Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Lyrics Meaning

This power ballad was released in 1988 as the third single from Poison's second album, ``Open Up and Say... Ahh.'' The band got an early Christmas present on December 24, 1988, when it became their first and only #1 hit in the US. It remained at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts for three weeks.

``Every Rose Has Its Thorn'' was written by lead vocalist Bret Michaels. His inspiration, he says, came after having his heart broken by his then love interest, a stripper from Los Angeles. The band had a gig at ``The Ritz,'' a cowboy bar in Dallas, Texas. When the show ended, Michaels gave his sweetheart a call. While they were talking, he heard the voice of another man in the background. The heartbroken Michaels penned the song while sitting in a laundromat with his acoustic guitar.

Every rose has its thorn

Just like every night has its dawn

Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song

Every rose has its thorn

With Michaels' twang, the reference in the chorus to `cowboys,' and the acoustic backtrack, ``Every Rose'' had a country feel rarely found in the power ballads of glam metal bands. Dee Snider, of Twisted Sister said the song ``completely killed the metal in the pop metal scene... All of a sudden, all the heavy metal rock bands got rid of their distortion pedals and went f---ing acoustic.''