November Rain

"November Rain"
Song

"November Rain" is a song by the band Guns N' Roses, written by Axl Rose. The music video for this song, released in 1992, quickly became the most requested video on MTV, 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.

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 "Child in Time", "Stairway to Heaven", "Free Bird", and "Bohemian Rhapsody". It is the second-longest song on that album, the longest being the 10-minute-long "Coma". Its distinct symphonic overtone owes to a sweeping synthesized and genuine string arrangements, played by Axl Rose. Most live performances during the Use Your Illusion tour lacked the orchestral backing of the song (the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards being the most well-known exception). Harp, flute and some strings were genuine and thoes synthesized are due to Axl Roses endless attention to detail production from 8 different, 130 piece orchestrated synthesizers. It is the longest song to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. 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. 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 1000 rock songs by New Zealand radio listeners.

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 1985, 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.

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 claims of such harsh musical differences were specifically refuted by Slash in his autobiography.

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.

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 9th most expensive music video ever. 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 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 to their credit, and unlike many other artists and bands, 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.

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.

The priest in the video, an Italian man named Gian or San Antonio (the first part of his name is unclear) was actually a friend of Axl's; unbeknownst to the band, the church used for the interior shots were 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. The similarity in production, style and plots can be considered evidence of this intent. "November Rain" is considered by some to be the first in the series, as it shows Axl and Seymour getting married, and then the death of Seymour. "Don't Cry" appears to come next, with Axl reminiscing over the time he shared with Seymour, breaking down in a mental institution, and symbolically visiting his own grave. (However, Del James has stated that "Don't Cry" is actually the first video in the trilogy.) Finally, in "Estranged" we see Axl Rose come to grips with his life, and the "trilogy" is brought to an end.

Interestingly, in the "Making of" video, it shows the crew filming a nightmare sequence set to the "Locomotive", with Axl stating that it somehow tied in to the "November Rain" story. Whether this was an unfinished, unreleased video for "Locomotive" remains a mystery. However, some parts from this sequence were used in the beginning of the "November Rain" video.[1]

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, now so drunk and drug-addled he never knows what day it is, who reminisces over an on-and-off-again relationship. He leaves this erstwhile girlfriend a telephone message, becomes concerned when she doesn't answer, and then goes to her apartment, kicking down her door to find she had just shot herself in the head while listening to his music.

The lyrics to "November Rain" do not discuss the suicide issue, only the tempestuous relationship. According to one interpretation, the lyrics are from a man to a former girlfriend, saying how the troubled times (the 'cold November rain') will not last forever, and that he is willing to give her time alone if she will come back to him. The video, on the other hand, follows the short story more closely, from love and life, through to death and the funeral of the bride. Although the video doesn't explain how the girlfriend died, it can be seen, by looking at the girlfriend in the casket, that there is a line down her face; that is, a mirror. This appears at the 7:21 mark in the video. Families of head-trauma victims, who want to have an open-casket funeral, can use a mirror reflecting the intact side of the face to make the deceased appear whole. It can therefore be inferred that, as in the short story, the girlfriend was shot in the head. This scene implies that Seymour shot herself. However, another (though much less popular theory) involves an early reference in which Axl walks alone at night, past a gunshop with an open door, which can be seen at the 5:36 mark in the video. Some view this scene as an indication that Axl was the shooter: the suicide/homicide ambiguity corresponds to the storied protagonist's guilt over precipitating the suicide. Many, however, just think the gun store was a reference to the band name, because of the florists' shop adjacent to the gun shop.Some think that Axl walking past the gun store is a metaphor; that he didn't physically shoot her, but he inspired/pushed her into killing herself. Others say it shows the gun store after she has visited, and that it is an indication that Axl is too late to stop her. A last theory is that the bride was killed on the wedding day during the "November Rain" storm that begins to fall at the reception. After a lightning strike, we see the bride's bouquet hits a casket in a slow-motion sequence. This may imply that she was struck by lightning and killed instantly.

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.

External links

• Music Video at VH1 Classic