Anatomy of a Song: "Sweet Child O' Mine" Quiz

Answer: childhood memories

"...Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky."

"Sweet Child O' Mine" can be found on the "Appetite for Destruction"(1987) album. "Appetite for Destruction" was the band's first recorded album.

Answer: face

"... she takes me away to that special place..."

This song was Guns N' Roses' first number one hit single. It was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in September 1988, until it was dethroned by Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

Answer: I'd probably break down and cry

The songwriting is credited to "Guns N' Roses". To break that down further, Slash created the main riff, Izzy Stradlin added chords, Duff McKagan came up with a bass line, and then Axl Rose added the words from a poem he had been writing.

Answer: of the bluest skies

The band never thought that their simple little tune would become a smash hit. It has been said that Slash hates the song, because it was started out as just a simple technical exercise that he played as a joke, without thinking about it. In a 1988 interview, Duff McKagan stated "It was written in five minutes.

It was one of those songs, only three chords... It was kind of a joke because we thought, 'what is this song? It's gonna be nothing, it'll just be filler on the record'. Vocal-wise, it's very sweet and sincere, but Slash was [messing] around when he first wrote that lick." (Quote from Wikipedia).

Answer: rain

Though never officially confirmed, the lyrics to "Sweet Child O' Mine" are thought to be about Erin Everly, Axl's girlfriend at the time. She is the daughter of Don Everly, of the Everly brothers. She married Axl in 1990, and the marriage was annulled in 1991.

My father has always thought this song more appropriately expresses a father's love for his daughter. The release of the "Appetite For Destruction" album coincided nicely with my birth and "Sweet Child O' Mine" quickly became his favourite song on the album.

Answer: an ounce of pain

The music video for "Sweet Child O' Mine" is set in an abandoned theatre and shows the band rehearsing for a show. A few of the band members' girlfriends were featured in the video as well as stage crew members. The video was pretty successful on MTV and greatly contributed to the mainstream success of not only the band, but the song as well. Years later, Axl has said that his original idea for the music video for "Sweet Child" was to depict an Asian woman and a baby involved in drug trafficking.

This idea was rejected by their record label, but there does exist a rarely played alternate music video for the song, which shows different rehearsal scenes and is entirely in black and white.

Answer: hair

In order to make the song more "marketable" for TV and radio, "Sweet Child O' Mine" was cut down to four minutes, twenty seconds for the radio edit, compared to the original album version, which is four seconds shy of six minutes. The band hated the radio edit, because most of Slash's solo was what got cut. According to Axl Rose in a 1989 interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine: "I hate the edit of 'Sweet Child O' Mine'... My favourite 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." (Quote from Wikipedia).

Answer: hide

"Sweet Child" came in at number 196 on "Rolling Stone"'s "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In addition, it also made number three on "Blender" magazine's "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" (I don't know when they think "you were born"). Slash's guitar work on this song has also received its fair share of accolades. "Q" magazine called "Sweet Child" number six of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks"; it is number 37 on "Guitar World"'s "100 Greatest Guitar Solos"; and the famous D-flat riff in the intro was voted the number one riff of all time by "Total Guitar" magazine readers.

Answer: the thunder and the rain

"Sweet Child O' Mine" has covered countless times by many artists, including Carrie Underwood, Bonnie Tyler, and Sheryl Crow. Many bands and artists also play it partially during live performances. It is not uncommon for a band to sample the major riff in one of their own songs.

For example, the Red Hot Chili Peppers use it at the end of their song "Punk Rock Classic". A version of the song was also recorded for the video game "Guitar Hero II."

Answer: Where do we go?

The album "Appetite For Destruction" was a big success for the band. It was a number one album in the United States and is certified as a 'Diamond' album, with sales exceeding 25 million worldwide. However, a year after its release, it had sold less than half a million, suggesting that fans bought this album only after later success by the band. Nonetheless, "Appetite For Destruction" remains the second best-selling debut album of all time. In addition to "Sweet Child", it includes the equally famous GNR songs "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City", as well as "Rocket Queen" and "My Michelle."

For the incorrect answers given for this question: "So far away.." is from "Paradise City", and "Do you need some time on your own?" and "Don't you think you need someone?" are both from "November Rain."