"Pretty Tied Up" (subtitled "The Perils of Rock n Roll Decadence") is a song by the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

. Written by

rhythm guitarist In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass ...

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), known professionally as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he re ...

, it appears on the band's 1991 album ''

Use Your Illusion II ''Use Your Illusion II'' is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released by Geffen Records on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart '' Use Your Illusion I''. Both albums were released in conjunction wit ...

''. The song opens with the sounds of a

coral sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric string instrument designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the ...

played by Stradlin. Stradlin's lyrics may have been inspired by a bondage encounter with a

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

and her client, which he described in an interview:

My Mexican friend Tony took me to meet this woman named Margot at her house. She gave us some tequila or something and she goes in the bedroom and we walk in and there's this big fat naked guy with an onion in his mouth. He's wearing women's underwear and high heels and he's tied up with duct tape against the wall. Me and Tony were like, What the fuck is going on here? Cracking up laughing. She was this dominatrix chick.

Slash has stated that the song was written one night at Stradlin's house, before the band went to Chicago to write. According to Slash, Stradlin was so high on

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

that night that he made a sitar out of a cymbal, a broomstick and some strings, thus serving as the inspiration for the sitar heard at the beginning of the track. The song was first played live at the Rock in Rio 2 festival on January 20, 1991 and a live version of the song was released on the album '' Live Era: '87-'93''.

Personnel

* W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, production *

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

– lead guitar, production *

– rhythm guitar,

, production *

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician. He was the bassist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses for twelve years, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McKagan rejoined the b ...

– bass, production *

Matt Sorum Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...

– drums, production *

Dizzy Reed Darren Arthur "Dizzy" Reed (born June 18, 1963) is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 1990. Aside from lead singer Axl Rose, Reed is ...

– piano, production

Charts

References

{{Authority control Guns N' Roses songs 1991 songs Songs written by Izzy Stradlin Songs about BDSM