Mr. Brownstone: Difference between revisions

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{{use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}

{{Song infobox|

{{Infobox song

| Name name = Mr. Brownstone

| Cover = GunsnRosesAppetiteforDestructionalbumcover.jpg

| Caption cover = CoverIt's forSo ''AppetiteEasy for Destruction''Single.jpeg

| Artist alt = [[Guns N' Roses]]

| Album type = [[Appetite for Destruction]]Single

| Released artist = [[JulyGuns 21]]N' [[1987Roses]]

| track_no album = 5[[Appetite for Destruction]]

| A-side = [[It's So Easy (Guns N' Roses song)|It's So Easy]]

| Recorded =

| released = {{Start date|1987|06|08}}

| Genre = [[Hard Rock]]

| Length recorded = 3:481987

| Writer studio =

| Label venue = [[Geffen Records]]

| Producer genre = [[MikeHard Clinkrock]]

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=46}}

| prev = "[[Out Ta Get Me]]"

| prev_nolabel = [[Geffen = 4Records|Geffen]]

| nextwriter = [[Izzy Stradlin]] · = "[[ParadiseSlash City(musician)|Slash]]"

| next_noproducer = [[Mike = 6Clink]]

| misc = {{extra chronology

| artist = [[Guns N' Roses]]

| type = single

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| title = [[It's So Easy (Guns N' Roses song)|It's So Easy]]" / "Mr. Brownstone

| Recordedyear = 1987

| next_title = [[Welcome to the Jungle]]

| next_year = 1987

}}

}}

"'''Mr. Brownstone'''" is a hard rock song by the American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Guns N' Roses]], featured on their debut studio album, ''[[Appetite for Destruction]]'' (1987). Lead and rhythm guitarists [[Slash (musician)|Slash]] and [[Izzy Stradlin]] wrote the song in Stradlin's apartment while lamenting their addictions to [[heroin]], for which "Brownstone" is a slang term.

==Composition==

"'''Mr. Brownstone'''" is a song performed by [[Guns N' Roses]] in the [[1980s]]. It appears on their [[1987]] album ''[[Appetite for Destruction]]''. The song's lyrics were written by Izzy Stradlin', whilst the music composed by Izzy and Slash. The song is all about the effects of [[heroin]], for which [[brownstone]] is a [[slang]] term; this is clearly reflected in the lyrics:

The lyrics are a distinct reference to [[drug tolerance]] that heroin usage causes: "I used to do a little, but a little wouldn't do it, so the little got more and more." They wrote the lyrics on the back of a grocery bag and then brought it to singer [[Axl Rose]]. Slash said the lyrics described a typical day in the life (then) of Slash and Stradlin, it was the first song the band wrote after being signed by [[Geffen Records]].<ref>Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). ''Slash''. Harper Entertainment: New York. pp. 142</ref>

==Single release==

:''We've been dancin' with Mr. Brownstone''

"Mr. Brownstone" was the first Guns N' Roses single released outside of the United States and appeared as the [[A-side]] of "[[It's So Easy (Guns N' Roses song)|It's So Easy]]" in the United Kingdom. In the US, it was used as the [[B-side]] of "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]".

:''He's been knockin', he won't leave me alone''

==Controversy==

"Dancin' with Mr. Brownstone" would obviously imply heroin use, with the latter phrase "He won't leave me alone" likely referring to increased use or [[addiction|dependence]]. This is even more clearly supported by another passage from the chorus:

[[Seung-Hui Cho]], the perpetrator of the [[Virginia Tech shooting]], wrote a play titled "Mr. Brownstone" that took inspiration from the song's lyrics.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Blabbermouth.net]] |url=https://blabbermouth.net/news/virginia-tech-killer-named-play-after-guns-n-roses-song-mr-brownstone |title=Virginia Tech Killer Named Play After GUNS N' ROSES Song 'Mr. Brownstone' |date=April 18, 2007 |access-date=January 19, 2024}}</ref> The song "[[Shackler's Revenge]]" from the band's 2008 album ''[[Chinese Democracy]]'' was written in reaction to "the insanity of senseless school shootings and also the media trying desperately to make more out of one shooter's preference for the Guns song Brownstone to no avail."<ref name="Chattrans">{{Cite web |url=http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/news/shownews.php?newsid=1973 |title=Axl answers fans' questions on GN'R fan sites (transcripts) [updated Dec 14th] |last=Rose |first=W. Axl|author-link=Axl Rose |date=December 14, 2008 |access-date=January 19, 2024}}</ref>

:''I used to do a little but the little wouldn't do, so the little got more and more.''

==Certifications==

Mr. Brownstone was the first ever Guns N' Roses single in the UK, appearing as a double A-Side, alongside It's So Easy. To the dismay of some, was not included on the ''[[Greatest Hits (Guns N' Roses album)|Greatest Hits]]'' compilation of [[2004 in music|2004]].

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Guns N Roses|title=Mr. Brownstone|award=Gold|relyear=1987|access-date=February 12, 2025|certyear=2025|source=radioscope}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

==References==

No one in the band has commented on the fact that there was a senior executive at [[Geffen Records]] named Alfred Brownstone.

{{reflist}}

{{Guns N' Roses}}

It has also been rumored that while in high school, band members [[W. Axl Rose|Axl Rose]] and [[Izzy Stradlin]] used to buy heroin from residents of the Brownstone Apartments, located in [[West Lafayette, Indiana]] on the campus of [[Purdue University]]. Both Rose and Stradlin grew up a few miles away in [[Lafayette, Indiana]]. {{fact}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1987 songs]]

[[Category:Guns N' Roses songs]]

[[Category:1987 singles]]

[[Category:Songs about heroin]]

[[Category:Songs written by Izzy Stradlin]]

[[Category:Songs written by Slash (musician)]]

[[Category:Geffen Records singles]]

{{1980s-rock-song-stub}}