2021Released
3:41

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Hard Skool. By Songfacts®.

By the early 1990s, the hedonistic behavior of the Guns N' Roses members was breaking up the band. The group's original drummer, Stephen Adler, was fired because of his drug addiction on July 11, 1990. Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, a founding member, threw in the towel at the end of their European tour in 1991. Tension between original guitarist Slash and frontman Axl Rose led the Slash to quit the band officially in October 1996. Duff McKagan was the last of the Appetite For Destruction lineup to leave, resigning as bassist in August 1997. In 2016, Slash and McKagan returned to the fold for the Not in This Lifetime... Tour. This flat-out rocker is the second single following "ABSURD" to be released since the homecoming of Slash and Duff McKagan.

Both "ABSURD" and "Hard Skool" are reworks of unreleased songs laid down by Guns N' Roses for the Chinese Democracy sessions. Recording for the album started in 1997, and after a string of notorious delays, it eventually arrived in 2008. "Hard Skool" was originally recorded under the title "Jackie Chan" in 1999-2000 but eventually omitted from that record.

Going out on a limb, the lyrics could be Axl Rose speaking to his former bandmates. But you had to play it cool, had to do it your way Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay If that were true, it wouldn't matter anyway By the mid-1990s, Rose wanted to expand the band's sound with industrial and electronic elements. Other members disagreed, causing a rift; when Slash left, he cited creative differences with Rose.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Hard Skool.
BKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
166BPM

Album

The album Hard Skool is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Hard Skool.
Geffen Records
© 2021 Guns N' Roses, under exclusive license to Geffen Records
℗ 2021 Guns N' Roses, under exclusive license to Geffen Records

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