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About This Track
“Civil War” is a song by the hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, which originally appeared on the 1990 album Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal, a fund raising compilation for Romanian orphans. It is a protest song about war, that amongst other things says that a civil war only “feeds the rich while it buries the poor.” Notably, the United States was involved in no major military operations at the time of its recording, so it is mostly thought of as a tribute of sorts to 1960s anti-Vietnam War protest songs. It was written by Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan.
Slash states 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.
Guns N’ Roses performed the song at Farm Aid IV on April 7, 1990. This performance was televised.
It is the first track on Use Your Illusion II, appears on the compilation Use Your Illusion, and on Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits.
The song also mentions John F. Kennedy’s assassination with the lyrics: “and in my first memories they shot Kennedy,” as well as the battle for civil rights and the Vietnam War.
On September 27, 1993, Duff McKagan explains 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.”
Slash states 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.
Guns N’ Roses performed the song at Farm Aid IV on April 7, 1990. This performance was televised.
It is the first track on Use Your Illusion II, appears on the compilation Use Your Illusion, and on Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits.
The song also mentions John F. Kennedy’s assassination with the lyrics: “and in my first memories they shot Kennedy,” as well as the battle for civil rights and the Vietnam War.
On September 27, 1993, Duff McKagan explains 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.”
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Albums featuring this track
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Use Your Illusion II
Guns N' Roses
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Greatest Hits
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Best Ballads
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Platinum Collection 2000
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Shouts
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deadchordsmile wrote:
track is universally true.
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Cindy80e wrote:
Song is one of the best, sound great))
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cookiemischief8 wrote:
What's so civil about war anyway?
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brucechainsaw wrote:
i'm not a big fan of this group. but this song is awesome!
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corpsetastic wrote:
I'm too dumb to speak Italian so I can't discuss your view, civil war is a classic track anyhoo.
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rockvintage wrote:
ragazzi...è la mia band preferita...e giuro che venderei l'anima per vederli di nuovo insieme come i vecchi tempi (axl,slash,duff,izzy e steven)...ma so che non succederà mai...quindi non litigate perchè le cose stanno così e non penso che cambieranno visto che ormai è passato parecchio tempo...hanno avuto tanti anni per fare questa scelta ma non è successo niente...io mi sono rassegnata...ma i GNR li ascolto ancora perchè sono fantastici...axl ha il potere di togliermi il fiato ogni volta che l'ascolto...
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corpsetastic wrote:
Baby Monkey you can't listen to Chinese Democracy and say it isn't a Guns record, because it IS, axl rose is the driving force just as he was with Guns in all it's incarnations, even before Slash was there. The singer dictates the content and he had a huge hand in the majority of the songwriting, it was always his vision. The different line ups he's worked with have all produced amazing stuff, Buckethead for example is a more accomplished player than Slash in every department and I adore a lot of Slash's guns work. He has just as much right to the GNR name, it doesn't matter how ''popular'' the band were when he recorded. Axl is no fool, he knows his shit and this line up that's touring all the material are slowly being recognised. GNR have always pushed the boundaries without giving a shit, breathing music and the spirit of rock n roll led by a fucking magical guy called Axl Rose, just cause they're not the darling of tv these days it doesn't mean they're not Guns N' Roses.
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vivia wrote:
masterpiece
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MIKEH3875 wrote:
one of their best
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jp49er80 wrote:
What's so civil about war anyway?
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moon1593 wrote:
I saw them perform this live. :)
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Billy_Mackinnon wrote:
Good shout @Beerkiss.
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Billy_Mackinnon wrote:
Supreme. And just became aware of the piano in it.
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Beerkiss wrote:
Sounds to similar to this masterpiece.
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EternalDeath94 wrote:
Best Gn'R song for me.
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toehairmonkey wrote:
Great song.
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ADAMLEEGUZMAN wrote:
One Hell of a Song!!!!
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kemp678 wrote:
Look..........
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BMWPRETTY wrote:
OMG! Love this tune!!! Spank! Thank you to all the service men and woman! You Rock to me! ;-) God Bless you and your family that has your back! :-)
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WPHJLH wrote:
WHATS SO CIVIL ABOUT WAR ANY WAYS!!!!!
Track Stats
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Recent Activity
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