3 Now-Beloved Rock Songs From the 1980s That Took Years To Write Before Becoming Hits

Some rock songs, particularly those from the 1980s, didn’t take very long to write. Some of the biggest jams of the decade were quick to pen. However, others, like the following three rock songs from the 1980s, took literal years to write before their makers hit the studio.

“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen (1984)

This folk rock classic might just be one of the most famously over-covered songs of all time. Though, Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” from the 90s remains a favorite. I can see why it’s been covered probably about a million times over the years. This might be one of Cohen’s most poetic and beautiful songs. And, understandably, it took a while to write.

Cohen allegedly wrote between 80 and 180 drafts of “Hallelujah” before recording it, about five years after he started working on it. 

“I hadn’t realized the sheer number of verses that Leonard was writing and rewriting and erasing and reconfiguring throughout the five or so years that it took him to write that song,” said Dayna Goldfine, director of Hallelujah: Leon Cohen, A Journey, A Song.

“November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses (1992)

This song by Guns N’ Roses first dropped in 1992, but its origins can be traced way back to the mid-1980s. According to Slash, the band recorded an 18-minute version of the song “November Rain” for the first time in 1986. According to L.A. Guns founder and early member of GNR, Tracii Guns, Axl Rose was working on “November Rain” as early as 1983. That means it took nearly a decade for “November Rain” to make it to Use Your Illusion I.

“The Heart Of The Matter” by Don Henley (1989)

According to lore, this entry on our list of rock songs from the 1980s apparently took “42 years to write” and “five minutes to sing,” according to Don Henley himself. Mike Campbell contributed the guitar and keyboard compositions to Henley’s song, and Henley changed it up with lyrics like “I’ve been tryin’ to get down / To the heart of the matter / But my will gets weak / And my thoughts seem to scatter” and made “The Heart Of The Matter” into a hit.

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