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...and sometimes that song of yours that you think is so awful turns out to be a chart-topper: The thing about 'Sweet Child o mine,' it was written in five min

...and sometimes that song of yours that you think is so awful turns out to be a chart-topper: The thing about 'Sweet Child o mine,' it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, 'What is this song? It's gonna be nothing, it'll be filler on the record.' And except that vocal-wise, it's very sweet and sincere, Slash was just messing around when he first wrote that lick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_child_of_mine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_child_of_mine

jal278 15y ago
the process of creation is so strange sometimes. not only can something that you think is awful be instead widely appreciated, but sometimes what really is awful at an intermediate stage will somehow evolve into something really cool as you massage it further.
- gruseom 15y ago
  I question this. I'd like to see an example of something that really is awful, as opposed to just appearing awful, turning into something great later. I think it is likely that the seed of eventual greatness is present from the beginning. Of course it may appear awful along the way, even to the creator, have many incomplete aspects and so on. But is there an example of something great that didn't start out with its greatness somehow latent, in a way that can be traced in retrospect? Here's an interesting case study, the first public performance by Rage Against The Machine: http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/rage_against_the_machines_first_public_performace_1991/ http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/rage_against_the_mach.... I'm not personally a fan, but certainly they grew into something a lot of people feel is great, and the seed of it is very clear in this performance.
  - jal278 15y ago
    I bet there was a time that the individual musicians in Rage Against the Machine were pretty terrible, and that the songs they created when they were in a nascent stage were pretty terrible as well. Whether from the first time one of these artists picked up a guitar you could retrospectively identify latent aspects of their style that would later make them so innovative, I'm not sure, but I would doubt it. While their first public performance might have been pretty good, I'm guessing that their first band practice would have been pretty terrible and disheartening.
  - davvid 15y ago
    > I question this. I'd like to see an example of something that really is awful, as opposed to just appearing awful, turning into something great later. I think it is likely that the seed of eventual greatness is present from the beginning. "greatness" is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. For example, awful movies can sometimes gain a cult following. Two movies come to mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun_2#Reception http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun_2#Reception http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)
- TeMPOraL 15y ago
  Reminds me of: "The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster." – Rosabeth Moss Cantor
gruseom 15y ago
That's a great quote. This is very common in pop music. The songs that resonate most with audiences often seem trivial at first to the artist. I think partly this is because we are less creative when we have a lot of preconceptions about how a "proper" work is supposed to go. It's supposed to be hard, for example. Throwaway work can be free of those preconceptions because one isn't taking it seriously. What one ends up spontaneously creating can thus turn out to be more valuable. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds Sweet Child to be the only memorable thing they ever did. Wish I could remember other famous examples of classic songs being this kind of toss-off. Blowing in the Wind is one that comes to mind. But there are so many.
- heed 15y ago
  One of Death Cab For Cutie's most popular songs is "I Will Follow You Into The Dark." It was written in 15 minutes. http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/657035/i-will-follow-you-into-the-dark-vh1-storytellers.jhtml http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/657035/i-will-follow-you-into-...
  - JoeAltmaier 15y ago
    ...and "A Hard Day's Night" was written one night to match the movie title, which was chosen essentially at random.
- kree10 15y ago
  There's a long history (going back to at least "Rock Around the Clock") of single B-sides becoming unexpected hits. Searching for the phrase "started playing the B-side" brings up several examples: http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side%22 http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side%22 http://www.google.com/search?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side%22 http://www.google.com/search?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side...
  - RyanMcGreal 15y ago
    My favourite is the story of "Amen Brother", a forgettable (?) b-side instrumental by sixties funk band The Winstons that just happened to feature a really sweet break beat ... which went on to spawn an entire musical genre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
kahawe 15y ago
I agree with things said in here and it is a surprising anecdote considering it is probably one of their most famous songs and one of the most famous songs ever but I want to throw in: It was created in five minutes, yes, but by artists in GnR so those five minutes for them might have taken the average player days to weeks to deliver something like that. It sure is simple, just three chords, but you need a lot of skill to pull something like this off and make it sound full, interesting and catchy. Yes, creating something and inspiration can come in the absolutely weirdest, strangest moments and situations but then it takes a whole lot of skill to actually make something of the idea and ultimately deliver a song. Many people like to call it "talent" then but I like to believe that talent is rather what non-musicians like to call the result of countless hours or practicing, playing and studying and applying music theory.

jal278 15y ago

the process of creation is so strange sometimes. not only can something that you think is awful be instead widely appreciated, but sometimes what really is awful at an intermediate stage will somehow evolve into something really cool as you massage it further.

gruseom 15y ago
I question this. I'd like to see an example of something that really is awful, as opposed to just appearing awful, turning into something great later. I think it is likely that the seed of eventual greatness is present from the beginning. Of course it may appear awful along the way, even to the creator, have many incomplete aspects and so on. But is there an example of something great that didn't start out with its greatness somehow latent, in a way that can be traced in retrospect? Here's an interesting case study, the first public performance by Rage Against The Machine: http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/rage_against_the_machines_first_public_performace_1991/ http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/rage_against_the_mach.... I'm not personally a fan, but certainly they grew into something a lot of people feel is great, and the seed of it is very clear in this performance.
- jal278 15y ago
  I bet there was a time that the individual musicians in Rage Against the Machine were pretty terrible, and that the songs they created when they were in a nascent stage were pretty terrible as well. Whether from the first time one of these artists picked up a guitar you could retrospectively identify latent aspects of their style that would later make them so innovative, I'm not sure, but I would doubt it. While their first public performance might have been pretty good, I'm guessing that their first band practice would have been pretty terrible and disheartening.
- davvid 15y ago
  > I question this. I'd like to see an example of something that really is awful, as opposed to just appearing awful, turning into something great later. I think it is likely that the seed of eventual greatness is present from the beginning. "greatness" is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. For example, awful movies can sometimes gain a cult following. Two movies come to mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun_2#Reception http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun_2#Reception http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)
TeMPOraL 15y ago
Reminds me of: "The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster." – Rosabeth Moss Cantor

gruseom 15y ago

That's a great quote. This is very common in pop music. The songs that resonate most with audiences often seem trivial at first to the artist. I think partly this is because we are less creative when we have a lot of preconceptions about how a "proper" work is supposed to go. It's supposed to be hard, for example. Throwaway work can be free of those preconceptions because one isn't taking it seriously. What one ends up spontaneously creating can thus turn out to be more valuable. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds Sweet Child to be the only memorable thing they ever did. Wish I could remember other famous examples of classic songs being this kind of toss-off. Blowing in the Wind is one that comes to mind. But there are so many.

heed 15y ago
One of Death Cab For Cutie's most popular songs is "I Will Follow You Into The Dark." It was written in 15 minutes. http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/657035/i-will-follow-you-into-the-dark-vh1-storytellers.jhtml http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/657035/i-will-follow-you-into-...
- JoeAltmaier 15y ago
  ...and "A Hard Day's Night" was written one night to match the movie title, which was chosen essentially at random.
kree10 15y ago
There's a long history (going back to at least "Rock Around the Clock") of single B-sides becoming unexpected hits. Searching for the phrase "started playing the B-side" brings up several examples: http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side%22 http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side%22 http://www.google.com/search?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side%22 http://www.google.com/search?q=%22started+playing+the+b-side...
- RyanMcGreal 15y ago
  My favourite is the story of "Amen Brother", a forgettable (?) b-side instrumental by sixties funk band The Winstons that just happened to feature a really sweet break beat ... which went on to spawn an entire musical genre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac

kahawe 15y ago

I agree with things said in here and it is a surprising anecdote considering it is probably one of their most famous songs and one of the most famous songs ever but I want to throw in: It was created in five minutes, yes, but by artists in GnR so those five minutes for them might have taken the average player days to weeks to deliver something like that. It sure is simple, just three chords, but you need a lot of skill to pull something like this off and make it sound full, interesting and catchy. Yes, creating something and inspiration can come in the absolutely weirdest, strangest moments and situations but then it takes a whole lot of skill to actually make something of the idea and ultimately deliver a song. Many people like to call it "talent" then but I like to believe that talent is rather what non-musicians like to call the result of countless hours or practicing, playing and studying and applying music theory.