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Axl broached the subject when he talked about the PMRC sticker on AFD back in 1988: The sticker's pointless [laughs]. It means nothing either way. And if I don't say the word "fuck" or whatever on the next record that's just because it wasn't put in that song, you know, it's nothing to do with, we don't write songs based on sales or anything else, we just write songs about how we feel [...] [MTV Headbanger's Ball, September 1988].

He also sort of touched upon it in an interview in 1987: I've been in all kinds of different bands in LA, some of which exist now and some who don't, where we've been going to go into studio and right then and there I've quit because I wouldn't allow myself to be on record if it was to come out that way. I had a really strong idea of what I wanted to show people musically and I've never let up on it just for the sake of getting successful or having a place to sleep [interview with Sam Harris, December 1987].

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Despite the above statements, the first version of It's So Easy to go out (ie to DJ's in the UK) didn't have any swearing (although the single that went to stores was the album version). Most of the ending of the song was edited to make it that way, but in the middle Axl does sing "Why don't you just.......BACK OFF".

'You're Crazy' was also originally called 'Fucking Crazy', but Axl didn't want to see that on the back of the record as he was worried it would turn people off. There's an interview out there just as Appetite is coming out where Izzy finds out about the name change in the interview and Axl talks about it.

So again I think the above statements are just BS trying to be perceived a certain way - as compromises were made.

In terms of the original question though, I do think the songs just came naturally, and if they were delivered another way, I think their character would have been altered - so I doubt it was a conscious thing to say this song will or won't have some swearing in it. I think Brownstone is the best example, it would have been very easy to change that one f-bomb if there was any sort of thought put in to the song writing about the effect of some swearing in the songs. I really doubt they were thinking about any songs being on top of the charts when Appetite was being written - I think they were just doing what they wanted which is why it came out so good.

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I think Slash' suggestion for the PC chorus was rejected not because they were controversial (even in the 80s 'titties' weren't really that offensive, at least not to other lyrical content on AFD), but because they were silly and more a reflection of Slash's own desires than anything else.

And as for You're Crazy:

Axl: It's called 'You're Crazy' 'cause I didn't want some asshole picking it up and they go, 'they put fuck on here,' and then they won't even give it a chance. It was written on acoustic, about another girl we know who was crazy [An Interview With The Gunners, Hit Parader - March 1988]

Axl: The original way 'You're Crazy' was written, was without the curse words. THEY didn't come in until it came on full electric, in front of a crowd with some girl trying to hit me with a beer bottle, and I started directing the words directly at her. That's where the curses happened. I stamped her head with the bottom of my mic stand, and she kept coming at me! I didn't even know her -- nobody in the band knew her. She hit Duff with a beer bottle [Nussbaum (1988) Soft As A Petal/Sharp As A Thorn, Rock Scene - April 1988]

Thanks for the info, raska27!

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Maybe part of why they signed to Geffen was because they were given room to say what they want, and other labels weren't going to allow them to. For David Geffen to stand by "One In a Million"? If they had been on another label, I don't think GNR would have been able to put it out, and if they had, would have been forced to remove it.

They already compromised the artwork for the AFD cover but all they did was move it, nothing was banned, and the art was something you could have seen in Heavy Metal (the comic book) magazine in any 7-11! The revised cover was better, more iconic.

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They praised Geffen for the artistic freedom they were given:

Axl: Haha, that's why we went with Geffen. We went with om Zutaut who signed [...] and Motley Crue to Elektra and he went to Geffen and he was looking for a band he could just go balls out with. In a matter of fact, in one of the songs, when we just went in and we laid down the song and I left out some obscenities and they told me to go and re-do them[KNAC, December 1986].

Steven: Adding: It's like whatever we do they are behind it [KNAC, December 1986].

Slash: Adding: We have total artistic control! [KNAC, December 1986].

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Yet Geffen were thinking of dropping them when they were strung out on drugs, trashed their house and everybody refused to manage them. Well, this is what Rosenblatt told Niven. It might be worth mentioning the Paul Stanley 'Welcome to the Jungle' anecdote. Stanley wanted to rework it as a pop hit, adding a new chorus or something or other, to which GN'R politely told Stanley to bugger off.

PS

But that is why they went with Geffen. Other labels offered more money but Geffen offered complete artistic control (I wonder if they had learnt their lesson after the Neil Young saga).

Edited by DieselDaisy
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Despite the above statements, the first version of It's So Easy to go out (ie to DJ's in the UK) didn't have any swearing (although the single that went to stores was the album version). Most of the ending of the song was edited to make it that way, but in the middle Axl does sing "Why don't you just.......BACK OFF".

you have some proof for this? the DJ's UK version doesnt have the altered lyrics i think.

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Anything Goes was changed quite a bit as well. The one verse about "I know you want it and you can bring your sister, and we can do it on top of the car", was excellent. That said, I can see why it was changed. That's also why having demos is cool for the fans, hearing all the differences between final takes and seeing how songs evolve is cool neato....

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