Civil War named one of the greatest protest songs

[jarmo]

This is kinda interesting. Among all the "best _______ tracks of all time" categories, it's rarely we see GN'R mentioned in this kind of list....

20. Guns N' Roses: 'Civil War' - Born from an instrumental Slash and Duff McKagan used to play in sound-check, the 1993 Guns N' Roses song took on a life of its own when Axl Rose wrote lyrics around it. Essentially a homage to Vietnam style protest songs, 'Civil War' mentions both John F Kennedy's assassination and Martin Luther King whilst playing with the dual meaning of the word 'civil' in Civil War by asking "What's so civil about war anyway?".
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http://www.gigwise.com/news/56140/U2-Guns-N-Roses-The-Clash---The-20-Greatest-Protest-Songs


Too bad they didn't check their facts.... The single was released in 1993, but the song had been out for a while before that. 


/jarmo

[LunsJail]

Hmm....I never realized it was released as a single. I do remember it being on the B-side of the You Could be Mine single that came out about the same time as Terminator 2, months before the UYI albums. The stores still sold single tapes at that point (I feel so old).

[Tyson]

Incredible song

[Jdog0830]

Glad they did in all honesty it is my favorate protest song!!!
Not to mention just as powerfull today if you ask me as it was back in the 90s no its even stronger than back then concidering the events that have happened back in the 00's




Joe

[COMAMOTIVE]

Political ramifications aside.......the song fucking rocks and is one of their greatest accomplishments

[Jdog0830]

Political ramifications aside.......the song fucking rocks and is one of their greatest accomplishments

Forgot to mention that part!!!!

 


Joe

[Bodhi]

One of the best GNR songs of all time in my opinion.  This song usually gets overlooked.   GNR put out so many videos and singles during the "illusion" era it seems that this one always got lost in the shuffle for whatever reason.  It's nice to see it getting some recognition.

[Christian]

I love the "slowed" version with Adler, like the "Farm Aid 1990" perfomance.

Axl and the new guys should play it

[GUNNER]

It's almost a crime that a band who made a song like this do not play it in every show...

This music should be considered a hymn. It should be considered the "soundtrack" of any campain against war situation like "we are the champions" or "we will rock you"is in soccer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWaqtG9eRgA&feature=player_embedded

[StardustGirl]

Incidentally, this was the song that pulled me in to the GNR world. During the xmas holiday in 1991 I was listening to UYI2 that my brother had boughtt and suddenly I was all hooked. It's very nice that GNR occasionally get some recognition for the fact that the band has written quite a few songs that actually carry a message.

[Spirit]

Hmm....I never realized it was released as a single. I do remember it being on the B-side of the You Could be Mine single that came out about the same time as Terminator 2, months before the UYI albums. The stores still sold single tapes at that point (I feel so old).

You might remember/recognize it if you saw the cover? (I had forgotten about this single cover until I saw it again).

[CheapJon]

One of the best GNR songs of all time in my opinion.  This song usually gets overlooked.   GNR put out so many videos and singles during the "illusion" era it seems that this one always got lost in the shuffle for whatever reason.  It's nice to see it getting some recognition.

yeah it's a shame it gets overlooked, i admit, even i forget about it's greatness sometimes


would love to hear the current band playing it

[draguns]

Jarmo, are you sure that it was released as a single in 93? I thought it was first released as a single in 1990 as part of the benefit album for Romanian children.

[jarmo]

Jarmo, are you sure that it was released as a single in 93? I thought it was first released as a single in 1990 as part of the benefit album for Romanian children.

I don't think it was a single in 1990. It was on the charity album.

Then it was a B-side to You Could Be Mine in 1991.

Then the Civil War EP, pictured above, was released in 1993.

The music video for the song that they played on MTV over here in Europe, was taken from the Tokyo show (that was out on VHS at the time).



/jarmo

[One.In.A.Million]

I agree this is an outstanding song, and sometimes I feel this song gets overlooked. A song that is more relavent today than it has always been.

An epic song about a very important issue.

[LIGuns]

I remember Axl's rant on how the song was written n' recorded prior to the Gulf War 0f 1991..He also stated regardless if you are for against the war your an asshole if you don't support the soldiers..

[DoctorNo]

I love the "slowed" version with Adler, like the "Farm Aid 1990" perfomance.

Love that version. I also dig the later version with the Voodoo Chile intro. It'd be great if they'd play this again.

But I don't think it's really a "protest song." Implicit in the lyrics - well, explicit, really - is the recognition that the propensity for war (along with murder, cruelty and bloodshed in general) is an inherent human quality and that it'll always be with us.

Don't get me wrong, Axl's not vacillating here, the song is definitely anti-war. But boil it down, and a protest song says "End war." Civil war says "War is horrible." It's an important distinction. It suggests a wisdom beyond his years (when he wrote the lyrics - cue Dead Horse) and a generally more sophisticated worldview than is conveyed by a typical protest song.

I remember Axl's rant on how the song was written n' recorded prior to the Gulf War 0f 1991..He also stated regardless if you are for against the war your an asshole if you don't support the soldiers..

And maybe that's why he hasn't revisited it live. I remember Axl that intro, warning the crowd not to take it out of context, or to read it in the context of current events. Maybe he feels the song has already had its time and place, like One in a Million. I don't know much about Axl's politics, anyway, and I'd like to keep it that way. One Bono is enough.

[jazjme]

I actually heard it on a pirate radio station, in 89..
here in NY, driving upstate, didnt hear about it till a yr later, when it was on NObody's Child , and then when on Illusions.

[D]

one of the greatest GNR songs of all time. Axl def should bring this back to the setlist.

[November_Rain]

That song is one of my favourites and it?s cool to see it gets some recognition outside the GNR fans circle