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Welcome to the Jungle

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This article is about the Guns N' Roses song. For other uses, see Welcome to the Jungle (disambiguation).
"Welcome to the Jungle"
Song
B-side"Whole Lotta Rosie (Live) (1987)
Mr. Brownstone (US 1988)
Nightrain (UK 1988, as AA side)"

Welcome to the Jungle is a song by the American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on their debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). It was released as the album's second single initially in the UK in September 1987 then again in October 1988 this time including the US, where it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100[2] and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.[3]

On the 1987 release, the Maxi Single format was backed with a live versions of AC/DC's Whole Lotta Rosie, the bands debut single It's So Easy and Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door. In 2009 "Welcome to the Jungle" was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.[4]

Background and composition

Axl Rose wrote the words while visiting a friend in Seattle.[5] "It's a big city, but at the same time, it's still a small city compared to L.A. and the things that you're gonna learn. It seemed a lot more rural up there. I just wrote how it looked to me. If someone comes to town and they want to find something, they can find whatever they want."[6] Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin summarises the song as "about Hollywood streets; true to life."[7]

Slash describes the development of the music of "Welcome to the Jungle" in his self-titled autobiography. As the band was trying to write new material, Axl remembered a riff Slash had played while he was living in the basement of Slash's mother's house. He played it and the band quickly laid down the foundations for the song, as Slash continued coming up with new guitar parts for it. He credits Duff McKagan as coming up with the breakdown (main riff). Duff backs this up in his autobiography, It's So Easy (and other Lies), saying it was from a song called "The Fake" that he wrote in 1978 for the Vains, a punk band he was in.[8] He also said it was the first song he ever wrote, and that it was later released as a single by the band.[8] According to Slash, the song was written in approximately three hours.[9]

Rose claimed inspiration for the lyrics came from an encounter he and a friend had with a homeless man while they were coming out of a bus into New York.[10] Trying to put a scare into the young runaways, the man yelled at them, "You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die!"[10][11]

Reception

Martin Popoff included the song at number nineteen in his book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time;[12] it was ranked the second "greatest metal song" by VH1;[13] it appeared at #467 on Rolling Stone' "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list,[14] it appeared as number seven hundred and sixty-four on Q's "1001 Best Songs Ever" chart;[7] and the song was named the "greatest song about Los Angeles" in a poll in Blender.[15] In 2009 it was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.[4] In 2009 the readers of Rolling Stone magazine rated it the greatest sports anthem.[16]

Music video

Geffen Records was having a hard time selling the video to MTV. David Geffen made a deal with the network, and the video was aired only one time around 5:00AM on a Sunday morning.[17] As soon as the video was aired, the networks received numerous calls from people wanting to see the video again.

In spite of the early morning airtime, the song's music video caught viewers' attention and quickly became MTV's most requested video. The video in question begins with a shot of Axl Rose disembarking a bus in Los Angeles and a drug dealer (portrayed by Izzy) is seen trying to sell his merchandise while Rose rejects it. As Rose stops to watch a television through a store window, clips of the band playing live can be seen and Slash can also be seen briefly, sitting against the store's wall and drinking from a clear glass bottle in a brown paper bag. By the end of the video Rose has transformed into a city punk, wearing the appropriate clothing, after going through a process similar to the Ludovico technique.

During an interview with Rolling Stone magazine about the music video, Guns N' Roses' manager at the time, Alan Niven, said that he "came up with the idea of stealing from three movies: Midnight Cowboy, The Man Who Fell to Earth and A Clockwork Orange."[18]

Live performances

"Welcome to the Jungle" is often used as the opener at Guns N' Roses concerts, being played at almost every show on the Appetite for Destruction Tour and Use Your Illusion Tour. From 2001-2007, on the Chinese Democracy Tour, "Welcome to the Jungle" was used exclusively as the show opener, until 2009, when it was replaced by "Chinese Democracy". It now occupies the second spot on the setlist. When performed live the song often begins with the line: "Do you know where the fuck you are? You're in the jungle baby! Wake up! Time to Die!", in reference to the songs bridge.

The song was used as the concert introduction during Shakira's world tour, the Tour of the Mongoose. Australian rock band Mammal frequently cover "Welcome to the Jungle" live, incorporating the first verse and chorus of the song as part of their own song, "Inciting". Pink performed the song at her 2003 Try This Tour.

Track listings

All songs credited to Guns N' Roses except where noted

UK 1987 7" vinyl (GEF 30)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Welcome to the Jungle" 4:30
2."Whole Lotta Rosie" (Live AC/DC cover)Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott5:29
Total length:9:59
UK 1987 12" vinyl (GEF 30T); 12" picture disc (GEF 30TP)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Welcome to the Jungle" 4:30
2."Whole Lotta Rosie" (Live AC/DC cover)Young, Young, Scott 
3."It's So Easy" (live)Guns N' Roses, West Arkeen 
4."Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Live Bob Dylan cover)Bob Dylan 
US 1988 7" vinyl (927 759-7)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Welcome to the Jungle" 4:30
2."Mr. Brownstone"Izzy Stradlin3:46
Total length:8:17
UK 1988 7" vinyl (GEF 47)
No.TitleLength
1."Welcome to the Jungle"4:30
2."Nightrain"4:29
Total length:9:00
UK 1988 12" vinyl (GEF 47T); 12" poster bag (GEF 47TW); 12" picture disc (GEF 47TP);12" patch (GEF47TV); 3" CD (GEF 47CD)
No.TitleLength
1."Welcome to the Jungle"4:30
2."Nightrain"4:29
3."You're Crazy" (Acoustic Version)4:10
Total length:13:10

Personnel

Other uses

References

  • Davis, Stephen (2008). Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-377-6.

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.revolvermag.com/news/6-glam-metal-albums-you-need-to-own.html
  2. ^ "Artist Chart History - Guns N' Roses". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-12-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Guns N' Roses". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  4. ^ a b "spreadit.org music". Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  5. ^ Hit Parader '88
  6. ^ "The Spaghetti Incident". hem.passagen.se. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  7. ^ a b "Welcome To The Jungle". Here Today... Gone To Hell!. Retrieved 200-12-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ a b McKagan, Duff; Tim Mohr (2010). It's So Easy (and other Lies). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 42–43, 97.
  9. ^ Bozza, Anthony; Slash (2007). Slash. New York: Harper Entertainment. pp. 108–109.
  10. ^ a b "Just a Little Patience". Spin. July 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  11. ^ Brown, Lane (August 26, 2008). "Exclusive Excerpt: Stephen Davis's 'Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses'". Vulture.com. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  12. ^ Top 500 Metal songs
  13. ^ "40 greatest metal songs (40 - 31)". VH1. Retrieved 2008-12-18. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ [1] Archived 2009-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Jungle tops LA songs poll
  16. ^ Readers Rock List: Sports Anthem - Rolling Stone.com
  17. ^ Tom King, The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood, p. 430, Broadway Books (New York 2001).
  18. ^ Rolling Stone Interview dealing with the music video
  19. ^ "Guitar Hero 3 Setlist Revealed". PC World. 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-28. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Tor Thorsen (2004-10-26). "Full San Andreas soundtrack details". Game Spot. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  21. ^ Michael Lopez. "Ten Most Overplayed Sports Arena Songs (with Music)". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  22. ^ "20 Rocking Stadium Songs To Spice Up Any Sporting Event - VH1 Music News". VH1 Music News. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  23. ^ "Top Songs at a Sports Game". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
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