Used To Love Her

by **Soulmonster** Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:16 pm

USED TO LOVE HER

Album:
GN'R Lies, 1988, track no. 6.

Written by:
Guns N' Roses.

Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose
Lead guitar: Slash
Rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin
Bass: Duff McKagan
Drums: Steven Adler
Mexican holler: Howard Teman

Information:
At first the band referred to the song with the title "I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her" [Circus, July 31, 1988].

Live performances:
This song was played for the first time October 30, 1987 at an acoustic gig at CBGB's, USA. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {UTLHSONGS} times.

Lyrics:

I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain

I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I knew I miss her
So I had to keep her
She's buried right in my back yard

I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
She bitched so much
She drove me nuts
And now I'm happier this way

I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I used to love her
But I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain

Quotes regarding the song and its making:

Writing the song:

'I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her' is a joke. I was sitting around listening to the radio and some guy was whining about a broad who was treating him bad. I wanted to take the radio and smash it against the wall. Such self-pity! What a wimp! So we rewrote the same song we heard with a better ending, it's a real New York type song.

Superstar Facts No. 16, 1988

I remember when we wrote that Used To Love Her song. It really, really wasn't about misogyny or anything. It was just that... there was another band in town, and they had written a song; and Izzy and I were sitting around, and it was all about how a woman kicked the guy's ass. And we were like "wow, what a bunch of pussies!"

Hartford CT, October 23, 2017

Introducing the song:

Our first song I would not consider a true song but maybe how you feel sometimes.

CBGB's, October 30, 1987

Listen to me, fuckers. This is a song that we wrote as a joke. We actually wrote this making fun of another band's song, some song about kissing ass and I thought that was really pussy, so. We wrote this as a joke, but it is basically what to do with your sweet child, or sweet boy, when they become a pain in your fucking ass. And it's called 'I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her'.

Val du Lakes Amphitheatre, July 30, 1988

Talking about the song:

I think it’s pretty fuckin’ funny. I don’t know anybody who hears it and doesn’t find it funny, except for the people that never find jokes funny...

Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988

It’s very tongue-in- cheek! It’s not to be taken seriously, ya know, it’s like a joke. I don’t condone wife-beating. I understand it, but I don’t condone it. So, it’s very tongue-in-cheek.

MTV, 1988

Used To Love Her is one we've played in concert a lot, and we got a lot of heat about it because the lyric goes, 'I used to love her, but I had to kill her.' People think it's about one of our old girlfriends, but it's actually about Axl's dog. It's really a joke, nothing more.

Hit Parader, May 1989

[It's] a joke. Wife beating's been around for 10 million years or something, I mean, I don't advocate it. I understand it. But I don't treat women any differently than I treat men.

Rolling Stone, November 1988

The first type I heard lyrics to that song was back at the Hell House. Axl and Duff came up with them. I thought it was so damn funny.

"My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, pp. 160

When I first heard that, I thought it was about me! I used to manage the band and then they hired Alan. I had put all this money into them and suddenly I was left with nothing.

Classic Rock, July 2014

We were all partying and they were like, "Come on down!" and just went down to the studio and everybody, did all this percussion stuff. Actually here's an unknown thing, in the beginning of I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her you hear Axl say something and you hear in the background, [imitating Caribbean/Mexican cry], that's me.

Appetite for Distortion, October 29, 2018

Arlett Vereecke:

The other new acoustic song was Used To Love Her [featuring the lyrics, ‘I used to love her but I had to kill her’]. Izzy wrote that. He said it was about a dog. Axl said: “It could be about my girlfriend.”

Classic Rock, July 2014

by **Blackstar** Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:17 pm

I remember when we wrote that Used To Love Her song. It really, really wasn't about misogyny or anything. It was just that... there was another band in town, and they had written a song; and Izzy and I were sitting around, and it was all about how a woman kicked the guy's ass. And we were like "wow, what a bunch of pussies!" [Hartford CT, October 23, 2017].

by **Soulmonster** Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:39 pm

I think it’s pretty fuckin’ funny. I don’t know anybody who hears it and doesn’t find it funny, except for the people that never find jokes funny...

Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993; interview from October 1988

by **Blackstar** Wed Jun 03, 2020 7:19 pm

Interesting article in The Boston Globe (July 9, 2000) discussing the long tradition of songs about murder, which Used To Love Her is part of:

by **Soulmonster** Sun Sep 11, 2022 6:39 pm

Arlett Vereecke:

The other new acoustic song was Used To Love Her [featuring the lyrics, ‘I used to love her but I had to kill her’]. Izzy wrote that. He said it was about a dog. Axl said: “It could be about my girlfriend.”

Classic Rock, July 2014

Adn Vicky Hamilton:

When I first heard that, I thought it was about me! I used to manage the band and then they hired Alan. I had put all this money into them and suddenly I was left with nothing.

Classic Rock, July 2014

by **Soulmonster** Tue Apr 02, 2024 7:18 am

Howard Teman was present when Used To Love Her was recorded and provided the distinctive scream/holler at the beginning:

We were all partying and they were like, "Come on down!" and just went down to the studio and everybody, did all this percussion stuff. Actually here's an unknown thing, in the beginning of I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her you hear Axl say something and you hear in the background, [imitating Caribbean/Mexican cry], that's me.

Appetite for Distortion, October 29, 2018

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