100. Patience by Guns n' Roses

"Patience" by Guns n' Roses

Written by Guns n' Roses
Produced by Guns n' Roses and Mike Clink
Released on G N' R Lies (November 29, 1988)
Released as single April 1989
Peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
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I was a good kid. I followed the rules. I listened to my parents. I liked Bon Jovi. Then Appetite for Destruction was released.

Nothing changed. I was still a good kid. I was told that Guns n' Roses were bad boys. They did drugs. They looked scary. Their album came with a parental advisory sticker. I knew that I was not supposed to like this band. So I ignored them. I continued listening to Bon Jovi and Aerosmith and Poison and David Lee Roth doing silly covers and making silly music videos.

Later in 1990 or 1991 while hanging with a couple guys who were a little bit older than me, one of them had a radio with a tape deck that was playing something that rocked. I really liked what I was hearing. So I asked him about it.

Me: "What song is that?"
Him: "'Night Train' by Guns n' Roses." (It might have been that. I'm not sure. I just know that it wasn't something I had heard on the radio or seen on MTV.)
Me: "Oh, I don't like that song."
Him: "You would like it if it wasn't Guns n' Roses."

That comment really offended me. It offended me because even though I knew that he was right, I wasn't going to admit it. Then as I wrestled with that, I realized that I was actively avoiding listening to music that I genuinely enjoyed. That frustrated me even more!

As that year continued, my brother, who was two years older than me, dove deep into his heavy metal phase. I started to follow along, but still clung on to the hair bands that I loved. Guns n' Roses fit as a nice middle ground between the safe, pretty hair bands that I still loved and the heavier metal bands my brother was starting to listen to.

During the summer of 1991 we moved to St. Louis. During that summer, Axl Rose helped incite a riot at Riverport Amphitheater. KSHE 95, St. Louis' iconic rock station, stopped playing Guns n' Roses. Despite that, I still listened. I started listening more. I bought a couple albums. I thought their rhythm guitarist, Izzy Stradlin, was the coolest dude alive.

Guns n' Roses were a big deal. I will argue that for a window of time somewhere between 1988 and 1992, Guns n' Roses were both the most popular musical act in the country and the most culturally important. Very few acts can claim to hold both mantles at the same time. Elvis did it. The Beatles did it. Michael Jackson did it. Garth Brooks probably did it. Kanye West certainly thinks he did it. Maybe Drake did it, but I don't know because I don't listen to new music nearly as much as I used to.

I remember when I first heard "Patience" on Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown as a long-distance dedication. I was actually surprised that I hadn't heard it when it had first climbed the charts.

"Patience" is the only Guns n' Roses song that made my Top 100. There are other songs of theirs that I thought about including ("Civil War," "Don't Cry," "Welcome to the Jungle"), but ultimately "Patience" just fits closer to the type of song I enjoy most today. If I was making a list of my 100 favorite albums, Appetite for Destruction would definitely be in my top 5.

"Patience" is an all time great ballad. It has everything, acoustic guitars, lyrics that are just vague enough and just specific enough to be relatable, whistling, and a great coda.

However, "Patience" is a terrible karaoke song. One night when I was in college, I joined a few friends for some karaoke. I'm pretty sure I sang "Long Haired Country Boy" by the Charlie Daniels Band because it is super easy and kind of funny. That's not important. What is important is that some guy got up and started singing "Patience." At the start I thought it was cool, and the singer was doing a decent job because the first part of the song is pretty easy.

Everyone in the bar is starting to relax. It's a very chill song. The whole bar was starting to vibe. Then the coda comes. Oh no. Axl goes up an octave for the coda. The singer was not capable of pulling that off. The singer butchers the high notes and his voice cracks. The chill vibe that had been building for the last four minutes is destroyed.

Do not sing "Patience" on karaoke night. Seriously. Maybe 1% of the population can actually sing it well. Some songs are lively and fun, so when the karaoke singer screws it up and can't hit the high notes, no one cares because it just adds to the fun. Everyone is already smiling and upbeat. A song like "Patience" gets everyone introspective and chill. That is not the time to ruin the mood because you have not practiced your falsetto. People forget that Axl Rose was actually an incredibly talented singer. Peak Axl is a top 5 all-time hard rock vocalist. That's a big reason that "Patience" is such a great song.

Right now "Patience" by Guns n' Roses is (probably) my 100th favorite song of all time.