| "Sweet Child O' Mine" | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 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) |
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| B-side | "It's So Easy" (LP Version) (US) "Out Ta Get Me" (LP Version) (UK) |
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| Released | August 17, 1988 May 1989 (UK 2nd release) |
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| 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) |
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| Writer(s) | Axl Rose Slash Izzy Stradlin |
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| Producer | Mike Clink | ||||||||||||||||||
| Guns N' Roses singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||
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"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 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]
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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 fuckin' around when he first wrote that lick.[3] | ” |
The song is composed in the key of D-flat mixolydian. At the start of the guitar solo, it shifts to the key of E-flat minor, the key in which the song ends.
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. 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 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.[4]
"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 #196 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[5] In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at #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 #7 in VH1's "100 Greatest 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".[6]
The song came 1st in Kerrang!'s Slash's top 30 guitar anthems. The song is currently ranked as the 91st greatest song of all time, as well as the best song of 1987, by Acclaimed Music.[7] In October 2009 it came first in Kerrang!'s 100 greatest riffs.
Part of the song is featured at the beginning of the episode "Witch Hunt" of the hit CBS show NCIS. Part of the song is used in scenes of a little girl. The song ends when a sound of a gunshot is heard indicating that the girl in the scenes is the deceased daughter of the show's main character Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
This song was also used as the entrance song for Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131.
The first time this song appeared in a movie was in 1988. It played as the credits were rolling for the movie Bad Dreams.[8]
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is featured in the 2008 film The Wrestler. The song is played when Randy "The Ram" Robinson (played by Mickey Rourke) makes his entrance to the ring at the end of the film. Rourke, who is friends with Axl Rose, convinced him to allow the song to be played in the film for a fraction of what would have been normally charged.[9] Rourke himself used the song as his entrance music during his boxing career.
It is sung a cappella by Derek's family in the 2008 film Step Brothers.
The song is in the Sean Penn, Gary Oldman film State of Grace.
Sheryl Crow's cover of this song is featured in the Adam Sandler film, Big Daddy.
The Taken by Trees cover of this song appears at the end of the movie Life as We Know It.
The introductory riff is heard in the 2010 film Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black.
The song has been covered by many artists including Texas, Most Precious Blood, Akasha featuring Neneh Cherry, DJ Dougall, John Henneberry, Schmoof, Flat Pack, Luna, Chester the Pup, Bumblefoot, Dead Tongues, DJ Dex & A, The Aluminium Group and DZK. The song was also performed in many live concerts by country singer Carrie Underwood, opening with her alone on acoustic guitar and using her voice to reference Slash's intro guitar tones before launching into a full band rock-out. Bonnie Tyler performed it on the for Charity DVD Rock for Asia in 2005.
Occasionally, as a joke, Linkin Park performs parts of the song during some concerts. In 2008, during their tour, Projekt Revolution, Linkin Park mashed their song Bleed It Out with Sweet Child o' Mine, in which the intro was played while the lead singer, Chester Bennington would sing the first verse, then would change to Bleed it Out and the performance would go on to the drum solo, where Street Drum Corps would perform before the song would be finished. Manic Street Preachers also frequently play it as an introduction to their song "Motown Junk" in live concerts. The main riff is replayed by Red Hot Chili Peppers at the end of the song "Punk Rock Classic". The intro is also sampled in a song on the Fort Minor mixtape, titled "S.C.O.M."(Sweet Child o' Mine). Avenged Sevenfold frequently use the opening riff as a segue between songs during live concerts.
In 1999, the song was covered by Sheryl Crow and re-recorded by the then-new Guns N' Roses members for the film Big Daddy. Crow's version earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The new Guns N' Roses version which morphed into a live version half way through was not featured on the original soundtrack album of the movie, but can be heard during the movie's ending credits. The song was also featured in the 1990 film State of Grace, in a bar during a brawl.
It was performed on December 2, 2006 at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York City by jam band Umphrey's McGee.
The Black Eyed Peas usually performs the first verses of this song as well during their live shows. Turbonegro uses the intro as Introlick for the Song Bad Mongo played live.
A cover of the song is featured as a special encore in the music video game Guitar Hero II.
"Sweet Child o' Mine" was also covered in 2005 by Flatpack/Mylo.
The song "S.C.O.M." from Fort Minor's mixtape We Major samples from the introductory riff of the song.
Slash performed "Sweet Child o' Mine" with Black Eyed Peas' member Fergie at his recent 43rd birthday party in Las Vegas at the Mirage Hotel & casino on July 23, 2008.
During the 2008 Reading Festival, band Tenacious D announced they were going to perform a cover of one of Metallica's best known songs as a tribute. They then proceeded to play the opening riff to "Sweet Child o' Mine".
Swedish music artist Johan Darius released a version of the song through his website in December 2008.
In Keith Urban and Brad Paisley's "Start a Band", a tribute to the main riff can be heard as the singers describe famous rock songs.
Irish dance act The Lazy Boyz recorded a trance version in 2004. It went on to appear on two Ministry of Sound compilations, Big Tunes and The Annual 2005.
Australian vocal group Human Nature performed an a cappella version on Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge.
SR-71's song, "Axl Rose", contains part of the opening riff.
Indie pop artist Victoria Bergsman, under the name Taken by Trees, also covered the song. Her version was used in the trailer for the remake of the Wes Craven film The Last House on the Left, and in a 2009 UK advert for department store John Lewis and announced would be released as their next UK single.[10] This cover peaked at #23 on the UK Singles Chart.
A version of this song was performed by Lucie Jones on the sixth series of The X Factor (UK) in 2009.
Malaysian Idol's first winner, Jaclyn Victor, performed this song in the competition and received positive reviews from the judges and voters.
Channel V recorded a Hindustani version of the song played on sitars and tabala.[11]
Welsh rock band Lostprophets performed the first verse (without the intro riff) as an intro to their song "Where We Belong" at the BBC Radio One Big Weekend 2010. At their headline shows, they play the first verse (minus the intro riff) as an intro to "Last Summer".
Slash recorded an acoustic version of the song with singer Myles Kennedy for the deluxe edition of his 2010 solo album, Slash.
Green Day occasionally plays the beginning of the song in concert.
Limp Bizkit has played their own version of the song a number of times during their 2010 European tour.[12]
During the Super Bowl XLV halftime show, which featured The Black Eyed Peas, Slash joined with vocalist Fergie to perform the song.[13]
Janet Devlin performed a cover version on the eighth series of The X Factor (UK) in 2011.
| US 7" vinyl (927 794-7) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Sweet Child O' Mine" (Remix/Edit) | Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin | 3:57 | ||||||
| 2. | "Out To Get Me" (LP Version) | Rose, Stradlin, Slash | 4:20 | ||||||
| UK 7" vinyl (GEF 43) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Sweet Child O' Mine" (Remix/Edit) | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | 3:57 | ||||||
| 2. | "Out To Get Me" (LP Version) | Rose, Stradlin, Slash | 4:20 | ||||||
| UK 10" vinyl (GEF 43TE), 12" vinyl (GEF 43T), 12" vinyl Metallic Sleeve(GEF 43TV) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Sweet Child O' Mine" (LP Version) | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | 5:55 | ||||||
| 2. | "Out Ta Get Me" (LP Version) | Rose, Stradlin, Slash | 4:20 | ||||||
| 3. | "Rocket Queen" (LP Version) | Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan | |||||||
| UK re-release 7" vinyl (GEF 55) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Sweet Child O' Mine" (Remix/Edit) | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | 3:57 | ||||||
| 2. | "Out To Get Me" (LP Version) | Rose, Stradlin, Slash | 4:20 | ||||||
| UK re-release 12" vinyl (GEF 55T), 3" CD (GEF 55CD) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Sweet Child O' Mine" (LP Version) | Rose, Slash, Stradlin | 5:55 | ||||||
| 2. | "Move To The City" (LP Version) | Stradlin, Del James, Chris Weber | |||||||
| 3. | "Whole Lotta Rosie" (Live) | Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott | |||||||
| 4. | "It's So Easy" (Live) | McKagan, West Arkeen | |||||||
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart[14] | 11 |
| Canada RPM 30 Retail Sales[15] | 11 |
| Canada RPM Top 100 Singles[16] | 7 |
| Irish Singles Chart[17] | 13 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[14] | 5 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart[14] | 20 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[14] | 27 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[14] | 15 |
| UK Singles Chart[18] | 24 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[19] | 1 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles[20] | 1 |
| U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[19] | 6 |
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
| Irish Singles Chart[17] | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart[18] | 6 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
| UK Rock Chart [21] | 1 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
| UK Rock Chart [21] | 1 |
| Preceded by "Monkey" by George Michael |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single September 10, 1988 – September 17, 1988 |
Succeeded by "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin |
| Preceded by "The Only Exception" by Paramore "The Catalyst" by Linkin Park |
UK Rock Chart number-one single May 16, 2010 - May 23, 2010 October 3, 2010 - October 24, 2010 |
Succeeded by "Make Me Wanna Die" by The Pretty Reckless "Feeling Good" by Muse |
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