November Rain

"November Rain" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, it was released as a single in 1992 from their third studio album, Use Your Illusion I (1991).

For the 2007 Indian film, see November Rain (2007 film). For the 2014 Nepali film, see November Rain (2014 film).

"November Rain"
Single by Guns N' Roses
from the album Use Your Illusion I
B-side"Sweet Child o' Mine" (LP version)
ReleasedFebruary 18, 1992
Recorded1990–1991
Studio
  • A&M
  • Record Plant
  • Studio 56
  • Image Recording
  • Conway
  • Northstar Recordings (violins)
  • Metalworks Recording
  • Skip Saylor Recording (album mixing)
Genre
Length
  • 8:57 (album version)
  • 4:43 (radio edit)
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)Axl Rose
Producer(s)
Guns N' Roses singles chronology
"Live and Let Die"
(1991)		 "November Rain"
(1992)		 "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
(1992)
Music video
"November Rain" on YouTube

"November Rain" peaked at number three on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the longest song in history to enter the top ten of that chart at the time of its release. It is also the fourth longest song to enter the Hot 100 chart (second longest at the time of its release).[3] The song reached number two on the Portuguese Singles Chart, number four on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 on several other music charts around the world.

History

Slash states in his autobiography that an 18-minute version of "November Rain" was recorded at a session with guitarist Manny Charlton (of rock band Nazareth) in 1986, before the recording sessions for Appetite for Destruction began.[4]: 151 

According to a story Axl Rose told an audience during the 2006 leg of the Chinese Democracy Tour, none of the other band members had wanted to partake in the production of this song (or the other notable ballad "Estranged"). Slash and Duff McKagan were particularly opposed to the drift to symphonic ballads, and felt their choice of more direct rock songs were being overlooked by Rose. However, Rose talked them into it over discussions at Can-Am Studios (where some of the album was recorded and mixed). Claims of such harsh musical differences were specifically disputed by Slash in his autobiography.[4]: 454 

Slash has said that the solo he played in the album version of the song (it is unclear which) was the same solo he improvised upon hearing it for the first time.[4]: 316 [5]

Song information

At 8:57 minutes long, it is the second-longest song on the album, the longest being the 10:14 "Coma". It is the third-longest song by Guns N' Roses, behind the 9:24 "Estranged" from Use Your Illusion II. "We call it 'the Layla song'," joked Slash.[6]

Its distinct symphonic overtone owes to a sweeping string arrangement, orchestrated by Rose.[4]: 318 [7]

It was the longest song ever to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 until November 2021, when it was superseded by Taylor Swift's extended rerecording of "All Too Well".[8][9][10] The song's composition was influenced by Elton John's 1973 opus “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”.[11]

Chart performance

"November Rain" peaked at number nine in Germany and remained on the chart for 51 weeks.[12]

In Australia, "November Rain" reached number two on the 1992 end-of-year chart despite only reaching number five on the ARIA Singles Chart.[13] It was featured on ARIA's year-end charts in two consecutive years (1992 and 1993, when it appeared at 36).[14][15] A similar situation took place in New Zealand, where the song peaked at number seven but stayed in the top 20 for 24 non-consecutive weeks, ending 1992 as New Zealand's second best-selling single.[16][17]

Music video
Composite image of the wedding dress from the "November Rain" music video worn by Stephanie Seymour.

The music video, directed by Andy Morahan,[18] was inspired by Del James’s short story "Without You", for which he is credited in the long version of the video. The short story portrays a rock star struggling to come to terms with the loss of his girlfriend, who committed suicide by gunshot after he repeatedly strayed from their relationship. November Rain is one of the most expensive music videos ever.[19]

The video tells a story reminiscent of Without You, intercut with a live performance in Los Angeles' Orpheum Theater.[20] First, in a black-and-white sequence, Rose’s character is seen going to bed and taking pills; a bottle of whisky is also visible next to him. The scene, now in color, changes to the wedding of the main characters, played by Rose and his then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour. The other band members are among the many guests.

Slash’s character realizes he has forgotten the wedding rings, but McKagan’s character offers some of his rings as a substitute. After the couple has left the church, the reception is shown. However, chaos ensues as the reception is interrupted by sudden heavy rain and everyone runs for shelter, one of the guests jumping through the wedding cake.

The next scene shows a funeral at the same church. Rose’s character is grieving at the death of his wife. Seymour is lying in an open coffin, but only half of her face is visible while the other is covered and a mirror placed in the middle, suggesting the other side of her face is disfigured, as would be the case with a suicide by gunshot as portrayed in Without You. As at the wedding, it starts to rain heavily during the funeral at the cemetery.

A final scene shows Seymour’s character back at the wedding, tossing her white bouquet, which turns red in the air and lands on her coffin. Black and white scenes of Rose’s character sleeping in bed while moving about restlessly are intercut with the wedding and funeral scenes, suggesting they are part of a nightmare of Rose’s character. The last black and white scene shows Rose’s character jerking awake, as if from a nightmare.

For the outside shots of Slash while he is playing the first solo, Rose had originally envisioned it taking place in a "cool field" of sorts. However, since the video was shot in winter, there were no good-looking fields around, and eventually the band decided to film in New Mexico, where they had a church transported specifically for the shoot.[20][21] The larger church, for the wedding scenes, is Los Angeles' St. Brendan Catholic Church.[20]

The music videos for "November Rain", "Don't Cry" and "Estranged" form an unofficial trilogy of sorts. While never specifically confirmed by the band, Rose and Del James (whose short story "Without You" served as inspiration for the video, for which he was credited at the end) have made statements supporting this idea.[22][23]

In July 2018, it became the first video made before YouTube's founding to surpass one billion views,[24] as well as the first music video from the 1990s to hit over a billion YouTube streams.[25] As of 2022, the video has over 1.8 billion views.

Live performances
Axl Rose performing "November Rain" at Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, UK, in May 2012.

The band performed a nearly nine-minute live version of the song with British musician Elton John on piano at the end of the 1992 VMAs ceremony.[11]

Reception

"November Rain" was voted number one on the Rock 1000 2006, an annual countdown of the top 1,000 rock songs by New Zealand radio listeners. It was voted number two on the 2007 version, beaten by "Back in Black" by AC/DC.[26] The song topped the "album tracks" section of a 1993 readers' poll in GN'R fanzine Controversy, beating "Coma". The top ten was completed by "Estranged", "Civil War", "Paradise City", "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Don't Cry", "Welcome to the Jungle", "Patience" and "Mr. Brownstone".[27]

The song was placed at number 140 on Pitchfork's "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s".[28] In Chile, the song was placed at number 73 on Chilean radio Rock & Pop.[29] In 2017, Paste ranked the song number nine on their list of the 15 greatest Guns N' Roses songs,[30] and in 2020, Kerrang ranked the song number six on their list of the 20 greatest Guns N' Roses songs.[31]

NPR described the song as "one of the ultimate hard-rock power ballads",[1] while VH1 stated that the song "is the sprawling, cosmic-reaching, just-so-insane-it-works hard rock epic toward which every previous single-track hard rock epic had led and from which every subsequent single-track hard rock epic has emerged".[32] Glide Magazine named the song at second in their list of "Favorite Hair-Metal Power Ballads".[2]

Track listings
CD maxi
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."November Rain"Axl Rose8:57
2."Sweet Child o' Mine"Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler5:55
3."Patience"Stradlin5:53
Cassingle
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."November Rain"Rose8:57
2."Sweet Child o' Mine"Rose, Stradlin, Slash, McKagan, Adler5:55
7-inch maxi
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."November Rain"Rose8:57
2."Sweet Child o' Mine"Rose, Stradlin, Slash, McKagan, Adler5:55
12-inch maxi
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."November Rain"Rose8:57
2."Sweet Child o' Mine"Rose, Stradlin, Slash, McKagan, Adler5:55
3."Patience"Stradlin5:53

Personnel

Guns N' Roses

Additional musicians

  • Stuart Bailey – backing vocals, choir
  • Shannon Hoon – backing vocals, choir
  • Johann Langlie – synthesizer programming
  • Reba Shaw – backing vocals, choir

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[57] 4× Platinum 280,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[58] Gold 45,000
Germany (BVMI)[59] Gold 250,000^
Italy (FIMI)[60] Platinum 50,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[61] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[62] Platinum 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[63] Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[64] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Thompson, Stephen (June 28, 2018). "Hear A Never-Before-Heard, Piano-Only Demo Of Guns N' Roses' 'November Rain'". NPR. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  2. Bernstein, Scott (January 4, 2007). "THE B List: Favorite Hair-Metal Power Ballads". Glide Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. "The Longest & Shortest Hot 100 Hits: From Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce & David Bowie to Piko-Taro". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  4. Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. New York: Harper Entertainment.
  5. Select, November 1996
  6. Rowland, Mark (February 1991). "LA Law and Disorder". Select, reprinted from Musician. p. 46.
  7. Guns N' Roses – The Making of 'November Rain' (part 6) on YouTube
  8. 2000 Guinness World Records ISBN 0-553-58268-2
  9. Feature, Guitar World Staff 2009-01-29T16:56:08Z. "50 Greatest Guitar Solos". guitarworld. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  10. "What Do Taylor Swift, Guns N' Roses, Meatloaf, and David Bowie Have In Common? | Enstars". November 23, 2021.
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  20. Rampton, Mike. "A PROBABLY FAR TOO FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF GUNS N' ROSES' NOVEMBER RAIN VIDEO". kerrang.com. Kerrang. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
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