Guns 'N Roses' most despised song and perhaps one of the greatest songs of the 1980's that defined the height of what hair metal could become. "Sweet Child O' Mine" was written by Axl Rose who actually wrote the song for his then-girlfriend who he described as being a safe haven for him which reminded Rose of his childhood memories. The lyrics came about after GNR guitarist, Slash, was playing around with some new riffs he created during a recording session and the chord progression was then placed delicately around the famously beautiful guitar introduction.
Released in August 1988 as the album, Appetite for Destruction's third single, "Sweet Child O' Mine" is one of those songs that when you hear Slash's first guitar note, you instantly know what song it is. Slash has been quoted as having an initial disdain for the song due to its roots as simply a "string skipping" exercise and a joke at the time. During a jam session at the band's house in the Sunset Strip, drummer Steve Adler and Slash were warming up and Slash began to play a "circus" melody while making faces at Adler. Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin asked Slash to play it again. Stradlin came up with some chords, Duff McKagan created a bassline and Adler planned a beat. In his autobiography, Slash said "within an hour my guitar exercise had become something else". Lead singer Axl Rose was listening to the musicians upstairs in his room and was inspired to write lyrics, which he completed by the following afternoon. He based it on his girlfriend Erin Everly, and declared that Lynyrd Skynyrd served as an inspiration "to make sure that we'd got that heartfelt feeling". On the next composing session in Burbank, the band added a bridge and a guitar solo.
"Sweet Child 'O Mine" topped the charts in 1988 at No. 1 and was ranked No. 5 on the Billboard list of top songs from that entire year. That type of reception all but guarantees a cemented place in rock 'n roll history. Even if it isn't considered one of the greatest songs of all time, it surely is a perfect representation, both musically and lyrically, of the wondrous decade of the 1980's.
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