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.