November Rain
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“November Rain”
Single by Guns N' Roses from the album Use Your Illusion I
Released	June, 1992
Format	CD
Genre	Hard rock Power ballad
Length	8:57
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Axl Rose
Producer	Mike Clink
Guns N' Roses singles chronology
"Live and Let Die" (1991) "November Rain" (1992) "The Garden" (1992)
Use Your Illusion I track listing
"Double Talkin' Jive" (9) "November Rain" (10) "The Garden" (11)

"November Rain" is a single by the band Guns N' Roses, written by lead singer Axl Rose and released in June 1992. The music video for this song, also released in 1992, quickly became the most requested video on MTV^{citation needed}, and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography. It features a sweeping orchestral backing and is one of Guns N' Roses' longest songs. On YouTube, as of November 2008, the music video to November Rain has over 26 million views.

Song

"November Rain" appears on the album Use Your Illusion I. At 8 minutes and 57 seconds, it is a rock ballad in the tradition of "Stairway to Heaven," "Free Bird," and "Bohemian Rhapsody." It is the second-longest song on that album, the longest being the 10-minute "Coma." Its distinct symphonic overtone owes to a sweeping synthesized string arrangement, played by Axl Rose.^{1 2} Most live performances during the Use Your Illusion tour lacked the orchestral backing of the song^{citation needed} (the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards being the best-known exception). It is the longest song to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.³ The song peaked at #3 on the chart, becoming the band's sixth and last Top 10 hit and eighth and last top 40 hit to date. On the radio, "November Rain" is sometimes played in a shortened version of approximately six minutes, but many rock stations continue to play the full version. This song is listed at number 6 in the "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" by Guitar World. "November Rain" was voted #1 on the Rock 1000 2006, an annual countdown of the top 1,000 rock songs by New Zealand radio listeners. It was almost voted #1 on the Rock 1000 2007, but was beaten out by "Back In Black" by AC/DC. ⁴

History

According to Tracii Guns, former Guns N' Roses guitarist and founding member, Axl Rose had been working on the song since at least 1983. In an interview, he said the following about "November Rain":

When we were doing that EP for L.A. Guns, like '83? He was playing "November Rain" — and it was called "November Rain" — you know, on piano. Way back then. It was the only thing he knew how to play, but it was his. He'd go, "Someday this song is gonna be really cool." And I'd go, "It's cool now." "But it's not done", you know, he used to say. And, like, anytime we'd be at a hotel or anywhere, there'd be a piano; he'd just kinda play that music. And I'd go, "When are you gonna finish that already", you know? And he'd go, "I don't know what to do with it."

In 1995, Waggle Records (Pty.) Ltd. released in Australia a two-LP set titled "November Rain"/ "In Concert and Beyond" of an unidentified concert featuring a rough, acoustic version of the song. This early version of the song features finger-picked acoustic guitar, Axl on lead vocals, and a chorus of vocals in the background, as in the Use Your Illusion album version, but does not feature the extended guitar solos or the breakdown outro. As such, this live version clocks in at a running time of approximately 4:43.

Slash states in his autobiography that an eighteen minute long version of "November Rain" was recorded at a session with guitarist Manny Charlton (of rock band Nazareth) in 1986, before the recording sessions for Appetite for Destruction began.⁵

According to a story told to the audience during the 2006 leg of the Chinese Democracy tour, none of the other band members had wanted to partake in the production of this song (or the other notable ballad "Estranged"). Slash and Duff McKagan were particularly opposed to the drift to symphonic ballads, and felt their choice of more direct rock songs were being overlooked by Rose. However, Axl talked them into it over discussions at Can-Am studios (where some of the album was recorded and mixed). It should be noted that claims of such harsh musical differences were specifically refuted by Slash in his autobiography.⁶

Slash has said that the solo he played in the album version of the song (it's unclear which solo) was the same solo he played to the song when he heard it for the first time.⁷

Music video

Composite image of the iconic wedding dress from the "November Rain" music video.

The narrative quality of the video accentuated the epic nature of the song. The video entailed Axl and then girlfriend Stephanie Seymour being wed, interspersed with a live performance in a theatre. Particularly, it can be noted for its large budget (about $1.5 million) and stunning cinematography. It is currently the 13th most expensive music video ever.⁸ Lead guitarist Slash is prominently featured in some of the video's most memorable scenes, including an epic sequence of helicopter shots swooping around him as he plays the first guitar solo and a later scene where he plays the second solo while standing on Axl's piano onstage. The video for "November Rain" uses the full version of the song as opposed to an abridged version. A theatre in downtown Los Angeles was acquired for an evening shoot that went several hours into the night, and, unlike known practice, they didn't mime for any of the takes. Between several differing versions of "November Rain", while the cameras on cranes that swooped close to Slash's frets were reviewed and set up for the next shot - the band entertained the 1,500 extras by playing more of their songs. It is said that Slash disapproved of having the scene where Axl and Stephanie are being wed, and therefore exits the church.

For the outside shots of Slash while he is playing the first solo, Axl had originally envisioned it taking place in a "cool field" of sorts. However, since the video was shot in winter, there were no good-looking fields around, and eventually the band decided to use a church in New Mexico. Coincidentally, this was the same church used in the movie Silverado.⁹

The priest in the video, an Italian man (named Gian or San Antonio — the first part of his name is unclear), was a friend of Axl. Unbeknownst to the band, the church used for the interior shots was where the priest had performed some of his last services, eight years prior to the shooting of the video.

"November Rain", "Don't Cry", and "Estranged" music videos form an unofficial trilogy of sorts. While never specifically confirmed by the band, Del James and Axl Rose have made statements supporting this idea.^{10 11} The similarity in production, style and plots can be considered evidence of this intent.

Much speculation exists about the shot of Axl walking past the gun store. Some take it as a sign that Axl killed his new bride. Others think it may mean that Stephanie has already visited the store, and Axl is too late to save her. Yet another theory is that, while Axl didn't physically shoot her, he may have pushed/motivated her to kill herself. There is even some confusion as to how Stephanie died. While most accept that she was shot in the head, some believe that she is killed by the lightning strike at the end of the wedding reception. However, the mirror over half her face gives credence to the "gunshot theory", as the families of head trauma victims often employ mirrors to give the appearance of a full face. It's entirely possible that the gun store was just a clever play on the band's name.

As it's stated at the end of the video, "November Rain" is based on the short story "Without You" by Del James, available in James' 1995 book The Language of Fear. That short story would have an obvious appeal to Axl Rose, as it describes the misery of a former multi-platinum blues-influenced rock star, who reminisces over an on-and-off-again relationship ending with the woman's suicide via gunshot. It is notable, however, that in the short story, there is no mention of a wedding or marriage of the couple.

Cultural references

• "November Rain" is referenced twice in the chorus of the song "On the Radio" by Regina Spektor: "On the radio/We heard November Rain/The solo's real long/But it's a pretty song" and "And on the radio/You hear November Rain/That solo's awful long/But it's a good refrain"

• The wrestling company Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) used "November Rain" for their promotional music videos for their annual November to Remember wrestling event. The video would usually highlight all of the major storylines that led into that event, usually ECW's biggest of the year, and the video's airing was eagerly anticipated by ECW fans every year.

• "November Rain" is alluded to in the Beavis and Butt-Head episode "Bride of Butt-Head" when Butt-Head fantasizes about his wedding to a Russian mail-order bride resembling the bride in the music video with Slash appearing as his best man.

• CBS Sports used "November Rain" in its intro (narrated by Pat Summerall) for the 1992 Thanksgiving Day NFL contest between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.

• Several superstitious people have said that if this song is played at a wedding, on a rainy day in November, the bride and groom will experience good fortune for eternity.

References

External links

• Music Video at VH1 Classic