Today’s song is “Paradise City.” It was part of the Appetite for Destruction album, which was released on July 21, 1987. 

Appetite for Destruction topped the Billboard 200 one year after its release and is considered one of the highest-selling debut albums of all time in the US. 

Fun Facts:

• Guns N’ Roses originated in Los Angeles in 1985. The original band members include Axl Rose on lead vocals, Slash on guitar, Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, Duff McKagan on bass and Steven Adler on Drums. 
• The group members were originally part of two different bands before they joined together to form Gun N’ Roses. The name came from combining the two former bands— L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. 
• Previous name contenders included “Heads of Amazon” and “AIDS.” 
• The band’s current members are Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, and Melissa Reese. They all played a part in the songwriting process for “Paradise City.” 
• The album cover for Appetite for Destruction had to be redone. The original artwork depicted a dagger-tooth monster attacking a robot rapist. The band said the controversial scene was a social symbol meant to represent the way the industrial system is raping and polluting the environment. However, the imagery was vetoed, and Andy Engell came up with the cover we know today. 
• “Paradise City’ reached the #5 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s third single to make it to the coveted top ten spots on the Billboard Hot 100.
• The single reached the #6 spot on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top spot on the Irish Singles Chart.
• Paradise City ranked #459 on Rolling Stones 2012 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time.
• In 2012, Guns N’ Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
• The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. 

Lyrics 

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

(Take me home) Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

(Take me home) Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Just an urchin living under the street, I’m a

Hard case that’s tough to beat

I’m your charity case, so buy me something to eat

I’ll pay you at another time, take it to the end of the line

Rags to riches, or so they say, you gotta

Keep pushing for the fortune and fame

You know it’s, it’s all a gamble when it’s just a game

You treat it like a capital crime, everybody’s doing the time

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Oh, won’t you please take me home? Yeah-yeah

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Take me home

Strapped in the chair of the city’s gas chamber

Why I’m here, I can’t quite remember

The Surgeon General says it’s hazardous to breathe

I’d have another cigarette

But I can’t see, tell me who you’re gonna believe

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Take me home, yeah-yeah

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Oh, won’t you please take me home, oh yeah

So far–away

So far–away

So far–away

So far–away

Captain America’s been torn apart, now

He’s a court jester with a broken heart

He said, “Turn me around and take me back to the start”

I must be losing my mind, are you blind? I’ve seen it all a million times

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Take me home, yeah-yeah

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Oh, won’t you please take me home

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Take me home, yeah-yeah

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Oh, won’t you please take me home, home

I wanna go, I wanna know

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

I wanna see, how good it can be

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

(Take me home) Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down (oh yeah), spin me ’round

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

I wanna see, how good it can be

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

I wanna see, how good it can be

Oh, take me home?

Take me down to the Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

I wanna go, I wanna know

Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Baby