<P> "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, appearing on their debut album Appetite for Destruction . Released in August 1988 as the album's third single, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number - one single in the U.S. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1988 . Re-released in 1989, it reached number six on the UK Singles Chart . Guitarist Slash said in 1990, "(The song) turned into a huge hit and now it makes me sick . I mean, I like it, but I hate what it represents ." </P> <P> Duff McKagan, 1988 </P> <P> Slash has been quoted as having an initial disdain for the song due to its roots as simply a "string skipping" exercise and a joke at the time . During a jam session at the band's house in the Sunset Strip, drummer Steven Adler and Slash were warming up and Slash began to play a "circus" melody while making faces at Adler . Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin asked Slash to play it again . Stradlin came up with some chords, Duff McKagan created a bassline and Adler planned a beat . In his autobiography, Slash said "within an hour my guitar exercise had become something else". Meanwhile, lead singer Axl Rose was listening to the musicians upstairs in his room and was inspired to write lyrics, which became complete by the following afternoon . He based it on his girlfriend Erin Everly, and declared that Lynyrd Skynyrd served as an inspiration "to make sure that we'd got that heartfelt feeling". On the next composing session in Burbank, the band added both a bridge and a guitar solo . </P> <P> When the band recorded demos with producer Spencer Proffer, he suggested adding a breakdown at the song's end . The musicians agreed, but were not sure what to do . Listening to the demo in a loop, Rose started saying to himself, "Where do we go? Where do we go now?" and Proffer suggested that he sing that . </P>

Who wrote the lyrics to sweet child of mine