Guns and Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine
Continuing the theme of Guns n' Roses (well I know we've missed the Chinese democracy boat but then again I'd argue a couple of months is better than the wrong side of a decade) this week Tom has a look at that club-cheese-classic, Sweet Child o' Mine.
She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I'd stare too long
I'd probably break down and cry
Axl Roses child has a smile that reminds him of his childhood - and, well, this is all very nice really. It would also appear that Axl Rose had a very happy, pleasant and, well, ordinary childhood. And is this surprising?
Well, I won't lie to you - it does come as a bit of a shock to me. See I was always of the opinion that Axl Rose, he of the appetite for destruction and welcome to the jungle and having intimate relations with quite literally some women, well, I thought he might have come from a "cool" background. You know the sort I mean; a father who would repeatedly come home from work late, a mother who only said that she loved him twice a day and a bigger brother who at times would tease him.
In reality though Axl had no such devastating childhood and while yes, sure, this is most certainly A Good Thing and I am really happy that there is at least one less case of child abuse, well, it sort of takes away from the image that I had of him as a real rock star. Real rock stars have nothing normal about them and, well, you don't get much more normal than a normal childhood.
Disappointing.
Sweet child o' mine
Sweet love of mine
Aw, sweet. Axl Rose reminisces about how much he loves his kid (he had a kid when he wrote this? I'm not so sure about that) although I do worry is his obsession is going to have a negative effect on the child later on in life.
For instance, I'm actually quite a fan of the sentiment of maintaining a sense of distance between Mother, Father and their flock. This allows the young pup to gain a vital sense of independence without which they will struggle to function in this vibrant and fast-paced modern day society. If possible I would introduce a third party mary-poppins style character to ensure that the children get a right and proper upbringing and ensure that the parents have minimal interaction. Boarding school may perhaps be the right road to go down.
And I'm pretty sure Axl Rose could just about afford to bring back Mary Poppins.
She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by
Okay, these lovely sentiments are starting to get slightly worrying and indeed I'd argue that Axl Rose is entering somewhat dodgy territory. Far be it from me to accuse Axl Rose of being a paedophile - I would say anything but - no, but at the same time the evidence would appear to be there within Axl's lyrics. He takes his love and obsession with his child to a new level by implying more physical realities and starts to talk about the pain that his child suffers.
Hang on a minute. Is Axl Rose beating his child? Because lyrically this is getting him dodgy. His childs hair reminds him of a warm, safe place - his bedroom? The plot thickens further when it appears that when he was a child he hid from his own patriarchal figure when he launched these brutal attacks on him. It could be that Axl Rose is implying he was a victim of brutal child abuse, and he is now passing this on to the next generation.
He refers to this abuse in a metaphorical way as rain and thunder. This implies in the morning he performs a weather forecast to his daughter; "and today you'll be subjected to light showers although there will be a strong westerly gale."
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Sweet child o' mine
OMG THIS IS SO GOOD.
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