"Bed of Roses" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, first appearing on their fifth studio album, Keep the Faith (1992), then released as a single on January 11, 1993. Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song in a hotel room while suffering from a hangover and the lyrics reflect his feelings at the time. The song contains drawn out guitar riffs and soft piano playing, along with emotive and high vocals by Jon Bon Jovi.
The song's power ballad style made it a worldwide hit, and it demonstrated the band's new, more mature sound after their success as a glam metal band in the 1980s. The single reached No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart, No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 10 on the German Singles Chart.
The video for "Bed of Roses" begins with shots of Richie Sambora playing guitar high in the mountain tops, and then cuts to scenes of Jon alone in his hotel room, the band recording the song in the studio, and finally performing live on stage. Initially, the video directors wanted Jon Bon Jovi to be on the mountain tops, but Jon said: "I was on top of a mountain in 'Blaze of Glory', send them" (Richie Sambora and David Bryan, who is seen playing the piano at the mountain top).
Lyrics
Sitting here wasted and wounded at this old piano,
Trying hard to capture the moment this morning I don't know
'Cause a bottle of vodka's still lodged in my head,
And some blonde gave me nightmares.
I think that she's still in my bed.
As I dream about movies
They won't make of me when I'm dead.
With an ironclad fist I wake up and French-kiss the morning
While some marching band keeps its own beat in my head while we're talking
About all of the things that I long to believe:
About love, the truth, what you mean to me.
And the truth is,
Baby, you're all that I need.
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I'll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down on a bed of roses.
Well, I'm so far away.
Each step that I take is on my way home.
A king's ransom in dimes I'd give each night to see through this pay-phone.
Still I run out of time or it's hard to get through.
'Til the bird on the wire flies me back to you
I'll just close my eyes and whisper,
"Baby, blind love is true."
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I'll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down on a bed of roses.
Well, this hotel bar's hangover whiskey's gone dry.
The barkeeper's wig's crooked and she's giving me the eye.
Well, I might have said yeah
But I laughed so hard I think I died.
Now as you close your eyes
Know I'll be thinking about you.
While my mistress—she calls me
To stand in her spotlight again.
Tonight I won't be alone,
But you know that don't mean I'm not lonely.
I've got nothing to prove
For it's you that I'd die to defend.
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I'll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down.
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses,
For tonight I'll sleep on a bed of nails.
Oh, I wanna be just as close as the Holy Ghost is,
And lay you down on a bed of roses.