Back Off Bitch

by **Soulmonster** Sat 7 Aug 2010 - 17:32

BACK OFF BITCH

Album:
Use Your Illusion I, 1991, track no. 8.

Written by:
Paul Huge and Axl Rose.

Musicians:
Drums: Matt
Bass: Duff
Lead and Rhythm Guitars: Slash
Rhythm and Lead Guitars: Izzy
Vocals: Axl
Background Vocals: Slash, Duff

Live performances:
This song is pre-Guns N' Roses and dates back to Hollywood Rose or maybe even earlier since Axl's Lafayette friend, Paul Huge, is listed as co-writer and Axl himself has stated it dates back to 1982. It has almost exclusively been played in 1985 and 1986 but also once in 1991. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {BOBSONGS} times.

Lyrics:

Oh baby, pretty baby
Oh honey, you let me down honey
I ain't playin' childhood games no more
I said it's time for me to even the score
So stake your claim, your claim to fame
But baby call another name
When you feel the fire, and taste the flame

Back off, back off bitch
Down in the gutter dyin' in the ditch
You better back off, back off bitch
Face of an angel with the love of a witch
Back off, back off bitch
Back off, back off bitch

Makin' love
Cheap heartbreaker, broken backed,
Nasty ballbreaker, stay out of my bed,
outta my head
If it's lovin' you, I'm better off dead

Back off, back off bitch
Down in the gutter dyin' in the ditch
You better back off, back off bitch
Face of an angel with the love of a witch
Back off, back off bitch
Back off, back off bitch

Emotions ripped, gone on a binge
Life lipped, I said you're off the hinge
Tellin' lies of such fame and glory
I don't even wanna hear your story

Back off, back off bitch
Down in the gutter dyin' in the ditch
You better back off, back off bitch
Face of an angel with the love of a witch
Back off, back off bitch
It's such a pity that you're such a bitch
Back off, back off bitch
It's time to burn-burn the witch
Back off, back off bitch
Back off, back off bitch
Back off, back off bitch
Bitch
Bitch
Bitch
Bitch

Hey wha'd'ya think he's tryin' to say there anyway?
I think it's something each person's s'posed to take in their own special way
Fucking bitch

Quotes regarding the song and its making:

Talking about writing the song:

I mean, there’s Back off Bitch that was written, like, in ’82.

Rockline, November 27, 1991

Introducing the song::

This is 'Back Off Bitch,' for every guy and girl who just bugs the fuck out of them.

Madame Wong's West, July 20, 1984

This is a real pretty tune. For everybody out there that has somebody, who won't fucking leave them alone, who bugs you a little too much, this song is called, 'Back Off Bitch'.

The Troubadour, November 22, 1985

Talking about recording the song:

I play the main solo. I used to play this high-end trill thing for the first solo, but I could never play it consistently. So I just took it off altogether and let Izzy put a lead on, which is really a lot cooler. [...] It's a contemporary-metal style song. [laughs] I mean, it's so generic in that way. It's like E, D, D, D flat, D-that kind of thing. [...] I am just picking them [the fast arpeggios]; I can't tap to save my life.

Guitar World, February 1992

by hellobeatle Sun 22 May 2011 - 5:08

Izzy plays lead on it too, right?

by **Soulmonster** Thu 29 Jun 2017 - 22:31

by **Soulmonster** Wed 9 Aug 2017 - 13:30

An early rocker that moved at a swift clip, “Back Off Bitch” was a Hollywood Rose carryover that Axl Rose wrote with Paul Tobias. The track showed up on a 1985 demo by Guns N’ Roses, and, considering its not-so-subtle lyrics, it’s remarkable how long the song meanders since it makes its point pretty early. That length could be one reason why it didn’t make Appetite. When it came out on Use Your Illusion I, “Back Off Bitch” felt like it found a home alongside “Bad Obsession” and “Double Talkin’ Jive.” It’s also the only song on the Illusion albums where Izzy Stradlin solos, taking the lead on the first one you hear (Slash handled the main solo). Rose’s former Hollywood bandmate Chris Weber sued the frontman in 1998, claiming he was one of the songwriters on the track, along with the earlier B-side “Shadow of Your Love.”

Source: http://ultimateclassicrock.com/guns-n-roses-appetite-for-destruction-double-album/

by **Soulmonster** Wed 9 Aug 2017 - 13:31

hellobeatle wrote:Izzy plays lead on it too, right?

Yes

by **Soulmonster** Sat 7 Apr 2018 - 10:40

Raz Cue mentioned in his book (p. 139) that after having heard Axl sing with Rose (probably back in '84), he talked to his friends Mike Jagosz and Dave Anthony (lead singers in the bands Pyrrhus and Shire, respectively, and brothers) about how great Axl was. Mike and Dave would then mock Axl's vocals by shrieking "Back off, back off, bitch", indicating that the song dates to at least this time.

by **Soulmonster** Wed 7 Feb 2024 - 18:59

Marcelle Sirkus, a friend of Chris Weber in Hollywood, would mention getting to meet Axl and hear an early version of Back Off Bitch and also being present when Axl recorded vocals for the song:

So I met Axl at Chris Weber's house early 80s, way early 80s. And I remember sitting on the bed with Axl in Chris's room showing me Back Off Bitch. And you know, after about three rounds of the song, like in my head, I remember thinking, am I gonna be in a band and play a song Back Off Bitch? I don't think so. And I literally turned my bass over to Izzy and left the room. [...] [Axl]'s always been really open about even my opinions about his own stuff. Even during Use Your Illusion, I spent a bit of time with them over at the recording studio. And I was in there a few nights when he was recording, of all things, Back Off Bitch. Very strange irony about that, yeah. But it was like, it was just me, me and my friend, we were driving around and it was, like, a Saturday night or a Friday night and there really wasn't anything going on. And I said, “Oh, I think my friend is recording down the street, should we go pop in?” And she had no idea. And I just, you know, walked in the Record Plant and I'm like, “Yeah, tell Axl Marcelle is here”. And five minutes later, we're listening to vocal recordings of Back Off Bitch. Like, “Is this good or is that good? Did you like that one?” And, you know, it was really fun. Because he knew I went really way back with the song to begin with, so…

Appetite for Distortion, August 6, 2018

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