Slash during a snippet of the “November Rain” video.
“November Rain” is song number 10 on the double album ‘Use Your Illusion I’ (1991), which catapulted the Hollywood band to the top.
Axl Rose he opened his rebellious heart in 1992 to make known to the world one of the most famous and admired ballads in history, “November Rain”which is surely part of the soundtrack of more than one rock lover.
“November Rain” is the 10th song on the double album Use Your Illusion I (1991), which catapulted the Hollywood band to the biggest rock scene worldwide. Its release as a single was on February 18, 1992. The song hides many curiosities behind it, such as the fact that Axl Rose had been working on it since 1983.
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a tragic story
In addition to being an extraordinary song, “November Rain” is also famous for its promotional video clipwhich was the winner in the MTV Video Music Awards for best cinematography.
The video features the participation of Axl himself and his partner at the time, Stephanie Seymour, and was shot on a budget of 1.5 million dollars; it is currently the ninth most expensive music video in history and one of the most viewed on YouTube: in 2018, it reached over a billion streams.
As indicated at the end of the video, the story of “November Rain” is based on a short story titled “Without You”written by Del James for his 1995 book The Language of Fear (the language of fear).
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James has been a longtime friend of the band and continues to work with them on tour today. He wrote “Without You” based on Axl Rose’s relationship with erin everleywith whom he was married in 1990.
“Essentially the short story is about a rock star, who was inspired by Axl, who writes a song called ‘Without You’ about the woman he loves but can’t really have,” says James.
The rock star’s character in “Without You” is Mayne, and Elizabeth is the name of the woman he loves.
Elton John’s shadow in “November Rain”
Musically, the song is an opulent tribute to musicians like Elton Johnwhich Axl Rose admires so much, and has an impressive string arrangement as well as a guitar solo by Slash in which he shows all his magnitude as a guitarist.
It has been speculated that “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”Elton’s epic with which the album begins Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from 1973, was a major influence on “November Rain.”
“For me and others, no one has inspired me more than Elton John… When I first heard ‘Bennie And The Jets,’ I knew I had to be a performer,” says Rose.
It is curious to know that the song was tried to be included in the 1987 album Appetite for Destruction, however, in the end it was discarded. It seems to me that the theme would have clashed quite a bit with a record that is characterized by its aggressiveness and not so much for sweetened or epic themes.
The original version lasted 25 minutes, but they had to shorten it, something totally understandable considering the limitations of radio and television at the time. At the beginning of Guns n’ Roses’ career, perhaps not even they thought of composing a song of such magnitude, since their roots are based on rock and punk music.
31 years after its completion, the song continues to touch our hearts, which melt at the notes of one of the most emblematic Guns songs…
Nothin’ lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change And it’s hard to hold a candle In the cold November rain