Give me a whisper and give me a sigh 15 Give me a kiss before you 16
tell me goodbye 17
That stanza was actually based on the Stephanie’s action to Axl. Under
control of her emotion, Stephanie didn’t want to see Axl anymore and she left him
without a word. This Stephanie’s reaction was because the need to receive love as
stated by Maslow 1970. After all the time she had been with him, she realized that she only gave her love but what she received was not the things she wanted. Another
fact that strengthened this act was on the video clip when Slash lead guitar of Guns N’ Roses threw his guitar to the edge where he had a car accident see appendix
D. In this scene, his guitar depicted a love, while the edge depicted a border of his love. In another meaning, this scene was a message to Axl that he had to accept the
reality that he has lost Stephanie. Entirely, this song is about a sincere love but it was not about a true love. This
conclusion is drawn from the Maslow statement 1970 which said that “love and
belongings also include some aspects of sex and human contact as well as the need to both give and receive love
”. It can be interpreted that true love is a love where two lovers are giving and receiving each other. In this song, the researcher found
that the main fact which caused Stephanie left Axl was because she only gave her love but she didn’t receive the love that she wanted.
b. November Rain
In the lyrics of the song, the word “November” depicted a time of troubles and sadness since November is the month where winter occurs; while winter here
means hard time. This song is directly related to the first song of the trilogy, entitled “Don’t Cry since some meanings and sequence actions in this song were inserted
into “Don’t Cry” and the vice versa. The continuance of the wedding chapter in
“Don’t Cry” was inserted in this song. After Axl divorced with Erin Everly, he met Stephanie Seymour. By the time
Axl and Stephanie often met, they felt that something grew inside them both; so they loved each other, and they finally got married. After the marriage, they live
their marriage life normally like the others. What made it didn’t work normally after
some time was Axl’s vow related to the story behind their marriage.
Before Stephanie accepted Axl to be her husband, she asked Axl not to do his same mistakes he had done in the past. Without any consideration, Axl agreed that
statement. Actually Stephanie didn’t totally believe him at that time since he
decided everything directly, and this was the reason why she had a fear inside her heart.
Now we reach a time when they found a serious problem due to their relationship; that she found Axl didn’t change and fulfill his vow. Now she started
to think that her fear was right. She was fear because she knew that Axl did all the mistakes in the past because of life style; and not because an error. Another fact
which strengthened that statement was on the video clip, where the Stephanie showed a worry face not long after they went out from chapel see appendix D.
Based on Maslow’s statement 1970, love and belongingness also include the need to give and receive love. That fear appeared because of the need to receive love,
and it was true that she was afraid of not receiving the love she wanted because she knew that life style is hard to change.
Not only Stephanie who had a fear after all those things, but also Axl. He started to worry that he couldn’t hold on into the relationship. This can be seen on
the third stanza of the song.
Weve been through this such a long long time 9 Just tryin to kill the pain 10
But lovers always come and lovers always go 11 And no ones really sure whos lettin go today 12
That stanza clearly showed that Axl started to feel worry after some times he had been with Stephanie. He felt that everything could always go wrong in this life
although the best has even done. The other reason why this song is about fear can be seen in the fifth stanza.
So if you want to love me 19 then darlin dont refrain 20
Or Ill just end up walkin 21 In the cold November rain 22
Since now they were in trouble, their relationship was not as good as in the beginning. They had less communication, and both of them were living their life by
themselves. In this stanza Axl implicitly said that if Stephanie truly loved him, then she shouldn’t hesitate; or he would just give up the relationship if there was no
moral support from her during his worst time. The reason of Axl’s fear was match
with Maslow’s statement 1970; it was because the aspect of human contact and his desire for friendship.
This song is also about a flawed relationship. The part of that flawed relationship starts here. After a long consideration, they finally gave a break to their
relationship. They were still having each other in term of Christian marriage; but they have been separated in term of love because of flawed relationship, caused by
Axl himself. The impact of this decision was seen in the beginning of the video clip. We can see that Axl took some tranquilizer before he went bed which means that
his psychological condition wasn’t good enough after that event see appendix D. The sorrow of his bad days with Stephanie affected him badly, so that his fear
became more serious. This statement is strengthened by some lines in the seventh stanza.
I know its hard to keep an open heart 27 When even friends seem out to harm you 28
Those lines can be interpreted as Axl’s fear in going through an open relationship, since he realized that
he couldn’t even took care of his closed
relationship. He started to think about possessing Stephanie forever like what he has said in his vow. This thought was the beginning of the main idea of the song
since it leads the story to the main events. In the previous song Don’t Cry, it was stated that the researcher found in
the video clip; where Axl fought with Stephanie over a gun but finally Axl let her win. It was related to a scene in
“November Rain” where Axl walked through a gun store in midnight.
That scene can be interpreted into Axl’s fear that someday Stephanie would kill him by her gun, so that he bought a gun to protect himself.
The end of their relationship was actually started from this point. On a dispute, it seemed that Axl was finally the one who shot Stephanie on her head. Another
suggestion is depicted on a scene in “Estranged”, when cops and medical team ambushed Axl’s house and the medical team brought a hearse. It gives us an
imagination that has been a homicid e inside Axl’s house. see appendix D.
It is strengthened by some lines of the alternate version of “Don’t Cry” lyrics.
I was the one whos washing 7 Blood off your hands 8
His fear was totally wrong. He then realized that Stephanie loved her very much so it was impossible that she killed him
From the facts stated above in “Don’t Cry”, the researcher found that
Stephanie was actually a good person while Axl was the evil one . Axl’s fear was
too excessive at that time. His fear was actually because his need to receive love that he has actually got from Stephanie, while he was the one who didn’t give his
love to Stephanie, instead. Entirely, this song is about fear inside a flawed relationship. In this song, the
meaning of fear itself was Ax l’s fear that someday Stephanie is owned by another
man. That was why he murdered her by a gunshot, so that no one could own her; and so did Axl. Flawed relationship here was not a flaw inside the relation itself,
but it was flawed because of Axl’s cunning who murdered Stephanie in order to
make her owned by no one.
c. Estranged
Estranged is a condition where a husband or wife who is not now living with the person they are married to. From that brief title which is clearly showed the
meaning of the word, the researcher found that it was because Axl wanted everyone to know that he was the one to blame. It might be his expression of an apologize.
This song is actually the climax of the trilogy since the trilogy ended in Axl’s long
lasting regrets that maybe still continuing until this time. This song considered as the last song of the trilogy since the song is about a
very deep regret of Axl Rose; which was known as an ignorant person, and it completely depicts Axl’s regrets. From the statement above, the researcher
concludes that the regret was very serious and the pressure was very strong. One of
