Civil War (song)
Encyclopedia
"Civil War" is a song by the rock
band Guns N' Roses
, which originally appeared on the 1990 compilation Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
and later on the 1991 album Use Your Illusion II
. It is a protest song
on war
, referring to all war as 'civil war' and that it only "feeds the rich while it buries the poor." In the song, singer Axl Rose
asks, "What's so civil about war, anyway?"
artists Axl Rose, Slash
and Duff McKagan
. Slash stated that the song was an instrumental he had written right before the band left for the Japanese leg of its Appetite for Destruction
world tour. Axl wrote lyrics and it was worked into a proper song at a sound check in Melbourne
, Australia
. On September 27, 1993, Duff McKagan explained where the song came from in an interview on Rockline
: "Basically it was a riff that we would do at sound-checks. Axl came up with a couple of lines at the beginning. And... I went in a peace march, when I was a little kid, with my mom. I was like four years old. For Martin Luther King. And that's when: "Did you wear the black arm band when they shot the man who said: 'Peace could last forever'?. It's just true-life experiences, really."
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
, which originally appeared on the 1990 compilation Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal
- Notes :* On the included performance, the All-Starr Band consisted of Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Dr. John, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Jim Keltner, Clarence Clemons, and Zak Starkey....
and later on the 1991 album Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...
. It is a protest song
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
on war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, referring to all war as 'civil war' and that it only "feeds the rich while it buries the poor." In the song, singer Axl Rose
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...
asks, "What's so civil about war, anyway?"
Background
"Civil War" was the brainchild of the Guns N' RosesGuns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
artists Axl Rose, Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
and Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
. Slash stated that the song was an instrumental he had written right before the band left for the Japanese leg of its Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
world tour. Axl wrote lyrics and it was worked into a proper song at a sound check in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. On September 27, 1993, Duff McKagan explained where the song came from in an interview on Rockline
Rockline
Rockline is a nationally syndicated radio interview program hosted by Bob Coburn that broadcasts live via satellite every Monday and Wednesday night from 8:30pm-10pm PT to radio stations in the United States. Founded in 1981, it is considered to be the longest running, uninterrupted program in rock...
: "Basically it was a riff that we would do at sound-checks. Axl came up with a couple of lines at the beginning. And... I went in a peace march, when I was a little kid, with my mom. I was like four years old. For Martin Luther King. And that's when: "Did you wear the black arm band when they shot the man who said: 'Peace could last forever'?. It's just true-life experiences, really."
Track listings
Reception
- "Civil War" reached number four on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in Billboard magazine.
Performances
- Guns N' Roses performed the song at Farm Aid IVFarm AidFarm Aid started as a benefit concert on September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, held to raise money for family farmers in the United States...
on April 7, 1990, which was their last concert with Adler on the drums. This performance was televised.
- "Civil War" is the first track on Use Your Illusion IIUse Your Illusion IIUse Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...
. It also appears on the compilation Use Your IllusionUse Your IllusionUse Your Illusion is a Guns N' Roses compilation album that is mixed from the Use Your Illusion I and II albums. It has only been released in the United States, consisting entirely of songs without profanity . However, not all songs without profanity were chosen to appear on this compilation...
and Guns N' Roses' Greatest HitsGreatest Hits (Guns N' Roses album)-Notes:*"Ain't It Fun" was censored for the compilation: "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a cunt" became "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a–", with guitar notes at 3:36 instead of the final word in the line. This version had never been officially released before, but had...
.
- During live performances of "Civil War" at the end of the song SlashSlash (musician)Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
will sample the opening riff of the Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
song Voodoo Child (Slight Return)Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"Voodoo Child " is the closing track on Electric Ladyland, the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The song is known for its wah-wah-heavy guitar work. It is #101 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time....
Allusions and samples
- The song samples Strother MartinStrother MartinStrother Martin was an American actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."-Early life:Strother Martin Jr. was born in Kokomo,...
's speech in Cool Hand LukeCool Hand LukeCool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
("What we've got here is... failure to communicateWhat we've got here is (a) failure to communicateThe phrase "What we've got here is failure to communicate" is a famous line from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke.There are actually two close variants of the line that are spoken at different points in the film. Nuances of accent, delivery, and intonation aside, they are as follows:# "What we've got...
. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.").
- It also quotes a PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian militant general's speech ("We practice selective annihilationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of mayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
s and government officials, for example, to create a vacuum, then we fill that vacuum. As popular war advances, peace is closer").
- The song also plays homage to American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
song "When Johnny Comes Marching HomeWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.-Origins:...
" with snippets of the tune used in the introduction, and then again in the outro.
Personnel
- Axl RoseAxl RoseW. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...
- lead vocals, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Izzy StradlinIzzy StradlinJeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
- rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocals, production - SlashSlash (musician)Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
- lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, production - Duff McKaganDuff McKaganMichael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
- bass, backing vocals, production - Steven AdlerSteven AdlerSteven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
- drums - Dizzy ReedDizzy ReedDizzy Reed is a contemporary rock musician, and occasional actor. He is best known for his tenure as the keyboardist & pianist for the rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, production