For My Sunday Song # 196, “Bed of Roses” off the 1992 album ‘Keep the Faith’ by Bon Jovi is our song of discussion. The song was released as a single in January 1993 and quickly became another hit for Jon and the gang as it reached #5 on the Billboard Top 40 chart. In a time where grunge was taking over the world, Bon Jovi still managed to throw out hits while others fell by the wayside.
There is one thing Bon Jovi does well and that is a ballad. Jon Bon Jovi wrote this one and man does he have a way with words in this one. What a story he weaves. While sitting in a hotel room, he made the hotel bring up a piano to his room and he sat, still hungover and wrote this beauty. He even talks about the struggles in writing it in the first couple lines…
Sitting here wasted and wounded at this old piano,
Trying hard to capture the moment this morning I don’t know
‘Cause a bottle of vodka’s still lodged in my head,
And some blonde gave me nightmares.
I think that she’s still in my bed.
The song is a sad love song to his wife. Jon lived the rock & roll lifestyle and he was not that faithful to his wife, but by this time in his career, he knew that she was the one he loved. This song was a letter to her that he is sorry for what he has done and that she is really the one for him. He wishes he could be with her lying in a bed of roses while he sits lonely in that hotel room on a bed of nails. It is quite lovely. And some of the lines he wrote in this were beautiful painted pictures…
With an ironclad fist I wake up and French-kiss the morning
and I loved the line…
While my mistress—she calls me
To stand in her spotlight again.
That mistress is the record company and the music business that keeps wanting him to pop out hit after hit and he is longing to be home with her. It is such great story telling.
Musically, the piano is the key (see what I did there). The emotion that the piano captures in its notes was brilliantly done by David Bryan, the smooth guitar sounds that Richie produced, and Jon’s heart is poured all over those lyrics and you feel every ounce of pain he is feeling. Richie’s backing vocals also add that extra touch that the band sorely misses nowadays. There are so many little moments in the song with a nice guitar riff, a drum fill or a keyboard note that strikes the right note that makes the song that much more effective. A great job by all.
Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years. Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Sunday!
“Bed Of Roses”
Trying hard to capture the moment this morning I don’t know
‘Cause a bottle of vodka’s still lodged in my head,
And some blonde gave me nightmares.
I think that she’s still in my bed.
As I dream about movies
They won’t make of me when I’m dead.
With an ironclad fist I wake up and French-kiss the morning
While some marching band keeps its own beat in my head while we’re talking
About all of the things that I long to believe:
About love, the truth, what you mean to me.
And the truth is,
Baby, you’re all that I need.
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I’ll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down on a bed of roses.
Well, I’m so far away.
Each step that I take is on my way home.
A king’s ransom in dimes I’d give each night to see through this pay-phone.
Still I run out of time or it’s hard to get through.
‘Til the bird on the wire flies me back to you
I’ll just close my eyes and whisper,
“Baby, blind love is true.”
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I’ll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down on a bed of roses.
Well, this hotel bar’s hangover whiskey’s gone dry.
The barkeeper’s wig’s crooked and she’s giving me the eye.
Well, I might have said yeah
But I laughed so hard I think I died.
Now as you close your eyes
Know I’ll be thinking about you.
While my mistress—she calls me
To stand in her spotlight again.
Tonight I won’t be alone,
But you know that don’t mean I’m not lonely.
I’ve got nothing to prove
For it’s you that I’d die to defend.
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I’ll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down.
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I’ll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down on a bed of roses.
Nice choice, John – I hadn’t thought much about the lyrics before, they are well-crafted.
I might have to break out Keep The Faith today, I’m now in the mood to hear In These Arms & Dry County especially!
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Great album. Enjoy the listen.
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Last good ballad I heard these guys do. Check out the Bob Lefetsvtz podcast as he talks to Bob Rock for 90 minutes. It’s a great listen.
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I will do that. Thanks for the tip
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Yep that Lefsetz podcast is pretty cool. I heard a bit a few days ago and will finish it off soon. Might even do a post on some of the takeaways I got from it
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Great idea go for it. Crazy how little Rock got for Slippery yet how much he got for New Jersey.
That is indeed a good manager which Rock alludes to.
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It’s a beautiful, anthemic ballad, and one of their best songs.
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I was never really a fan of this song. Lol.
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That is perfectly fine. You can’t like everything and with Bon Jovi, that is really a true statement as their more recent stuff is so hard to like.
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