Patience

Album

G N' R Lies

Label

Geffen Records

Genre

Folk rock

Composer(s)

Duff Rose McKagan;Izzy Stradlin;Saul Hudson;Steven Adler;W. Axl Rose

Entered Chart

Apr 8, 1989

Peak Date

Jun 3, 1989

Released

March 31, 1989

Recorded

1988

Catalog #

Geffen 7-22996

B-Side

Rocket Queen

Following the manic aural onslaught of their debut album Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses gave us "Patience," a tender song where Axl Rose sings about waiting it out in a relationship. It was the only single issued from the second album, G N' R Lies. This song was a trendsetter in its use of all-acoustic instrumentation, making it safe for hard rockers to display their sensitive, vulnerable sides in a more understated way rather than utilizing the power ballad format so popular among hair bands in the late '80s. Axl Rose did the whistling on this track. He's also the one who blows the whistle on "Paradise City." >> This song plays in the 1991 Robert DeNiro film Cape Fear in a scene where Juliette Lewis' character plays it to drown out her parents' fighting. It also appears in the 2013 film Warm Bodies. This is a very popular karaoke song, but one that you might want to avoid. Kimberly Starling of The Karaoke Informer says it's one of the Top 5 songs that tends to bomb. "It just eludes the average ear and when you get off key on this one it sounds to the ear like a turd in a punch bowl looks to the eye," she says. Report This Ad Before Geffen Records decided it was too long, the title for the album was Lies! The Sex, The Drugs, The Violence, The Shocking Truth. On January 30, 1989, Guns N' Roses played this at the American Music Awards with Don Henley on drums because Steven Adler was in rehab. Henley did it as a favor to Axl Rose, who sang harmony vocals on his song "I Will Not Go Quietly," which appeared on his The End Of The Innocence album later that year. The suitably understated video was directed by Nigel Dick and shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. After helping his daughter Toni learn the song, Chris Cornell got inspired in March of 2016 to record "Patience" himself. His version wasn't released until July 20, 2020, two years after the singer's death on what would have been his 56th birthday. The track topped the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, giving him his first solo Billboard #1. Cornell also reached the summit eight times on the tally when fronting Soundgarden and Audioslave and on another occasion as guest vocalist on Zac Brown Band's "Heavy Is the Head."

One, two, one, two, three, four

Shed a tear 'cause I'm missin' you
I'm still alright to smile
Girl, I think about you every day now
Was a time when I wasn't sure
But you set my mind at ease
There is no doubt you're in my heart now

Said "Woman, take it slow and it'll work itself out fine"
All we need is just a little patience
Said "Sugar, make it slow and we'll come together fine"
All we need is just a little patience
(Patience) ooh, yeah

I sit here on the stairs 'cause I'd rather be alone
If I can't have you right now, I'll wait, dear
Sometimes I get so tense but I can't speed up the time
But you know, love, there's one more thing to consider

Said "Woman, take it slow and things will be just fine"
You and I'll just use a little patience
Said "Sugar, take the time 'cause the lights are shinin' bright"
You and I've got what it takes to make it
We won't fake it, oh, I'll never break it
'Cause I can't take it

(Little patience, yeah, yeah)
(Need a little patience, yeah)
(Just a little patience, yeah)
(Some more patience, yeah) I've been walking the streets at night
Just trying to get it right (a little patience, yeah)
It's hard to see with so many around
You know I don't like being stuck in the crowd (could use some patience, yeah)
And the streets don't change but maybe the names
I ain't got time for the game 'cause I need you (gotta have more patience, yeah)
Yea-yeah, but I need you (all need more patience)
Oh, I need you (all need some patience)
Oh, I need you (just a little patience)
Ooh this time (is all you need)