"Civil War"
Single by Guns N' Roses
from the album Use Your Illusion II
Released	1993
Format	Vinyl LP, Cassette, CD
Recorded	1990
Genre	Hard rock
Length	07:34
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Axl Rose Slash Duff McKagan
Producer(s)	Mike Clink Guns N' Roses
Chart positions
#4 (U.S. Mainstream Rock)
Guns N' Roses singles chronology
"Yesterdays" (1992)	"Civil War" (1993)	"Ain't It Fun?" (1993)

"Civil War" is a Guns N' Roses song (written by Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan), originally appearing on the 1990 album "Nobody's Child", a fundraising 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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... See also: 1993 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1993 Record labels established in 1993 other events of 1993 list of years in music 1990s in music // January 8 - The U.S. Postal service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMGs Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... W. Axl Rose [1], commonly known as Axl Rose, (born William Bruce Rose, Jr. ... Saul Hudson, better known to the world as Slash, was one of the guitarists of hard rock band Guns N Roses. ... Duff Rose McKagan (born Michael Andrew McKagan on February 5, 1964) is an American musician and bassist, who is best known for his thirteen-year tenure in the 1980s hard rock band Guns N Roses. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Mike Clink started his career as an engineer at the famed Record Plant, recording such bands as Metallica (including tracks found on “Garage, Inc. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ... The Mainstream Rock Tracks chart is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music but are not modern rock (that is, alternative) stations, which are counted in the Modern Rock Tracks chart. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... W. Axl Rose [1], commonly known as Axl Rose, (born William Bruce Rose, Jr. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Duff Rose McKagan (born Michael Andrew McKagan on February 5, 1964) is an American musician and bassist, who is best known for his thirteen-year tenure in the 1980s hard rock band Guns N Roses. ... A protest song is a song intended to protest perceived problems in society such as injustice, racial discrimination, war, globalization, inflation, social inequalities, incarceration, the Greenhouse effect, the global warming. ... Look up war in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

Guns N' Roses performed the song at Farm Aid IV on April 7, 1990. This performance was televised. Farm Aid started as a benefit concert on September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois, held to raise money for family farmers in the United States. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ...

It was the first track on Use Your Illusion II, appeared on the compilation Use Your Illusion, and on Guns N' Roses Greatest Hits. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Use Your Illusion is a Guns N Roses album that is mixed from the Use Your Illusion I & II albums. ... Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Guns N Roses. ...

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. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Kennedy Assassination redirects here. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ...

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." September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... “Martin Luther King” redirects here. ...

The song samples Strother Martin's speech in Cool Hand Luke ("What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.") and a Peruvian militant general's speech ("We practice selective annihilation of mayors and government officials, for example, to create a vacuum, then we fill that vacuum. As popular war advances, peace is closer"). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Strother Martin, (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American character actor in numerous films and television programs. ... Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American film starring Paul Newman and directed by Stuart Rosenberg. ... It has been suggested that Extrajudicial Executions and Assasinations be merged into this article or section. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ...

The song ends (with Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile tune) with the telling line, "What's so civil about war anyway?", a word play on the dual meaning of the word civil. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Voodoo Chile is a song performed by Jimi Hendrix, found on his album Electric Ladyland. ... Word play is a literary technique in which the nature of the words used themselves become part of the subject of the work. ...

The song also plays homage to American Civil War song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" with snippets of the tune used in the introduction, and then again in the outro. This article is becoming very long. ... When Johnny Comes Marching Home (sometimes When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again) is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed peoples longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war. ...

"Civil War" is the last song in which drummer Steven Adler played for Guns N' Roses before being replaced by Matt Sorum. Steven Adler is an American rock drummer. ... Matt Sorum (born Matthew Sorum, November 19, 1960, in Mission Viejo, California) is a hard rock drummer and percussionist. ...

External link

• Songfacts