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The meaning behind the imagery used in the sing "November Rain" is used to represent sadness and despair. The imagery used is figurative. This is represented when he says "Its hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain". This is to show that its hard to keep something going (the flame of the candle) in a place of sadness (the rain). This use of imagery is repeated throughout the song and is also the title of the song.
The main conflict in the song is between the singer and his wife. He is upset because their marriage is falling apart and it seems like she is giving up and walking away, but he continues to try and win her heart back. This conflict is a moral conflict, because he believes that trying to fix their relationship is worth a try but she does not. The tension is represented through many metaphors because he does not directly refer to their problem through the song. The tension rises throughout the song but is never resolved.
This song was released on June 2, 1992. The 1990's are the years that the grunge style of rock started to appear and become very popular. In music, many Americans in the early nineties were listening to a new sound from the Pacific Northwest. It became known as grunge rock. Similarly to the 1980s, rock music was also very popular in the 1990s, yet, unlike the new wave and glam metal-dominated scene of the time, grunge, britpop, industrial rock, and other alternative rock music emerged and took over as the most popular of the decade, as well as punk rock, ska punk and nu metal, amongst others, which attained a high level of success at different points throughout the years.
''Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change"
- he is hopeful that this absence of love will pass, and sees the potential for her to fall back in love - 'hearts can change'.
"But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same"
- he is still in love with her, although she doesn't realize it. The use of "hold you" suggests the couple is still in a relationship, although they are simply going through the motions of one rather than actively participating. In theory they are both single, they just haven't officially broken up, but the love is gone.
"Cause nothin' lasts forever
even cold November rain"
- now he inverts the previous metaphor into one of hope. Just as earlier he said that love doesn't last forever, now he reminds us that if love doesn't last forever, neither does the absence of love. This unrequited love will pass and the relationship will flourish once more. There is hope.
"When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained"
- her love for him is no longer present, but he sees how it can be recovered. He feels that it is merely buried beneath the surface, so that she doesn't feel it. However, it is possible to unearth it once again, as it is still very much in existence.
"But lovers always come and lovers always go
An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
Walking away"
- She has had several affairs in an attempt to find feelings of love outside of the stagnant relationship, but they are only temporary. Her deep, buried love for her partner is preventing her from leaving the relationship outright. These affairs have created confusion as it is difficult to separate the feelings of lust she feels for her lovers from what she feels for her partner and so neither of them know whether the next affair is the one that will end the relationship or whether the lover will be the one to walk away.
When I look into your eyes. I see you holding back your love. When I hold you I feel the same.
Nothing lasts. Hearts change. And it's hard to hold a candle In the cold November rain.
We've been doing this for a while. Trying to kill the pain. Love is coming love is going.
We don’t know whos letting go. Walking away.
If we could take time To talk I can rest Because you'd be mine. All mine.
So if you want to love me Then don’t hold back Or ill just end up walking In the November rain.
Do you need time. Do you need time alone. Everybody needs time. On their own. You know you need time.
Its hard to keep an open heart. Even friends hurt you. If you could fix a broken heart. Time would try to charm you.
I need time. I need time alone. Everybody needs time On their Own. You need time alone.
When your fears go away Shadows will stay I know you can love me There's no one to blame.
Never mind the darkness We can find a way Nothing lasts forever Even November rain.
Don’t you need someone. Don’t you need someone. Everyone needs someone. You're not the only one.
You're not the only one.
The speaker of this song is Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.), he was born February 6, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana. He is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead vocalist in the band Guns N' Roses and is currently the only original member remaining. Due to his powerful and wide vocal range and energetic live performances, Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone and NME. During the making of this song Axl was going through a very bad divorce with his ex-wife Erin Everly. Things were going the way he hoped in his marriage, but as much as he tried to fix it nothing worked. The setting is in a dark place, where someone goes to be by themselves and contemplate life. At the beginning of the original music video he can hear pills being poured out of a bottle. This is an allusion to when Axl was thinking about ending his life because of his marriage. The tone is very gloomy and in a way somewhat depressing, but also uplifting towards the end of the song.
"November Rain is a song about not wanting to be in a state of having to deal with unrequited love." - Axl Rose
As Axl says, the song is about unrequited love. He is still very much in love with a woman, but she is no longer in love with him. He uses a metaphor to express how difficult it is to cope with unrequited love:
"It's hard to hold a candle, in the cold November rain."
Here, holding the candle stands for him trying to hold onto his love for her, while the cold November rain is the absence of her love. It is difficult to love someone who does not return the feeling. And inevitably, his love will also die, just as the candle will be extinguished by the rain. He does not want this to happen, but eventually it will, unless she can recover her love.
By: Nicholas Downing