14 Years
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "14 Years" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by Guns N' Roses | ||
| from the album Use Your Illusion II | ||
| Released | September 16, 1991 | |
| Recorded | A&M Studios, Record Plant Studios, Studio 56, Image Recording, Conway Studios & Metalworks Recording Studios 1990-1991 |
|
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 4:17 | |
| Label | Geffen Records | |
| Writer(s) | Axl Rose Izzy Stradlin |
|
| Producer(s) | Mike Clink Guns N' Roses |
|
| Use Your Illusion II track listing | ||
| Civil War (1) |
"14 Years" (2) |
Yesterdays (3) |
14 Years is a song by American hard rock band, Guns N' Roses, from their 1991 album Use Your Illusion II, written by band's members Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin. Stradlin (rather than Rose) sang the lead vocals on this song.
Written at the time when Izzy Stradlin was on the verge of quitting Guns N' Roses (Use Your Illusion II became Guns N' Roses' last album featuring him), the song indirectly, if not directly, describes his struggles within the band and his relationship and frustration with frontman Axl Rose, whom he had known for fourteen years at the time the song was written, and who at the time assumed virtually complete control over the band. The line "These last 4 years of madness sure put me straight" is most likely a reference to the four years between the releases of "Appetite for Destruction," released in 1987, and the "Use Your Illusion" albums, released in 1991, during which the band, including Izzy, was plagued by reckless drug and alcohol abuse, until Izzy's decision to become sober. Lines, "I've been the beggar...I've played the thief" and "I've been a dealer, hanging on your street," appear to be references to struggles he and Axl had to endure prior to the band's rise to stardom. Overall, the song appears to have foreshadowed Izzy's departure from the band, as he left Guns N' Roses only two months after the releases of the two Use Your Illusion albums.
| Guns N' Roses |
|---|
| Axl Rose • Dizzy Reed • Robin Finck • Tommy Stinson • Chris Pitman • Bryan Mantia • Richard Fortus • Bumblefoot • Frank Ferrer
Ole Beich • Rob Gardner • Tracii Guns • Steven Adler • Izzy Stradlin • Gilby Clarke • Slash • Matt Sorum • Duff McKagan • Josh Freese • Paul Tobias • Buckethead Discography
Albums: Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide • Appetite for Destruction • G N' R Lies • Use Your Illusion I • Use Your Illusion II • The Spaghetti Incident? • Use Your Illusion • Live Era: '87-'93 • Greatest Hits • Chinese Democracy Related articles
Use Your Illusion Tour • Chinese Democracy Tour • Adler's Appetite • Neurotic Outsiders • Slash's Snakepit • Velvet Revolver • UZI Suicide |