In the Back of a Van: The Story Behind “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses exploded out of the Los Angeles club scene in 1986 when they signed with Geffen Records and released Appetite for Destruction. The album did not sell right out of the gate, but as momentum picked up with airplay and touring, it went on to be one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, Slash, and Steven Adler all co-wrote the 12 songs on the debut album. “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine” were massive hits on both radio and MTV, setting up the success of the third single about an urchin who morphs into a career criminal and ultimately ends up in the gas chamber. Let’s look at the story behind “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses.

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home (oh, won’t you please take me home)
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home (oh, won’t you please take me home)

In the Back of a Van

Slash shared the birth of the song in his 2008 autobiography: “We were in our rental van, drinking and playing acoustic guitars, when I came up with the jangly intro to what became ‘Paradise City.’ Duff and Izzy picked it up and started playing it while I came up with the chord changes. I started humming a melody and played it over and over. Then Axl chimed in. ‘Take me down to the Paradise City.’ … I kept playing and tossed off some impromptu lyrics. ‘Where the grass is green, and girls are pretty.’”

Just a urchin livin’ under the street
I’m a hard case that’s tough to beat
I’m your charity case, so buy me something to eat
I’ll pay you at another time
Take it to the end of the line
Rags to riches, or so they say
Ya gotta keep pushin’ for the fortune and fame
You know it’s all a gamble when it’s just a game
Ya treat it like a capital crime
Everybody’s doin’ the time

It’s Slash’s Favorite GN’R Song

Slash was not happy with that lyric: “Take me down to the Paradise City,’ Axl sang again. ‘Where the girls are fat, and they’ve got big t—ies,’ I shouted. ‘Take … me … home!’ Axl sang. It was decided that the ‘grass is green’ line worked a bit better, and though I preferred my alternate take, I was overruled. I expanded on the basic structure of the song as everyone improvised lyrics in rounds as if we were on a bus heading off to rock and roll summer camp, which, as the L.A. skyline came into view, I suppose we were. After we got that whole chorus rolling, that’s when I slammed into the big heavy riff that anchors the song. And that’s the moment that “Paradise City” became my favorite Guns N’ Roses song.

“As atypically happy and gay as this all sounds for Guns N’ Roses, it definitely went down that way; and it was sort of that kind of experience.”

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home
Strapped in the chair of the city’s gas chamber
Why I’m here, I can’t quite remember
The surgeon general says it’s hazardous to breathe
I’d have another cigarette, but I can’t see
Tell me who you’re gonna believe
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home, yeah yeah
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home, yeah yeah

The Guitar Solo

Slash had trouble in the studio with the solo. “In concert, it could last anywhere from one to two minutes, but on the album version of the song, it was designed to be exactly 30 seconds, he said. “So it wasn’t easy for me to focus the same narrative and emotion into 30 seconds, and when the red light came on, it threw me for a loop. I actually got gun-shy. I remember going at it a few times and getting so frustrated that I just left the studio completely disappointed. The next day, though, I came in fresh and nailed it.”

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
Captain America’s been torn apart
Now he’s a court jester with a broken heart
He said turn me around and take me back to the start
I must be losing my mind are you blind?
I’ve seen it all a million times
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home, yeah yeah
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home, yeah yeah
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home
I wanna go, I wanna go
Oh, won’t you please take me home
I wanna see how good it can be
Oh, won’t you please take me home
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Take me home
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home
Take me down, lead me ’round
Oh, won’t you please take me home
I wanna see what a woman can be
I want to take you home
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green, and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home
I wanna go, I wanna know
Oh, won’t you please take me home, yeah baby

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images