It’s been quite a while since I watched Guns N’ Roses’ video for November Rain. Somehow I remember a lot about it though. Whether or not your a big fan of the band and their collection of music, I think a lot of people can agree that this a tremendously great video.
After I watched the video I read the Wikipedia entry for it. It has a good summary of the production history and many great insights into what went into making the song and the video.
Here’s what I found in the entry to be amazing and has made me think about creative energy and perseverance:
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. The guitar solo is amazing. 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.”
So. That song was released on June 22, 1992, according the same wikipedia entry. And Tracii Guns talks about how it was a work in progress by 1983. So that’s 9 years between goofing on pianos, not really knowing what to do with it and it being released as a single.
That’s stunning. Imagine having a great song in you for that long and being patient enough to wait until the right time to start laying down tracks in a studio. Maybe he tried one hundred and eighty times and couldn’t get it right. Maybe the day they started recording songs for Use Your Illusions double-album was the first time they played it together. Either scenario is a wild acheivement in my books.
In a time when ideas and facts move at a dizzying pace, I spent some time thinking about what it would be like harbouring a piece of music like that for over a decade. Over a decade. Unreal. All because I didn’t “know what to do with it”.
My point is that we all have something great inside of us to share with the world.
Most people don’t know what it is yet and many more people don’t believe that’s true. That notion is false. It’s in you or you wouldn’t be here. To me that’s a fact.
I think the major block to finding your November Rain is the naysayers. Whether those naysayers are people around you or deep inside you, crush that voice anyway you can. Ignore it. Dig deep and be patient.
Think about what it would be like to have a song in you for longer than people are in elementary school and letting it out when the time’s right. It’s not easy but it’s not as hard as most of us are making it.
What’s your November Rain? I’d like to hear about it in the comments.