Welcome to the Jungle is a song by the rock band Guns N’ Roses, included on their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). Released as a single initially in the UK on September 28, 1987 and then again in October 1988, this time including the US, where it reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2009, the song was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. In 2021, Rolling Stone included it at 491 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Axl Rose wrote the lyrics while visiting a friend in Seattle:
“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.”
Guitarist Izzy Stradlin summarizes the song as:
“About Hollywood streets; true to life.”
Slash describes the development of the music in his self-titled autobiography. As the band was trying to write new material, Rose 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:
“It was really the first thing we all collaborated on…” the guitarist recalled. “In that whole ‘discovering ourselves’ period from ’85 through ’86 – when we were living together very haphazardly and getting together and jamming – there was something going on that not a lot of people had. And this song just had this natural feel that was very cool.”
Tracklist:
Side A:
1.- Welcome to the jungle
Side B:
1.- Mr. Brownstone
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. 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 (directed by Nigel Dick) 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.”
Mr. Brownstone was the first Guns N’ Roses single released outside of the United States and appeared as the A-side of It’s So Easy in the United Kingdom. In the US, it was used as the B-side of Welcome to the Jungle.
Personnel
W. Axl Rose: lead vocals
Slash: lead guitar
Izzy Stradlin: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Duff McKagan: bass, backing vocals
Steven Adler: drums
