is all true: My dad does distribute porno films and my mom did die. | ” |
Young is also in the "Welcome to the Jungle" video. She is the woman who walks by Axl at the beginning of the video.
During the 2006 NY and European Tours, Axl Rose shared the vocal duties with former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach.
[edit] Covers
- The song was covered by the punk group AFI for the compilation called Punk Goes Metal.
- In the Super NES and PlayStation version of the game Mega Man X3, Neon Tiger's stage theme music is a shortened remix of this song. Surprisingly, this makes it into all re-releases and even onto Mega Man Xtreme 2.
- The song was also covered by the mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan for the tribute album, Bring You To Your Knees: A Tribute To Guns N' Roses.
