Guns n Roses ~ Welcome to the Jungle Lyrics + Meaning + Song Facts

If there's one song that perfectly sums up G N' R perfectly, and captures the essence of rock n' roll, it's "Welcome to the Jungle". The song is the definition of sex, drugs and rock n' roll.

Filled with animated lyrics, "Welcome to the Jungle" portrays the underground Los An

geles, though there's no direct reference to it. Lead guitarist Slash claims that Axl wrote the song when they were on their way to Seattle. "Axl wrote the words while visiting his long-time friend Tori in Kingston, Washington, a town outside of Seattle. It's a big city, but at the same time it's still a small city compared to Los Angeles and the things that you're gonna learn. It seemed a lot more rural up there. Axl just wrote how it looked to him. If someone comes to town and they want to find something, they can find whatever they want." Slash has later said "it was the first real Guns song. You can almost hear where everybody had their input in."

It's well known that band was formed in L.A., but even before Axl came to the town, Steven Adler and Slash used to hang around in the Hollywood Boulevard ...doing drugs and whatnot. All Guns' members were very familiar with the 'underground' L.A. They knew where to look for if they needed the "high" stuff. The music video for the song shows Axl getting off a bus at the beginning, and immediately offered drugs by Izzy Stradlin. This is a very accurate representation of the early days of Axl Rose' new L.A. life ( for those who don't know, Axl was born in Indiana and hitchhiked his way to L.A. ). Occasionally before playing the song live, Axl Rose makes a reference to his trip. He talks about a black guy who gave him the ride, and others that gave him drugs.