"November Rain" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, the power ballad was released in February 1992, by Geffen Records, as the third single from the band's third studio album, Use Your Illusion I (1991). The song peaked at number one on the US Cash Box Top 100 and number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and at almost nine minutes long it was the longest song to enter the top ten of the chart at the time of its release. , it was the fourth longest song to enter the Hot 100 chart. Additionally, "November Rain" 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. The accompanying music video was directed by Andy Morahan.

Background

Slash states in his autobiography that the band recorded in 1986 an 18-minute version of "November Rain" at a session with guitarist Manny Charlton (of rock band Nazareth) the year prior to beginning sessions for Appetite for Destruction.

Writing and composition

"November Rain" is the third-longest song by Guns N' Roses, behind "Coma" (10:14) from the same album, and "Estranged" (9:24) from Use Your Illusion II. It was the longest song ever to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 until November 2021, when surpassed by Taylor Swift's extended rerecording of "All Too Well". The song's composition was influenced by Elton John's 1973 opus "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". "We call it 'the Layla song'," joked Slash, referencing a similarly constructed rock song with a long, instrumental second part. It was later preceded by the coda from "Layla" on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.

On November 4, 2022, the track was re-released with newly recorded orchestration on a re-issue of the Use Your Illusion album. A 50-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Christopher Lennertz played the parts that had been sampled audio in the original mix. The track was mixed by Steven Wilson.

Critical reception

Robert Hilburn from Los Angeles Times wrote, "This sweeping ballad – reminiscent of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s most majestic work – underscores the ambition and range of the best and most volatile American hard-rock group in a decade." Dave Jennings from Melody Maker said, "There's probably no other band who can match the Gunners' ability to sound frighteningly real and then laughably crass in rapid succession. [...] On "November Rain", they fit both extremes into one nine-minute epic ballad." Another editor, Simon Reynolds, declared it as "a lush, swoony, mock-orchestral epic mid-way between Trevor Horn, Jim Steinman and 'Purple Rain'." Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel viewed it as "a schlocky, over-produced ballad". Richard Harrington from The Washington Post felt that in the wake of their breakthrough power ballad "Sweet Child o' Mine", Guns N'Roses "have wisely chosen to play to their female constituency" with "November Rain". He explained that the song "finds Axl in an Elton John mood with a piano, synthesized strings and the realization that while 'It's hard to hold a candle/ in the cold November rain,' we should 'never mind the darkness/ we can still find a way/ cause nothin' lasts forever/ even cold November rain.' On the other hand, at almost nine minutes, this song comes close."

Chart performance

In the United States, the song peaked at number three for two weeks in 1992, making it Guns N' Roses' sixth and last top-10 hit. It stayed in the top 10 for 10 weeks and on the Hot 100 for 30 weeks. The song also peaked at number nine in Germany and remained on the chart for 51 weeks. 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 died by suicide (gunshot) after he repeatedly strayed from their relationship. November Rain is one of the most expensive music videos ever made.

The video tells a story reminiscent of "Without You", and features a live performance footage from Los Angeles' Orpheum Theater. First, in a silhouette, 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 forgot the wedding rings, when McKagan's character offers his rings as a substitute. After the wedding couple leaves the church, we see the wedding reception that is later interrupted by sudden, heavy rain, causing everyone to run for shelter.

The next scene shows a funeral at the same church. Rose's character grieves at the death of his wife, now inside a casket with a mirrored object obscuring half of her face. A heavy rain falls upon the cemetery when the casket is laid to rest.

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's nightmares show a mix of wedding and funeral scenes. The music video ends with Rose's character kneeling beside her grave and the bouquet turns back to white as the rain washes the red color away.

For the outside shots of Slash's first guitar solo, Rose had originally envisioned it taking place in a "cool field". Because the video was shot in winter, however, there were no good-looking fields around, and the band decided to film in New Mexico, where they had a church building transported specifically for the shoot. In February 2023, the music video reached another milestone after it surpassed two billion views and remaining the oldest song (from the early 1990s) to achieve that feat.

The video was re-released in November 2022, with the newly synced orchestration, to promote the Use Your Illusion (Super Deluxe Edition) box set.

Live performances

thumb|[[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. On January 22, 2023, Rose performed a shortened, solo version of "November Rain" during the memorial service of Lisa Marie Presley in Graceland.

Retrospective response

"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. 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".

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

NPR described the song as "one of the ultimate hard-rock power ballads", Glide Magazine named the song at second in their list of "Favorite Hair-Metal Power Ballads".

Track listings

Personnel

Guns N' Roses

  • W. Axl Rose – lead and backing vocals, piano, string synthesizer, choir
  • Slash – lead guitar, backing vocals, choir
  • Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, choir
  • Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals, choir
  • Matt Sorum – drums, backing vocals, choir
  • Dizzy Reed – backing vocals, choir

Additional musicians

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

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1992–1993)

!scope="col"|Peak<br/>position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 11

|-

!scope="row"|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)

| 7

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi)

| 26

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Portugal (AFP)

| 2

|-

!scope="row"|Spain (AFYVE)

| 19

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

| 36

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 100

| 1

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (2023)

!scope="col"|Peak<br/>position

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1992)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

| 2

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM)

| 56

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 53

|-

!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)

| 13

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

| 13

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

| 12

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

| 2

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100

| 17

|-

!scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 100

| 6

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Chart (1993)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

|align="center"|36

|}

Certifications

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|February 24, 1992

|rowspan="2"|

|rowspan="2"|

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|Australia

|March 9, 1992

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|Japan

|April 21, 1992

|Mini-CD

|Geffen

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|June 2, 1992

|

|

|align="center"|