Bon Jovi – Bed Of Roses
After a fairly long hiatus as a band, Bon Jovi got back together to record a more mature rock album, refelecting their musical growth as well as their less glam image.
‘Keep The Faith’ released in 1993, is STILL my favorite Bon Jovi album, for those reasons and more. It was a much more mature sound and the songs were a little darker and less “party time” glam rock from a few years earlier.
The second single released after the killer titlre track, “Bed Of Roses” was a “power ballad” in the sense that it was still considered that from a 80s rock band. However, this was heart-wrenching love song that emotes how much a man loves a woman and misses her terribly while he’s gone.
Jon Bon Jovi wrote most of it in a hotel room the morning of a hangover, writing exactly how he felt that morning. Some of the best lyrics of his career as a songwriter, probably the best guitar work from Richie Sambora that mirrors the pain and suffering of the lyrics and the rest of the band were just on point for this whole album.
The album cut is over 6:30 minutes long and has some passages that are excellent but the radio edit that made it to the Top 10 is the version of the song that peaked at #10, making it one of the most successful hits of the band’s career.
***EXTRA*** The woman I dated from late 1991 to summer of 1992 (stupid long distance relationships, am I right?), was at the same Bon Jovi /Extreme concert a year later at The Mark of the Quad Cities (now TaxSlayer Center) in Moline, that I was at and we didn’t know it. I married her on September 4, 2004. This Forgotten 45 @ 45 is for her.
