Nightrain

"Nightrain"
Single by Guns N' Roses
from the album Appetite for Destruction
A-side	"Nightrain" (LP Version)
B-side	"Reckless Life" (LP Version)
Released	July 29, 1989
Format	Vinyl Cassette CD
Recorded	1987
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock
Length	4:26
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Axl Rose Duff McKagan Slash Izzy Stradlin
Producer	Mike Clink
Guns N' Roses singles chronology
"Patience" (1989) "Nightrain" (1989) "You Could Be Mine" (1991)
Appetite for Destruction track listing "It's So Easy" (2) "Nightrain" (3) "Out ta Get Me" (4)

"Nightrain" is a song written by the American rock band Guns N' Roses in the mid 1980s. It is the third song on the band's 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction. Although it was released as a single, the song was not included in their best-of album. It reached #93 on the US Billboard charts.^[1] The song is a tribute to an infamous brand of cheap Californian wine, Night Train Express, which was extremely popular with the band during their early days because of its low price and high alcohol content.^[2] However, it is spelled differently, omitting the 'T' from 'Train', effectively making the song title a variation of 'Night Rain'. The song was ranked eighth on Guitar World's list of the "Top 10 Drinking Songs."^[3]

Composition

Slash describes Nightrain as "an anthem that we came up with on the spot"^[4]. The original idea for the song came when Slash and Izzy Stradlin wrote the main riff while they were sitting on the floor of the band's practice room. The next day, Slash was ill so Stradlin finished writing the music with Duff McKagan; however they did not write any lyrics. Also Duff McKagan played a Gibson Thunderbird Bass on this song only; on all of the other songs for Appetite for Destruction he played a Fender Precision Bass. The song remained incomplete until one night when the band was walking down Palm Avenue sharing a bottle of Night Train. Someone yelled 'I'm on the night train!' and the whole band joined in, with Axl Rose improvising the lines in between: "Bottoms up!" "Fill my cup!" etc. "Nightrain" was born. After this initial inspiration, the band finished the song within a day.^[4]

The first half of the first guitar solo and the lead intro is played by Izzy Stradlin, while all other lead guitar parts are played by Slash.

Live

"Nightrain" is a staple at Guns N' Roses concerts. In earlier shows, it was usually played early in the set. During the Chinese Democracy Tour, it is usually played as the last song before the encore, or during the encore. In some shows in late 2006 Izzy Stradlin, former rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the band, joined them for "Nightrain" and other songs.

Slash describes in his autobiography how "Nightrain" is his favorite song to perform live: "That song has a rhythm to it in the verses that from the start always made me go crazy. The first time we played it, even, I started jumping up and down - I couldn't help it. When we had our huge stage later on, I'd run the length of it, jump off the amplifiers, and lose it just about every single time we played it. I'm not sure why, but no other song we've ever played live made me move like that."^[4]

Formats and track listing

7" vinyl
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Nightrain" (LP Version)	Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Izzy Stradlin
2.	"Reckless Life" (LP Version)	Slash, Stradlin, McKagan

12" vinyl, 3" CD
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Nightrain" (LP Version)	Rose, McKagan, Slash, Stradlin
2.	"Reckless Life" (LP Version)	Slash, Stradlin, McKagan
3.	"Knockin' On Heavens Door" (Live)	Bob Dylan

• Axl Rose - lead vocals
• Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals
• Slash - lead guitar, rhythm guitar
• Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals
• Steven Adler - drums

References

1. ^ Nightrain by Guns N' Roses at Songfacts
2. ^ http://www.gnrsource.com/songinfo/afd/nite.htm
3. ^ http://www.guitarworld.com/article/top_10_drinking_songs_of_all_time
4. ^ ^{a b c} Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York. pp. 119