Don't Cry
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| “Don't Cry” | |||||
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| Single by Guns N' Roses from the album Use Your Illusion I & II |
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| Released | 1991 | ||||
| Format | CD Single | ||||
| Recorded | A&M Studios, Record Plant Studios, Studio 56, Image Recording, Conway Studios & Metalworks Recording Studios 1990-1991 |
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| Genre | Hard rock | ||||
| Length | 4:45 | ||||
| Label | Geffen | ||||
| Writer(s) | Axl Rose Izzy Stradlin |
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| Producer | Mike Clink Guns N' Roses |
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| Guns N' Roses singles chronology | |||||
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"Don't Cry" is a song by hard rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I, while the version with the alternate lyrics is the thirteenth track on Use Your Illusion II. Only the vocal tracks differ, and even then only in the verses; however, in those verses, not only are the words entirely different, but the meter and melody are also slightly different. There is also a third version, officially released only on the single for the song, which was recorded during Appetite for Destruction sessions in 1986.
[edit] Song
The song features Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, who like Axl Rose grew up in Indiana, on backing vocals. The two became friends when they subsequently met in Los Angeles and discovered they were from the same state. He also appears in the video for the song. It was originally intended to the be the first commercial single release before the Illusions were released in 1991, but "You Could Be Mine" was chosen instead to coincide with the release of the movie Terminator 2.
"Don't Cry" forms a segment of the Illusions Trilogy, according to singer Axl Rose. Along with "Estranged" and "November Rain," it forms a narrative inspired in part by the short story "Without You" by Del James.[citation needed]
During the interviews for their Making F@#$ing Videos edition for Don't Cry, Axl Rose stated that the song is about a girl that Izzy Stradlin once dated. As Rose tells the story; the girl approached him after he was dispondent over losing her to Stradlin and told him, "don't cry". He continued by stating that he and Stradlin wrote the song the following night in five minutes.[1]
Ron Thal, more commonly known as Bumblefoot, one of the guitarists of the newly assembled Guns N' Roses line-up, has, on occasions, played a solo instrumental version of the song on Guns N' Roses' 2006-2007 leg of their Chinese Democracy Tour.
At a Tokyo concert on July 14, 2007, Axl Rose joined Bumblefoot during his instrumental rendition of the song, making it the first time Axl Rose (or any original member) performed the song live since 1993. The song, with more involvement from the other members of the band, was included in the remaining Tokyo shows on July 15 & 17.
The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's fifth Top 10 hit there.'''
[edit] Music video
The video for this song, like several videos for the Illusions albums, was much more cinematic than the band's previous videos had been. It depicted the central character in his courtship with his eventual wife as well as his internal battle with emotional issues. Although a sharp turn away from what fans were used to, it is still regarded as one of the best videos the band produced in its short time together.
Fans can't agree on whether this is the first or second video in the trilogy. Most fans think this is the first, showing Axl and his girlfriend having problems with their relationship (and that he was likely singing about this in November Rain). Another interesting, but not as accepted, theory is that this is the second video, and that after Axl's new bride dies in November Rain he remembers/dreams the video. At the start of the Estranged video, they say the S.W.A.T. team members catch Axl in his home while he is having the Don't Cry dream. Fans of this theory often point out that Axl is seen talking to a therapist in Don't Cry, and how is seen fighting with a gun (see the November Rain page to read more about the gun).
Guitarist Izzy Stradlin, who plays the instantly recognizable intro and is credited as co-writer of the song, failed to turn up to the filming of the video, and Slash can be seen with a hand-written poster that reads, "Where's Izzy?" Rose can be seen very briefly, at around the same point in the video, wearing a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap. This may be a reference to the infamous 1991 incident in which Rose dove into a St. Louis crowd in the middle of a song in pursuit of a man with a video camera, was arrested, and incited a riot.
A Nirvana baseball hat is visible to the side of Axl's left leg when he is lying down in the psychiatrist's office. Rose was a big fan of Nirvana and even asked the band to play on two occasions during the Use Your Illusion tour. However, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain loathed Guns N' Roses (as documented in Come As You Are by Michael Azerrad, among other sources) and declined the invitation. Both bands are signed to Geffen Records.
Rose commented on the difficulty of filming the video and how certain scenes inspired by the relationship with Erin Everly affected him emotionally: "With our video for "Don't Cry," and the fight that Stephanie (Seymour, Axl's current flame) and I had over the gun, you don't necessarily know what's going on. But in real life that happened with Erin (Everly, Axl's ex-wife) and myself. I was going to shoot myself. We fought over the gun and I finally let her win. I was kind of mentally crippled after that. Before shooting our documentary, I said, "This seems really hard, 'cause it really happened." And the night we wrote the scene, my friend Josh said, "Okay, how are you going to play that?" He wanted to rehearse and I was like, "Look, leave me alone." But he kept pushing until, finally, I stood up. I had this cigarette lighter that looked like a real gun and I said, "Look, I'm gonna do it like this." And I just went over and slammed around in the hallway a bit and threw the gun and said, "Is that good enough for you?[[1]]"
And he said, "Yes!" 'Cause I knew what I was going to do and from that point on he knew that I would be able to play the parts that we were writing.
But it was a very painful process doing that and it's even weird now to be involved in a relationship where the person I'm involved with is actually playing parts that are written about the two of us, about fictional characters, about things in my past relationships. It's a very touchy thing to do.
The intro has a strange resemblance to Stephen King's book The Gunslinger as the raven reflected in the eye of the baby is similar to the one shown on the paperback version's cover of Stephen King's The Gunslinger. Rose is also dressed similarly as the protagonist in the book.
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[edit] References
- ^ Making F@#$in' Videos Part 1: Don't Cry. (Geffen, 1992) [video source]
