Sweet Child O' Mine

It all started with Guns 'N Roses guitarist, Slash warming up before a jam session. Other musicians joined in and made it a riff. Axl Rose, who was upstairs from them was inspired to write lyrics, which he finished the next afternoon.

He should have spent more time developing those words. The song is just too boring, too simplistic, and too repetitious.

Axl wrote the lyrics for his then girlfriend, Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly brothers. They were married for nine months and then divorced. The song actually starts out very nice.

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

Sweet Child O' Mine, opening lines

But should Axl be referring to his adult then girlfriend as a child, even if she IS remindful of childhood memories? My answer is "NO!" I detest when people call their lady friends "Child" or "Baby" or "Babe." What' s wrong with calling them by name? Did Axl have so many ladies on leashes that he couldn't remember to whom he was conversing? Why couldn't he think of a flattering, adultlike term of endearment?

The sentiment is there, but it could have been so much better had he added to it, perhaps explaining why she is so meaningful to him, or what about her made her seem child-like.

My biggest complaint with this song is that those lyrics I quoted above are the deepest and best he could come up with. Most of the rest of the song repeats itself ad nauseum. Here's the refrain:

Whoa, oh-oh
Sweet child o' mine
Whoa, oh-oh-oh
Sweet love of mine

On and on and on

Then, he hit a block on what to write. He literally thought, "Where do we go from here?" and then included, "Where do we go now?" in the song, also repeated over and over.

Here's the bulk of the song:

Where do we go? Where do we go now?
Where do we go? Mm-mm, oh
Where do we go? Where do we go now?
Oh, where do we go now?
Where do we go? (Sweet child)
Mm-huh, where do we go now?

(Where do we go?) Ah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-oh
(Where do we go?)
Ooh, where do we go now? (Where do we go?)
Uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh-oh

Where do we go?
Oh-oh, where do we go now?
Oh, where do we go?
Where do we go now?

The best of Axl Rose?

It doesn't help that it sounds like Axl is singing while holding his nose. I dare you to question that statement. Just listen, if you dare.

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How this song got to number one on the charts is beyond me. I can hardly stand listening to it.

Yes, the opening guitar is catchy. Yes, the opening lines are sweet. Everything goes downhill from there.

Again, boring, simplistic, and repetitious - definitely overrated.

Cue mic drop.