He's been walkin' the streets at night, just tryin' to get it right

From McSweeney's, Notes on "Sweet Child O' Mine," as delivered to Axl Rose by his editor:

She's got a smile that, it seems to me—Why equivocate? You weaken your point by framing this as a mere personal observation instead of a fact. Reminds me of childhood memories—Redundant. You either have a memory or you're reminded of something. You're not reminded of a memory. Heavy-metal fans won't stand for such writing, my friend. ... Finally, Axl, I think we might have had a misunderstanding regarding my previous notes. When I wrote in colored pencil "Where do we go now?" I wasn't offering that as a lyric.

I just hope Axl doesn't find out about this, track down the author, and bite him. More windows into the song-writing process here.