Right Next Door To Hell

by **Soulmonster** Thu Aug 05, 2010 10:16 pm

RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO HELL

Album:
Use Your Illusion I, 1991, track no. 1.

Information:
Timo Caltia (real name Timo Kaltio) who participated writing this song is a Finnish guitarist, songwriter and guitar-tech expert who once worked with Hanoi Rocks. He had played a chorus riff of the song at his home while Izzy visited there. Caltia was bothered by his irritating neighbour and was trying to make a verse including words "living next door to hell". Later Izzy asked a permission to take the riff for his new song. Royalties from this song helped Caltia to buy himself a new house in London.

Written by:
Izzy Stradlin, Timo Caltia and Axl Rose.

Musicians:
Drums: Matt Sorum
Bass: Duff
Lead and Rhythm Guitars / 6-String Bass: Slash
Rhythm Guitar: Izzy
Vocals: Axl
Background Vocals: Slash, Duff, Izzy

Live performances:
The song was played for the first time at Pantages Theatre, USA, on May 11, 1991. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {RIGHTSONGS} times.

Lyrics:

I'll take a nicotine, caffeine, sugar fix
Jesus don't ya git tired of turnin' tricks
But when your innocence dies
You'll find the blues
Seems all our heroes were born to lose
Just walkin' through time
You believe this heat
Another empty house another dead end street
Gonna rest my bones an sit for a spell
This side of heaven this close to Hell

Right next door to hell
Why don't you write a letter to me yeah
I said I'm right next door to hell
And so many eyes are on me
Right next door to hell
I got nowhere else to be
Right next door to hell
Feels like the walls are closing in on me

My mama never really said much to me
She was much too young and scared ta be
Hell "Freud" might say that's what I need
But all I really ever get is greed
And most my friends they feel the same
Hell we don't even have ourselves to blame
But times are hard and thrills are cheaper
As your arms get shorter
Your pockets get deeper

Right next door to hell
Why don't you write a letter to me yeah
I said I'm right next door to hell
And so many eyes are on me
Right next door to hell
I never thought this is where I'd be
Right next door to hell
Thinkin' time'll stand still for me

Fuck you
Bitch

Not bad kids just stupid ones
Yeah we thought we'd own the world
And gettin' used was havin' fun
I said we're not sad kids just lucid ones yeah
Flowin' through life not collectin' anyone
So much out there
Still so much to see
Time's too much to handle
Time's too much for me
It drives me up the walls
Drives me out of my mind
Can you tell me what this means...huh?

Quotes regarding the song and its making:

Writing the song:

Well, the song wasn’t necessarily written about [the wine bottle incident with his neighbor]. It’s just - the incident with my next door neighbor just inspired the chorus. And that chorus was also... Some of the verses were inspired by imagining myself sitting on Steven Adler’s street, and just imagining that I hadn’t – you know, that we hadn’t made it yet, and we were still on the streets and feeling like there was nothing there; I was kinda trying to relate with Steven. And other parts in the verses are me relating with things in my childhood and with our climb to the top; you know, “Not bad kids just stupid ones/ we thought we'd own the world/ and gettin' used was havin' fun.” The situation with the neighbor was just that she just kinda lost it after I realized this wasn’t a person I wanted to be involved with. And she just couldn’t handle the rejection of living next door, you know, and that was, like, her big claim to fame. And she was drunk and swung a wine bottle, and I took it, and now she just couldn’t deal with that. And so her way to be involved was the same as Steven Adler suing us. It’s like, “Okay, let’s make a law case out of it”. You know, the D.A’s threw it out, but now it’s a civil suit and, I mean, she’s trying to tell people that I’m insinuating that she actually emanated from hell (laughs). That’s her case.

Rockline, November 27, 1991

I'd say "Right Next Door To Hell" is something like the chorus from "Locomotive," but the verses are much deeper, much more serious.

Metallix, December 1992

[One song] has a verse about life in L.A., and the chorus came when I was at home and couldn’t figure one out. All of a sudden Gabby started beating on the walls and had her television cranked on 10 to bother me, and I just wrote this chorus called ‘Right Next Door to Hell.’ It works really well.

People Magazine, November 19, 1990

Introducing the song:

I wrote the chorus of this song - the verses have nothing to do about that part - I wrote the chorus because of my next-door neighbour.

The Ritz, New York, USA, May 16, 1991

by **Soulmonster** Thu Jun 29, 2017 12:38 pm

by **Blackstar** Sun Apr 22, 2018 6:26 pm

[One song] has a verse about life in L.A., and the chorus came when I was at home and couldn’t figure one out. All of a sudden Gabby started beating on the walls and had her television cranked on 10 to bother me, and I just wrote this chorus called ‘Right Next Door to Hell.’ It works really well. [Quoted in People Magazine, November 19, 1990]

by **Blackstar** Tue May 08, 2018 5:12 am

The song wasn’t necessarily written about that [the incident with my neighbor]. It’s… the incident with my next door neighbor just inspired the chorus. And that chorus was also… some of the verses, you know, were inspired by imagining myself sitting on Steven Adler’s street, you know, and just imagining that I hadn’t… that we hadn’t made it yet and we were just sitting on the street and feeling there was nothing there, and I was kinda trying to relate with Steven. And other parts in the verses are me relating with things in my childhood and our climb to the top, you know, “not bad kids just stupid ones/ we thought we'd own the world/ an gettin' used was havin' fun”. [Rockline radio show, 1991]

by ludurigan Tue Jul 19, 2022 5:18 pm

Found this cool Timo Kaltio interview where he talks a bit about how he and Izzy wrote the song and all that came after that

Source = https://www.melodylane.it/NEWSITO/index.php/857-timo-kaltio

MELODY LANE: You co-wrote with IZZY and AXL the song RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO HELL, the opening track of the masterpiece multi-platinum album USE YOUR ILLUSION 1… Tell us about the importance of the song and everything that has come with it for your life ...
TIMO KALTIO: I was at home and IZZY just called me to have a few beers together. And then he started talking to me about a song he was writing but he couldn't figure out the chorus. I had some old songs of mine, I’ve always been writing music all the time, and the chorus of one of those songs seemed to work with the part that IZZY had written…Then after a few years, in the meanwhile I had moved to London with CHEAP & NASTY, IZZY called me and he told me they were about to release a new album with GUNS and that they needed my permission to use the track. You know one day he came to London, in the studio where we were rehearsing with CHEAP & NASTY, and he gave me his headphones and he played me the song he had on a cassette to know what I thought. At the time the working-title of the song was MARK SO SIMPLE but then it became RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO HELL, after AXL put down the lyrics. Things happen and sure this is one of those things that change your life, clearly for the better. USE YOUR ILLUSION 1, a platinum album, millions of copies sold, before that song practically nobody knew me, after that things have changed a bit and I have also been able to afford a more comfortable home and a slightly larger car, let's say a four-door car ah ah ah ... Some time later, IZZY called me and told me they were going to play at WEMBLEY stadium, summer 1991 ... and he invited me and the guys from CHEAP & NASTY along with other friends to the concert…we were on the VIP list with royal tickets, yeah!

by **Blackstar** Tue Jul 19, 2022 5:53 pm

ludurigan wrote:Found this cool Timo Kaltio interview where he talks a bit about how he and Izzy wrote the song and all that came after that

Source = https://www.melodylane.it/NEWSITO/index.php/857-timo-kaltio

MELODY LANE: You co-wrote with IZZY and AXL the song RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO HELL, the opening track of the masterpiece multi-platinum album USE YOUR ILLUSION 1… Tell us about the importance of the song and everything that has come with it for your life ...
TIMO KALTIO: I was at home and IZZY just called me to have a few beers together. And then he started talking to me about a song he was writing but he couldn't figure out the chorus. I had some old songs of mine, I’ve always been writing music all the time, and the chorus of one of those songs seemed to work with the part that IZZY had written…Then after a few years, in the meanwhile I had moved to London with CHEAP & NASTY, IZZY called me and he told me they were about to release a new album with GUNS and that they needed my permission to use the track. You know one day he came to London, in the studio where we were rehearsing with CHEAP & NASTY, and he gave me his headphones and he played me the song he had on a cassette to know what I thought. At the time the working-title of the song was MARK SO SIMPLE but then it became RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO HELL, after AXL put down the lyrics. Things happen and sure this is one of those things that change your life, clearly for the better. USE YOUR ILLUSION 1, a platinum album, millions of copies sold, before that song practically nobody knew me, after that things have changed a bit and I have also been able to afford a more comfortable home and a slightly larger car, let's say a four-door car ah ah ah ... Some time later, IZZY called me and told me they were going to play at WEMBLEY stadium, summer 1991 ... and he invited me and the guys from CHEAP & NASTY along with other friends to the concert…we were on the VIP list with royal tickets, yeah!

That was great, thanks!

There is no date for the interview, but from what I can tell by searching through the site it was probably in early 2021. Unfortunately, Timo would pass away a few months later.

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