Since I Don't Have You

Well, I was listening to Guns N' Roses, and this song came on, it's on of my favourites. However, this is the original, written by The Skyliners and released in their 1958 album under the name of their band. Jimmy Beaumont is now seventy-one years old, as of Saturday, and still plays with the band, even though he is the last remaining original member. This song is considered to be one of the greatest "heartbreak ballads" and is a wonderful example of before Beatles rock and roll, as they changed everything. The Guns N' Roses version  was released on their fifth album, The Spaghetti Incident? in 1994 and is the last album to feature Slash or Duff McKagan, two original members, as well as drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clark, and has the most recent music video of theirs to date. The subject of the song is simple, it's about a man who's gal has left him, and she was his everything. 

My Michelle

Guns N' Roses, about time, right? This song actually has a lot more depth into it than I'd thought. My Michelle was released in 1987, on Guns N' Roses' first album, Appetite For Destruction. In terms of composition and things to note throughout the song, it starts quiet and slow, as if it's going to be a slow song, they quickly change that by adding distortion and a heavy drum beat. There is one thing missing from this song though, one of Slash's solos, he has a few licks, but no real solo. Anyways, this song was written when Axl and Slash were in junior high. Michelle was Slash's girlfriend's friend, and one night her and Axl were in his car together. Your Song, by Elton John came on the radio, and Michelle voiced how she would love it if someone would write a song for her. Axl had originally intended for the song to be soft and sweet, but after writing it, decided he didn't like it and wrote this instead, taking a more truthful approach to the whole matter. When the band heard the lyrics, they told Axl not to show them to Michelle, as they might upset her, but he did anyways. She liked them for their honesty, telling the truth about her life. Her father worked in pornography, her mother passed on due to heroine, Michelle had a drug problem, these things are what the song is about, the truth regarding her life. Michelle later cleaned up herself, and moved to California.