The Garden Lyrics
No I won't
[Verse 1: Axl Rose]
You know you're all alone, your friends, they aren't at home
Everybody's gone to the garden
As you look into the trees, you can look, but you don't see
Flowers seem to tease you at the garden
Everybody's there, but you don't seem to care
What's it with you man, and this garden? Yeah
[Chorus: Alice Cooper]
Turned into my worst phobia
A crazy man's utopia
If you're lost, no one can show ya
But it sure was glad to know ya
Only poor boys take a chance
On the garden's song and dance
Feel her flowers, as they wrap around
But only smart boys do without
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 2: Axl Rose]
You can find it all inside, no need to wrestle with your pride
No, you ain't losing your mind, you're just in the garden
They can lead you to yourself or you can throw it on the shelf
But you know you can look inside for the garden
I wasn't really scared
Lost my virginity there
To a gypsy with blond hair
But now no one seems to care
Like a mouse inside a maze
Wandering 'round for daze
With a smile upon my face
I never want to leave this place
Only poor boys take a chance
On this garden song and dance
Feel her flowers, as they wrap around
But only smart boys do without
Turned into my worst phobia
It's a crazy man's utopia
If you're lost no one can show you
But it sure was glad to know you
[Outro: Alice Cooper]
Bye-bye, so long, bye-bye
It's glad to know you
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Aw, so long
About
“The Garden” is the 11th track off 1991’s “Use Your Illusion” and features guest vocals from Alice Cooper and Shannon Hoon.
The lyrics are about drug use and addiction, and the perspective shifts between the verses and chorus, contrasting the appeal with the downsides (and maybe the high with the crash as well).
“The Garden” can be considered a physical metaphor for the mental place you go to when high or hallucinating.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In an interview with Spin magazine, Alice Cooper explained working with Axl Rose:
I was staying in L.A. at the Sunset Marquis when Axl called me to do the vocal on “The Garden.” When you’re in the studio one-on-one with him, he’s really amazing – the guy can really sing. I did my bit maybe three times, but Axl was a perfectionist–almost to the point where you want to say, “At some point, Axl, it’s gotta be good enough.”
Slash talked about Alice Cooper getting involved with recording vocals in 1991:
“Axl sang a part in ‘The Garden,’ and it sounded exactly like Alice Cooper,” recalls Slash. “I mean, it sounded exactly like Alice. So we were like, ‘Let’s get Alice to do it,’ you know, rather than just steal his style. So Alice came down and sang it. It was cool.”
- 4.Don’t Cry
- 10.November Rain
- 11.The Garden
- 12.Garden of Eden
- 13.Don’t Damn Me
- 14.Bad Apples
- 15.Dead Horse
- 16.Coma
