Today is the 18th birthday of my great-nephew, Louis Greenwood who lives in Jersey with his parents. My sister Eileen is his maternal grandmother. I dedicate today’s song to Louis. Although you are an official adult today, Louis, to your mother and father, you will always remain ‘a sweet child of mine’.
Today’s song is ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ which the rock band, ‘Guns and Roses’ released in August 1988. The song topped the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart, becoming the band's only Number 1 US single. Billboard ranked it the Number 5 song of 1988. Re-released in 1989, it reached Number 6 on the ‘UK Singles Chart’. Guitarist Slash said in 1990, "The song turned into a huge hit and now it makes me sick. I mean, I like it, but I hate what it represents."
On an interview on Eddie Trunk’s New York radio show in May 2006, Rose stated that his original concept for the video focused on the theme of drug trafficking. According to Rose, the video was to depict an Asian woman carrying a baby into a foreign land, only to discover at the end that the child was dead and filled with the heroine. This concept was rejected by ‘Geffen Records’ who released the label.
'Sweet Child o' Mine' was placed at Number 37 on Guitar’s World’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Guitar Solos.’ It also came in at Number 3 on ‘Blender’s 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born’, and at number 198 on ‘Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ besides winning much more acclaim from various musical bodies. As of June 2019, the song was ranked as the 76th greatest song of all time, as well as the best song of 1987, by ‘Acclaimed Music’.
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When my great-nephew Louis was a young child, I spent a week in Jersey with my sister Eileen and we were accommodated at the home of his Louis’ parents, Andrea and Martin. We all had a lovely time and during that holiday, I was to frequently tease my nephew by calling him ‘a jolly old stinker!’ This was a term which a character called 'Action Annie' in one of my children’s books that I’d written would call anyone she didn’t agree with. Louis would chuckle every time he heard this phase which I continued to use on subsequent birthday cards sent annually to him over the following decade.
Given the name I gave you as a young boy, Louis, and given the good reports that your maternal grandmother (my sister Eileen) has given to me of you during the years since we last met, I would conclude today that the young man who now stands before the world in all his glory is ‘a sweet child of nature’ and is no longer ‘a jolly old stinker!’. Have a wonderful birthday, Louis.
Great Uncle Billy and Sheila x
Love and peace Bill xxx
Today’s song is ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ which the rock band, ‘Guns and Roses’ released in August 1988. The song topped the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart, becoming the band's only Number 1 US single. Billboard ranked it the Number 5 song of 1988. Re-released in 1989, it reached Number 6 on the ‘UK Singles Chart’. Guitarist Slash said in 1990, "The song turned into a huge hit and now it makes me sick. I mean, I like it, but I hate what it represents."
On an interview on Eddie Trunk’s New York radio show in May 2006, Rose stated that his original concept for the video focused on the theme of drug trafficking. According to Rose, the video was to depict an Asian woman carrying a baby into a foreign land, only to discover at the end that the child was dead and filled with the heroine. This concept was rejected by ‘Geffen Records’ who released the label.
'Sweet Child o' Mine' was placed at Number 37 on Guitar’s World’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Guitar Solos.’ It also came in at Number 3 on ‘Blender’s 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born’, and at number 198 on ‘Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ besides winning much more acclaim from various musical bodies. As of June 2019, the song was ranked as the 76th greatest song of all time, as well as the best song of 1987, by ‘Acclaimed Music’.
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When my great-nephew Louis was a young child, I spent a week in Jersey with my sister Eileen and we were accommodated at the home of his Louis’ parents, Andrea and Martin. We all had a lovely time and during that holiday, I was to frequently tease my nephew by calling him ‘a jolly old stinker!’ This was a term which a character called 'Action Annie' in one of my children’s books that I’d written would call anyone she didn’t agree with. Louis would chuckle every time he heard this phase which I continued to use on subsequent birthday cards sent annually to him over the following decade.
Given the name I gave you as a young boy, Louis, and given the good reports that your maternal grandmother (my sister Eileen) has given to me of you during the years since we last met, I would conclude today that the young man who now stands before the world in all his glory is ‘a sweet child of nature’ and is no longer ‘a jolly old stinker!’. Have a wonderful birthday, Louis.
Great Uncle Billy and Sheila x
Love and peace Bill xxx
