Album: Appetite For Destruction (1987)

Charted: 6 5

License This Song 

• Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home (oh, won't you please take me home)
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home (oh, won't you please take me home)
  
  Just a urchin livin' under the street
  I'm a hard case that's tough to beat
  I'm your charity case so buy me something to eat
  I'll pay you at another time
  Take it to the end of the line
  
  Rags to riches or so they say
  Ya gotta keep pushin' for the fortune and fame
  You know it's all a gamble when it's just a game
  Ya treat it like a capital crime
  Everybody's doin' the time
  
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home
  
  Strapped in the chair of the city's gas chamber
  Why I'm here I can't quite remember
  The surgeon general says it's hazardous to breathe
  I'd have another cigarette but I can't see
  Tell me who you're gonna believe
  
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home, yeah yeah
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Oh, won't you please take me home, yeah yeah
  
  So far away
  So far away
  So far away
  So far away
  
  Captain America's been torn apart
  Now he's a court jester with a broken heart
  He said "turn me around and take me back to the start"
  I must be losing my mind "are you blind?"
  I've seen it all a million times
  
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home, yeah yeah
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home, yeah yeah
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  
  I wanna go, I wanna go
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  I wanna see how good it can be
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Take me home
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  Take me down, lead me 'round
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  
  I wanna see, what a woman can be
  I want to take you home
  Take me down to the paradise city
  Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
  Oh, won't you please take me home
  I wanna go, I wanna know
  Oh, won't you please take me home, yeah baby Writer/s: Duff McKagan, Hudson Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, W. Axl Rose
  Publisher: Unison Rights S.L., Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 45

• Why Do You Wanna Know My Name from Why Do You Wanna Know Where I LiveI’m gonna listen to this whenever I run from now on
• William Whitaker from Bristoli love slash he is the beast on the guitar
• Joao Dapaixao from Paradise City (from Burnout Paradise)Here in actual Paradise City we say: “Take them down in Burnout Paradise City where the stunts are green and the cars aren’t pretty”
• Zachary Prine from Spokane Wa"Paradise City" is about Seattle!! They went up from LA to play their first road gig and did it in Seattle due to Duff knowing the scene as he is from there. read some books people!!!
• Camila from The JungleI think Axl is adorable.
• Rae from MichiganHere in Michigan we sing it as "take me down to Detroit city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty" instead of paradise city
• Joshua from Union City, TenneseeTake me down to the Poultry City where the grass has bugs and the peacocks are pretty take me home I am just a chick livin in a nest I am a charity case that is tough to beat so give me insects to eat take it to the end of line Chicks to hens and roosters so they say you have to keep pushin for the height and growth its all a gooble when its just a guniea hen every chick is goin for its prime......(my poetic revision of Paradise city I call Poultry City)
• Bo from Cottonwood CaI first heard this song when I was 12 in my uncle's 67 Galaxy 500 I loved it ever since, im 29 now and have turned my little causin on to it....
• Tracy from AzThe "Paradise City" he is referring to is heaven not any particular city in the US. At least that is what William told me when we met at a state fair right prior to Guns N Roses being officially formed. They were working on this song. He sang two bars of this song to me at the fair.
• Eryn Vail from IndianaThe song refers to Axl's past growing up on the streets, again, in Lafayette, Indiana :)
• Eryn Vail from IndianaThis song isn't about Bloomington, IN. Its about Lafayette, Indiana where 2 band members, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin, were born and raised.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 8th 1989, "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #85; and eight weeks later on March 5th, 1989 it peaked at #5 for two weeks...
  It reached #1 in Ireland, #2 in New Zealand and #3 in Sweden...
  Was track six from the Los Angeles-based group's debut studio album, "Appetite for Destruction", and on September 18th, 1988 it peaked at #1 {for 4 non-consecutive weeks} on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart...
  Two other tracks from the album also made the Top 10; "Welcome to the Jungle" {#7 for 2 weeks} and "Sweet Child O' Mine" {#1 for 2 weeks}.
• Jay from West Conshohocken, Pa Paradise city is were ever you find it to be. Take's you out of bad place and put's you in a zealous
  mind frame. Able to conquer and gain victory in anything you do.
  
• Tyler from Hoffman Estates, IlI am from the midwest, and not even knowing that he wrote about here I loved it. LOL go figure!
  
  
  
  Tyler, 14
• Jennifer Harris from Grand Blanc, MiThis is my favorite Guns and Roses song,When I was in middle school,Jennifer Williams,Bridget Davis and Ron Osbourn did this for lip sync,and at the end,Ron jumped off the stage,and everybody was screaming.
• Roman from Silverton, OrBest part is
  rags to riches or so they say you gotta-keep fighting for the fortune and fame its all a gamble when its just a game you treat like a capital criiiiiiime everybodys doing their tiiiiiiime take it to they end of the line!
• Julie from Beaverton, AlThis is one of my all time FAVORITE songs. I also love their version of "Live and Let Die". I have always found Slash to be so sexy. I seen him on a late nite show, he talked about his book and he is not only talented, he is very intelligent. Say what you want about Axl, but myself, I think he is an arrogant asshole. Seen them in concert back in the early 90's, stood in line for hours in the hot sun waiting for the gates to open, then about 5 or so songs into the show, Axl gets pissed over something and that was the end of the show.
• Scott from Jacksonvill, FlThis Is one of the Songs Used most often on Casual Fridays and going on vaction.
• Lorelei from Ellsworth, MeSlash is my favorite :]
• Youngblood from Caldwell , Idthats badd
• Youngblood from Caldwell , Idthats bad way t renew a song
  jk
  Slash That Jackass
• Youngblood from Caldwell , IdTake me down to the Paradise City where the girls are fat and they got big t--ties Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Andrew from Bartlett, Tnthis is, by far, my favorite song of all time! Something about it I like.
• Becky from Waukesha, WiThis song is great, Axl has such great range with his voice, i give any man who can sing like him mega props!
• Peter from Nyc, NyHey, to the Australian: That's Axl singing all of those parts. Is voice is overdubbed four or five times. He has an amazing range. To the guy from Miami: This song is about L.A. You think the women are good looking in Miami? Have you ever been to L.A.? LOL
• Joni from New York, NySlash came up with both lines, but the band voted for "grass is green" to make it more accesible
• Jason from State Of Fitz, NjJay from PA: how about you don't steal quotes from Mick Wall's " most dangerous Band" not once but twice, dude thta is weak
• Jay from West Conshohocken, Pabest crafted anthem to all American stagecoach
  sensibility, in rock n' roll. Theatrical as the
  stars and stripes themselves.
• Big And Tall from Yeehaw Junction, FlThe song's about Miami. It has green grass, both lawn and pharmaceutical types. It has pretty girls. Lots of celebrities hang out in Miami. "Welcome to the jungle" is about Miami too.
• Jay from West Conshohocken, PaFull of idealism for an age that probably only ever excisted in newspapers, and bad movies it closed out side one on Appetite for Destruction was also the best - crafed anthem to all American stagecoach sensibility for rock 'n' roll .
• Danny from Winsted, Ctthis song is about living as a bum.......thats all
• Echo from Normalville, MaNorthampton MA is nicknamed Paradise city. wonder if this had anything to do with it...probably not
• Arley from Sharon, WiThis song is about one city only, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Look it up. GNR ROCKS!
• Steve from Torrance, CaCovered by Pat Boone on his 1997 album, "In a Metal Mood".
• Mara from Coruscant, EnglandI LOVE THIS SONG! No matter what mood I'm in, this song makes me happy. I nver cease to wonder how the hell Slash did that solo, or how people call Steve Adler a lousy drummer. This song's definetly one of GNR's best efforts.
  : )
• Kshitij from Leeds, EnglandKiller song. The song starts with fast beautiful aarpegio, cool riff on the 12th fret and then blasts into the sun with all the band in. Its slash's one of the favourite numbers. GnR used to finish the concert with this one. Now a days they paly it bit fast(Which i dont like).A cool song by the coolest band in the world ...ROCKS!
• Dan from New York, NyIts not about Louisville. Axl has never given a straight answer as to where the "Paradise City" is. The song is designed to contrast LA to the midwest he came from.
  They play it as an encore almost every show, and Axl usually ends yelling the name of wherever he is, as if to say that the city he's in now is the paradise city. I think Axl's real paradise is anywhere he gets on that stage.
• Kelly from Louisville, Kythis great song is about louisville, kentucky... only tha greatest city on this damn planet. Axl was a sensible guy, apparently. I named my dog after him.
• Will from Redlands, CaAgreed with Jazzz. Pop music sucks a**. I went throught the pop thing too and could never go back to that after listening to Hendrix, Zeppelin, GNR, Clapton, Metallica
• Haggai from Hobart, Australiahave you ever listened really closely to when the vocals come in in the beginning? axl is the main voice, but underneath you can hear duff and izzy singing really really low. then axl goes up and duff starts singing where axl was, while izzy stays singin' the low notes.
• Darren from Bombay, Indiame being a giutar player enjoy playing the riff for paradise city...AXL does a great job on vocals and very hard to replicate....the 2 minute ending is on of slash's fastest guitar solos.... great great song!!!
  -Darren,Bombay
• Alan from Milwaukee, WiI love the Video version of this great song, with Axl singin' his ass-off in front of various live concert crowds
• Spencer from Mcbride, CanadaGreat song "the sergeon says that its hazerdous to breath....Id have another cigarette but i cant see."
• Jazzz from FrankfurtIt´s the first heavy metal song that I didn´t think was crap. I was only fourteen and only liked pop music at that time. I couldn´t understand people voluntarily listen to Nirvana or Pearl Jam. Then my friend Sonja let me listen to this song- I was electrified. This was like a revelation- the guitar, the rhythm, Axl´s singing... nowadays I hardly hear any pop music at all. May rock live forever! :=)
• Nash from Carmarthen, WalesGreatest song ever. Bar none.

More Songfacts:

Hunger StrikeTemple of the Dog

"Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog features Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder, and was Vedder's first music video.

LolaThe Kinks

When The Kinks released "Lola," most people didn't realize Lola was a man. "I was dancing with this beautiful blonde, then we went out into the daylight and I saw her stubble," Ray Davies said of the inspiration.

Opposites AttractPaula Abdul

MC Skat Kat was created for the remix of "Opposites Attract," which was released as the last single from Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl album. The team that created the Kat also did a-ha's "Take On Me" video.

Whip ItDevo

Devo got the idea for their "Whip It" video from an article about a guy who owned a dude ranch and charged people to watch him remove his wife's clothes with a bullwhip.

JumpVan Halen

Van Halen's first #1 hit was "Jump," an unusual song for the band because the lead instrument was synthesizer, not guitar.

Santa Claus Is Coming To TownEddie Cantor

"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is the most performed holiday song of all time, according to a Top 30 list released by the performance rights organization ASCAP in December 2014.

Editor's Picks

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"They're Playing My Song

When a waitress wouldn't take him home, Jack wrote what would become one of the Eagles most enduring hits.

Annie Haslam of RenaissanceSongwriter Interviews

The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"They're Playing My Song

The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?