I wanted to take a break, if possible, from writing about the virus, and about the current edition of social disenfranchisement/murder of Black citizens, which is mirrored in the response by the President and Attorney General to the demonstrations rising from the murder of George Floyd.  This song by Guns N’ Roses seduced me from the first time that I heard it.  That’s how it sometimes works with a tune, or a photograph, or a piece of writing, we feel that we are addressed in a manner that defies description.  I am not a Guns N’ Roses fan, but I’d buy a ticket to hear this one tune performed. 

Is it the opening guitar melody, or is it the harmonious blending of the vocalist voice with the guitar chords, or the baseline and the beat?  In any case the lyrics by Axl Rose take me to a place where I have gone many times.  There are encounters, moments of life that remind me of a time which I remember vaguely, a time defaced by the abrasion of later years.  I dimly remember a time of purity when life was principally joyous discovery.  That was the time before language, the introduction into the culture, my heritage handed down by family, our race, our place in social class, and especially in the economic pecking order.  

There is a “sweet child of mine” in everyone of us.  If we pause to remember that child, will we have some respite from the current conflict that pursues us?

This awe inspiring cover of Sweet Child of Mine by First To Eleven seemed perfect for this post.  A classic cover band: rhythm and bass guitar, drummer and lead singer playing in a parking lot, surrounded by enraptured community members, together, joining the experience.  The video appropriately begins in the light of full sun, highlighting the enjoyment of grilled hot dogs and brats.  A quintessential celebration of summertime life.  The conclusion, the final refrain, “Where do we go now?” is vocalized in a darkened concrete parking garage, with fireworks exploding against the black sky.

Where do we go now?

Sweet Child O’ Mine

By Guns N Roses

She’s got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky

Now and then when I see her face
It takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long
I’d probably break down and cry

Sweet child o’ mine
Sweet love of mine

She’s got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I’d hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I’d hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain
To quietly pass me by

Sweet child o’ mine
Sweet love of mine

Sweet child o’ mine
Sweet love of mine

Sweet child o’ mine
Sweet love of mine

Where do we go?
Where do we go now?
Where do we go?

Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go now?

Where do we go?
Sweet child o’ mine
Where do we go now?

Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go now?

Where do we go?
Where do we go now?
Where do we go?
Where do we go now?

Where do we go?
Where do we go now, now, now, now, now, now, now now?

Sweet child, sweet child o’ mine