a. Don’t Cry
In the lyrics, the phrase “don’t cry” represents an expression to calm someone
down or an expression to ask someone not to cry. If we look deeper, Axl said that “don’t cry” phrase after he quarreled with Stephanie. He said it to her because
although he has broken his vow, he actually loved her very much. Axl was a young rock star with a deviate life style which was full of drugs,
alcohol, and free sex at that time. Before he married Stephanie, he has ever been married to Erin Everly but they finally divorced because of
Axl’s deviate life style also. Until the time Axl found Stephanie, he told that he loved her and promised her
not to do the same mistakes again. Stephanie believed him and she was willing to accept him since she also loved him; but what happened after they got married were
not the same as her expectations, and that was the reason why she sad and cried. Based on the facts above, the researcher found the deeper meaning of the song
by analyzing Axl’s motivation when he was doing that action in his past life. At the
previous relationship with Erin Everly, Axl was still a young man; which identically full of delinquencies. In general, the nonage is the phase where people experiencing
fluctuation in their life; since it is the time where most things are changing. During the changing process from childhood to adulthood, there are many things that are
faced by everyone. Axl was a young rock star at that time; while the environment of a rock star
at that time was more diverge than nowadays since they were full of alcohol, drugs, and free sex. Of course there was two
desires that came to Axl’s mind at that time. The first was the need to be free as a young man and the second was the need of his
life style environment. Axl couldn’t handle his needs at that time so that he felt to
that environment. One of the triggers why he became a drugs and alcohol addict when he was
with Erin was because he was unsatisfied with their relationship or maybe he had some vengeances with her, so that the drugs and alcohol were his getaway from his
problem. Other possibilities were because of his habit. As a rock star with demanding schedule to play from a place to another place, he definitely only had a
little time to spend with Erin; while based on the third hierarchy of Maslow’s
Theory of Motivation 1970, love and belongings needs also include some aspects of sex and human contact. From the explanation above, the reasons why Axl and
Erin divorced were clearly seen. Long time after Axl divorced with Erin, he met Stephanie Seymour at a bar
named “Rainbow”. It was the bar where Guns N’ Roses members were usually gathered and had some beer and liquor with their lady. By the time they often met,
they felt that something grew inside them both will be explained later in “November Rain” and they “thought” that they loved each other. It is match with
the third hierarchy of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation 1970 which stated that one
of human’s needs in term of love and belongingness is human contact. Axl was finally married to Stephanie. Based on
third hierarchy of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation 1970, it was because the need to belong to a family and the
need of sex and human contact. Axl loved her very much since she was willing to accept him no matter what he was in the past, as long
as he didn’t make the same mistakes.
They were going through thick and thin of their relationship, until a time they found a serious problem that actually Axl
couldn’t fulfill what he has promised to Stephanie.
Stephanie knew it and tried to bear but after some time, she couldn’t bear it anymore. She tried to ask the fulfillment of what Axl has promised, but what
happened was dispute. They were quarreling and fought over a gun. Axl finally let her win and left her see appendix D. It is strengthened by some lines in the third
stanza of the alternate lyrics see appendix C.
I know the things you wanted 15 Theyre not what you have 16
After Axl left her alone, Stephanie found a photo inside Axl’s personal diary.
There was a girl beside Axl on that photo and she remembered that the photo took place in Rainbow bar see appendix D. It
implied that Axl couldn’t fulfill his vow since he was still doing his old life style which led him to a divorce with Erin. If we
look deeper, it is because the desire for friendship and the wish for mate; as stated by Maslow. The motivation behind that action was because Axl needed to life
“normally” as a rock star at that time; where drugs, alcohol, and free sex were acceptable in the environment.
The next part is on the second stanza of the song.
Dont you cry tonight l.9 I still love you baby l.10
Dont you cry tonight l.11 Dont you cry tonight l.12
Theres a heaven above you baby l.13 And dont you cry tonight l.14
In this stanza, Axl knew that he was the one to blame so he asked Stephanie not to cry because he actually still loved her. He remembered his vow and he felt
guilty because he has broken it. If we look deeper from Maslow’s statement 1970,
this action was because of the desire for friendship. The friendship here was a friend relation inside their love relation. The desire for friendship here was more likely
tend to a term of accompanying each other in living their life together; since loving means giving and receiving each other. The other motivation was the wish for mate
since Axl remembered his promises and realized that Stephanie might left him if he didn’t change immediately.
Axl has tried to reveal all his feeling but seemed that it didn’t work well.
Stephanie had already sick of him and she didn’t want to stay anymore and she
finally decided to leave him. It is strengthened by some lines in the third stanza of the song.
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