Memories of November Rain - Guns N' Roses by Alexis Andrews - November 15, 2008 Axl Rose of Guns N'Roses “You need to define a template under that system,” my brother Francis whispered while on the phone. “Can you possibly e-mail me your URL? Yes – yes, please. Okay, I’ll see what I can do then.” While eavesdropping on some higher form of lexicon which I may never be able to understand, and which must be his normal workplace lingo, I suddenly realized that we don’t have as much time for each other anymore, Francis and I. He has been very busy working and earning money, and I have been very busy working, too. We no longer talk about rock bands and sci-fi movies, and we haven’t gone out together lately. We’re older, of course, perhaps mellowed down even, and the mandatory banter about who had drunk more and who shall pay the bill has lost its glory, to be reckoned with less and less. But when one day last week, “November Rain” by Guns N’Roses began to play on the radio, the memories came flooding in. We were both fans: Francis had all the CDs and I had the cheap lyric magazines; he played guitar, I played piano. We didn’t share plenty in common back then, but we did bask together in the hard rock band’s sound – electronic, hard, glam, authentic, unarguably cool. And we tried as intelligently as we could to make out the cover art of the Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II albums, which we discovered upon further research was a detail of Raphael’s painting, “The School of Athens”. When the single and music video for “November Rain” came out, sometime in early 1992, booming vengefully on FM radio and shown relentlessly on MTV, the two of us stroked our Adam’s apples to determine who could hold the last note longer than Axl Rose. “November Rain” was written based on “Without You,” a short story by Del James that can be found in a collection called The Language of Fear. The story describes the grief of a successful blues-influenced rock star (like Rose is) whose on-and-off relationship with a woman ended with her suicide. According to stories by members of the Guns N’ Roses, Axl Rose might have started composing “November Rain” as early as 1983 – almost a decade before it was released. The single is also the longest Top 10 hit ever and contains the longest guitar solo in a Top 10 single; well – actually, Guns N’Roses guitarist Slash plays two solos in the song. The original version was actually 25 minutes long, but it was eventually edited to run up to 8 minutes. Axl Rose’s synthesized string arrangement lends “November Rain” its epic nature and sweeping, orchestra-like quality, making it a drifting, symphonic ballad in the tradition of “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. I can still hear Axl Rose screaming melodiously, “Nothing lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change. It’s hard to hold a candle – in the cold November rain.” If I had to listen to the words one more time, I’d hope that, lengthy though the song is, its last note never ends.  Subscribe to Latest Articles

1 Response

Scottie Martens February 19, 2009 8:34 PM My brother and i were fans of G n R, and our time has also come. Old conversations about musicians, the previous night's escapades, and how important music is for survival, has changed. I miss those times, it all meant something, anticipation hung around our new musical discoveries. Indeed, times have changed, so has the music. When i see my brother now, he tells me who he has discovered since we last met and i return the favor. It may not be as an intense discovery as sitting down together, each pressing an ear against a speaker, pointing out the high points and crazy elements of lyrics and measures, but it is understood an artist is recommended because it is something special to hear. Thanks for the memories, thanks for taking me back to November Rain. It is alittle late in the year and its rain now alittle cold, but thanks anyway. Cheers, Scottie M.

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