Many famous classic rock songs took a long time to create, with lyrics that were revised several times and music that came together over the course of multiple sessions. Examples of these include The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations”, The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life”, and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
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On the other side of the coin, quite a few memorable tunes by well-known rock acts were written and recorded surprisingly quickly. Sometimes inspiration strikes suddenly, and unforgettable lyrics and melodies will pour out in a burst of creative energy.
Here are four such tunes, all of which are enduring classics that were composed quickly by some of the biggest names in rock history.
“All Along The Watchtower” by Bob Dylan (1967)
Bob Dylan’s classic song “All Along The Watchtower” appeared on his acclaimed eighth album, John Wesley Harding, released in December 1967. The album was written while Dylan was recuperating from a July 1966 motorcycle accident near Woodstock, New York.
“All Along The Watchtower” features enigmatic lyrics involving a conversation between “the joker” and “the thief.” The song, which includes Biblical allusions, seems to be partly about Dylan’s disdain for the financial aspect of the music business.
Dylan discussed writing “All Along The Watchtower” in a 1995 interview with Florida’s Sun Sentinel newspaper.
The folk-rock legend explained that the words and melody came to him at the same time. He added, “It leaped out in a very short time.”
Dylan recorded “All Along The Watchtower” in Nashville in late 1967 with a group of respected local session musicians.
The most famous version of the song was recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and released in 1968. It became that band’s highest-charting U.S. single, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Life On Mars?” by David Bowie (1971)
David Bowie recorded “Life On Mars?” in 1971 for his classic fourth album, Hunky Dory. Bowie wrote the song as a parody of Frank Sinatra’s hit ballad “My Way”.
In a 2008 article David wrote for the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday newspaper, he recalled that he wrote the lyrics and melody for “Life On Mars?” in less than a day.
“This song was so easy. Being young was easy,” Bowie said. “A really beautiful day in the park, sitting on the steps of the bandstand. … I took a walk to Beckenham High Street to catch a bus to Lewisham to buy shoes and shirts but couldn’t get the riff out of my head. Jumped off two stops into the ride and more or less loped back to the house up on Southend Road.”
When he got to his home, David recalled, “I started working it out on the piano and had the whole lyric and melody finished by late afternoon. Nice.”
“Life On Mars?” was released as a single in the U.K. in 1973 and reached No. 3 on the chart.
“Crocodile Rock” by Elton John (1973)
“Crocodile Rock” was a fun homage to early rock and roll written by Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin for Elton’s 1972 album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player.
In an interview published in the 1998 anthology book Classic Rock Stories, and reposted by the Far Out Magazine website, Elton discussed how quickly “Crocodile Rock” was composed.
“The music for it was written in less than half an hour,” he said. “I always wanted to write one song, a nostalgic song, a rock and roll song which captured the right sounds. ‘Crocodile Rock’ was just a combination of so many songs, really.”
John also pointed out that he incorporated various influences into the tune, including The Diamonds’ “Little Darlin’”, Chuck Berry’s “Oh Carol”, and songs by The Beach Boys.
Elton also admitted that the “la, la-la-la-la-la” section of “Crocodile Rock” was inspired by Pat Boone’s 1962 hit “Speedy Gonzalez”.
“Crocodile Rock” became John’s first song to top the Hot 100, spending three weeks at No. 1 in February 1973.
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses (1987)
What began as Slash’s guitar warm-up turned into a full song in a single afternoon.
Guns N’ Roses’ classic pop-metal ballad “Sweet Child O’ Mine” helped launch the band into rock superstardom. The song, which was featured in the group’s 1987 debut album, Appetite For Destruction, topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1988.
Slash explained in a 2022 interview on rock radio personality Eddie Trunk’s podcast that he came up with the main musical idea for “Sweet Child O’ Mine” very quickly.
“I was sitting around the house where Guns used to live at one point in [1986], I guess it was, and I just came up with this riff,” he recalled. “It was just me messing around and putting notes together like any riff you do. You’re like, ‘This is cool,’ and then you put the third note and find a melody like that.”
Slash added, “That’s how it started, and then [rhythm guitarist] Izzy [Stradlin] started playing the chords behind it and then [frontman] Axl [Rose] heard it, and it started from there.”
According to the 2007 biography Slash, by Anthony Bozza, Rose finished writing the lyrics by the following day. They were inspired by his then-girlfriend, Erin Everly, the daughter of Don Everly of The Everly Brothers. The couple later married in 1990, but the marriage was annulled the following year.
(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
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