“Estranged”. One of the reasons is that the bride in “November Rain” commits suicide, which can be seen on a line of the alternate version
of “Don’t Cry”: “I was the one whos washing l.7 blood off your hands l.8
”. After that incident, Axl sings about his regrets in
“Estranged”. If you notice a line on “Estranged” lyrics, you can find a line said:
“Ill never find anyone to replace you l.51. Guess Ill have to make it thru, this time- Oh this time l.52. Without you l.53
” which indicates that Axl is now in a very deep regrets of losing Stephanie Seymour.
Lyrically those three songs are about being in love, pain, and fear. Axl is clearly grieving over a love that he has been dreaming and now is in jeopardy of
being lost forever. The highlight is that hearts can change and even a candle that once burned bright cannot stay lit in darkness. Walking in the November rain is
used as a metaphor for walking on a flawed relationship. There is a thought that the two of them just need a little time alone but they could find their way back to
one another since time is the only thing that will heals all wounds, as seen in “November Rain” lyrics.
B. Review of the Related Theories
The theories used in this study are the theory of poetry, theory of symbol, theory of psycho-analytic, and theory of motivation.
Critical Approach
Rohrberger Woods 1976 divided the critical approach into five approaches to analyze a work
of literature. The approaches are “formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural-historical approach, mythopoeic
approach, and psychological approach.” The first approach is formalist approach. Based on Rohrberger Woods
1971, this approach concerns with demonstrating the harmonious involvement of all the parts to the whole and with pointing out how meaning is derived from
structure and how matters how technique determine structure p.6. The second is biographical approach. According to Rohrberger Woods
1971, “biographical approach asserts the necessity for an appreciation of ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of literary object” p.6.
The third approach is sociocultural-historical approach. According to Rohrberger
Woods 1971, “it investigates the social milieu in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflects” p.9.
The fourth approach is mythopoeic approach. According to Rohrberger Woods 1971, “it seeks to discover certain universally recurrent pattern of the
human thought, which they believe find expression in significant work of art” p.9.
The fifth approach is psychological approach. Atkinson 1981 emphasizes how personality develops. This approach is used in the study because it is relevant
to analyze the character’s thoughts, motivation, love, and personality.
