Released	November 23, 2008
Recorded	1998–2008 Battery Soundtrack, Bennett House, Can Am, Capitol Studios,Cherokee Studios, Electric Lady Studios, IGA, The Palms, Rumbo,Sunset Sound Recorders, The Townhouse, The Village, Woodland Ranch
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	71:18
Label	Geffen
Producer	Axl Rose, Caram Costanzo

Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, released in November 2008 on Geffen Records. It is the band’s first studio album since “The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993), released exactly 15 years before Chinese Democracy, and their first album of original studio material since the simultaneous releases of Use Your Illusion I and II in September 1991. Despite debuting at number three on the Billboard200 and being certified Platinum by the RIAA,^[1] Chinese Democracy domestically undersold expectations.^[2][3] It received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. The album achieved international chart success and has sold over one million copies in Europe.

It is the most expensive album ever produced, with production costs in excess of $13 million.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Axl Rose.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	“Chinese Democracy“	Rose, Josh Freese	4:43
2.	“Shackler’s Revenge”	Rose, Buckethead, Caram Costanzo, Bryan Mantia, Pete Scaturro	3:37
3.	“Better“	Rose, Robin Finck	4:58
4.	“Street of Dreams“	Rose, Tommy Stinson, Dizzy Reed	4:46
5.	“If the World”	Rose, Chris Pitman	4:54
6.	“There Was a Time”	Rose, Paul Tobias, Reed	6:41
7.	“Catcher in the Rye”	Rose, Tobias	5:53
8.	“Scraped”	Rose, Buckethead, Costanzo	3:30
9.	“Riad N’ the Bedouins”	Rose, Stinson	4:10
10.	“Sorry”	Rose, Buckethead, Mantia, Scaturro	6:14
11.	“I.R.S.”	Rose, Tobias, Reed	4:28
12.	“Madagascar“	Rose, Pitman	5:38
13.	“This I Love”	Rose	5:34
14.	“Prostitute“	Rose, Tobias	6:15
Total length:			71:18

Lyrics

1. Chinese Democracy

It don’t really matter
Gonna find out for yourself
No it don’t really matter
Gonna leave this thing to
Somebody else

If they were missionaries
Real time visionaries
Sitting in a Chinese stew
To view my dis-infatu-ation
I know that I’m a classic case
Watch my disenchanted face
Blame it on the Falun Gong*
They’ve seen the end and you can’t hold on now

‘Cause it would take a lot more hate than you
To end the fascination
Even with an iron fist
More than you got to rule the nation
When all I’ve got is precious time

It don’t really matter
Guess I’ll keep it to myself
Said it don’t really matter
It’s time I look around for
Somebody else

Cause it would take a lot more time than you
Have got for masturbation
Even with your iron fist
More than you got to rule the nation
But all we got is precious time
More than you got to fool the nation
But all I got is precious time

It don’t really matter
I guess you’ll find out for yourself
No it don’t really matter
So you can hear it now from
Somebody else

You think you got it all locked up inside
And if you beat ’em enough they’ll die
It’s like a walk in the park from the cell
Now you’re keeping your own kind in hell
When your great wall rocks, blame yourself
Like if your ass were your hell you can tell
And you’re out of time…

2. Shackler’s Revenge

I got a funny feeling
There’s something wrong today
I got a funny feeling
And it won’t go away

I got an itchy finger
An they’ll be hell to play
I’m gonna pull the trigger
An blow them all away

Don’t ever
Try to tell me
How much you care for me
Don’t ever
Try to tell me
How you are there for me

I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe in
I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe in

I got a wicked demon
His hunger never fades
I got an empty feelin’
I won’t be home today

Don’t ever
Try to tell me
How much you care for me
Don’t ever
Try to tell me
How you are there for me

I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe in
I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe in

No one is stoppin’ you
From a doin what you want to do
No one is stoppin’ you now
Stoppin’ you now

I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe it
I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe it
I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe it
I don’t believe there’s a reason
I don’t believe it

3. Better

No one ever told me when
I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better

No one ever told me when
I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better

The hardest part
This troubled heart
Has ever yet been through now

Was heal the scars
That got their start
Inside someone like you now

For had I known
Or I’d been shown
Back when how long it’d take me

To break the charms
That brought me harm
And all but would erase me

I never won
Or thought I could
No matter what you’d pay me

Replay the part
You stole my heart
I should have known you’re crazy

If all I knew
Was that with you
I’d want someone to save me

It’d be enough
But just my luck
I fell in love and maybe

All that I wanted was

Now I know you better
You know I know better
Now I know you better

So bittersweet
This tragedy
Won’t ask for absolution

This melody
Inside of me
Still searches for solution

A twist of faith
A change of heart
Cures my infatuation

A broken heart
Provides the spark
For my determination

No one ever told me when
I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better

No one ever told me when
I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better

All that I wanted was

Now I know you better
You know I know better
Now I know you better

I never wanted you to be so full of anger (anger)
I never wanted you to be somebody else
I never wanted you to be someone afraid to know themselves
I only wanted you to see things for yourself

All that I wanted was

Now I know you better
Now we all know better
All that I wanted was

Na na na na
Na na na na
Na na na na
Na na na na
(cont. thru verse)

If I were you
I’d manage to
Avoid the invitation

Of promised love
That can’t keep up
With your adoration

Just use your head
And in the end
You’ll find your inspiration

To choose your steps
And won’t regret
This kind of aggravation

No one ever told me when
I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better

No one ever told me when
I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better

4. Street of Dreams

All the love in the world couldn’t save you
All the innocence inside
You know I tried so hard to make you
Ooo to make you change your mind

And it hurts too much to see you
And how you left yourself behind
You know I wouldn’t want to be you
Now there’s a hell I can’t describe

So now I wander through my days
Trying to find my ways
To the feelings that I felt
I saved for you and no one else
And though as long as this road seems
I know it’s called the street of dreams
But that’s not stardust on my feet
It leaves a taste that’s bittersweet
That’s called the blues

I don’t know just what I should do
Everywhere I go I see you
Though it’s what you planned, this much is true
What I thought was beautiful, don’t live inside of you anymore

I don’t know just what I should do
Everywhere I go I see you
Though it’s what you planned, this much is true
What I thought was beautiful, don’t live inside of you anymore

What this means to me
Is more than I know you believe
What I thought of you now
Has cost more that it should for me

What I thought was true before
Were lies I couldn’t see
What I thought was beautiful
Is only memories

Oh oh oh
What’d I tell you
Oh oh oh
That’s
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Inside if you

5. If the World

If the world would end today
And all the dreams we had
Would all just drift away
You know there’s nothing more to say
if the world would end
And our love slipped away

I never knew the way that you look at me
Would ever mean so much to me
But in my heart I found
The feelings that I’ve never shown
And now they’ve
Got the best of me

If the world would end today
then all the dreams we’ve had
Would all just drift away
You know there’s nothing more to say
If the world would end
And our love slipped away

Oooh,
La la …
La la …

I never thought all the love I was lookin’ for
Could ever be so close to me
But you’re the only one
I have ever loved that has ever loved me
And now you’ve got the best of me

If the world would end today
And all the dreams we had
Would all just drift away
You know there’s nothing more to say

If the world would end today
And all the dreams we had
Would all just drift away
You know there’s nothing more to say
If the world would end
And our love slipped away
If the world would end
And our love slipped away

6. There Was a Time

Broken glass and cigarettes
Writin’ on the wall
It was a bargain for the summer
And I thought I had it all
I was the one who gave you everything
The one who took the fall
You were the one who would do anything
The one who can’t recall
Where she was while she was sleepin’
In another women’s bed
Or the doctor’s or the lawyer’s
Or the stranger that she met
If there’s nothin’ that I can gain from this
Or anything at all
It’d be the knowledge that you gave me
When I thought I’d heard it all

It was a long time for you
(It was a long time)
It was a long time for me
(It was a long time)
It’d be a long time for anyone but
(It was a long time)
Looks like it’s meant to be

Social class and registers
Cocaine in the hall
All the way from California
On the way to your next call
To those non-negotiations
To stimulate a cause
For the betterment of evils
And your ways around the laws
That keep you up and sitting pretty
On a pedestal or bed
And now you’re sleeping like an angel
Near the man who you give head
If there’s somethin’ I can make of this
Or anything at all
It’d be the devil hates a loser
And you thought you had it all

It was the wrong time for you
(It was a long time)
It was the wrong time for me
(It was a long time)
It was the wrong time for anyone but
(It was a long time)
Looks like I’m ’bout to see for myself

If I could go back in time
To the place in my soul
There all alone
Lonely teardrops ooh
Are callin’ you
But I don’t want to know it now
Cause knowin’ you
It won’t change a damn thing
But there was a time
Yeah there was a time
Didn’t want ta know it all…
Didn’t wanna know it all…
N’ I don’t wanna know it now
Yeah there was a time
Didn’t want ta know it all…
Didn’t wanna know it all…
N’ I don’t wanna know it now
Oh

Oh I would do anything for you
There was a time
I would do anything for you
I would do anything for you
There was a time

There was a time
I would do anything for you
Ooh…
Yeah, there was a time
Didn’t want ta know it all…
Didn’t wanna know it all…
Ooh…
N’ I don’t wanna know it now
I would do…
Didn’t want to know at all…
Anything for you
Didn’t wanna know at all…
N’ I don’t wanna know it now

There was a time…
There was a time

7. Catcher in the Rye

When all is said and done
We’re not the only ones
Who look at life this way
That’s what the old folks say
But every time I see them
Makes me wish I had a gun
If I thought that I was crazy
Well I guess I’d have more fun
(Guess I’d have more fun)

Oooh, the Catcher In The Rye Again
Won’t let ya get away from him
(Tomorrow never comes)
It’s just another day…
Like today

You decide
Cause I don’t have to
And then they’ll find
And I won’t ask you
At anytime
Or long hereafter
If the cold outside’s
As I’m imagining
It to be
Oh, no

Lana nana na na na
Lana nana na nana

Ooh, the Catcher In The Rye Again
Won’t let ya get away from him
(Tomorrow never comes)
It’s just another day…
Like today

When all is said and done
We’re not the only ones
Who look at life this way
That’s what the young folks say
And if they’d ever change
As that reminds to say
But every time I see them
Makes me wish I had a gun
If I thought that I was crazy
Well I guess I’d have more fun
Cause what used to be’s
Not there for me
And ought to for someone
That belongs…
Insane…
Like I do

Oh, no
Not at all

On an ordinary day
Not in an ordinary way
All at once the song I heard
No longer would it play
For anybody
Or anyone
That needed comfort from somebody
Needed comfort from someone
Who cared
To be
Not like you
And unlike me

And then the voices went away from me
Somehow you set the wheels in motion
That haunt our memories
You were the instrument
You were the one
How a body
Took the body
You gave that boy a gun

You took our innocence
Beyond our stares
Sometimes the only thing
We counted on
When no one else was there

8. Scraped

Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
Ay-o
I just refuse
Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
Ay-o
Cause I just won’t let you

Sometimes I feel like
The world is on top of me
Breakin’ me down with
An endless monotony

Sometimes I feel like
There’s nothing that’s stopping me
All things are possible
I am unstoppable

Some may convince you
No one can break through
I’m here to tell you
You’re worth
More than they tell you

Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
Ay-o
I just refuse
Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
Ay-o
Cause I just won’t let you

Sometimes I feel like
My life’s a catastrophe
Can’t understand why
It seems like it has to be

Sometimes I feel like
It’s all opened up for me
Nothing’s impossible
I am inconquerable

No one can make you
Do what they want to
You know you’re stronger
Than the lies
That they tell you

Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
(I’d give anything to know)
Ay-o
I just refuse
Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
(I would have never made it so far)
Ay-o
Cause I just won’t let you

Believe in yourself

Some may convince you
No one can break through
You know you’re stronger
Than the lies
That they tell you

Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
(I’d give anything to know)
Ay-o
I just refuse
(How you live with yourself)
Ay-o
Don’t you try to stop us now
(I would have never made it so far)
Ay-o
Cause I just won’t let you
(All by myself)

Believe in yourself

9. Riad N’ the Bedouins

Riad N’ The Bedouins
Guns N’ Roses

Oh-Oh
Ohhhh
Oh, Oh-Oh
Ohhhh
Oh-Oh
Ohhhh
Oh, Oh-Oh

Riad and the Bedouins
Had a plan and thought they’d win
But I don’t give a fuck bout them
Cause I ain’t crazy

All my salvation
and All my frustrations
Caught in the lies
No one I love as well
Somewhere in time
where only I could tell

Ohhhh

Ohhhh
Oh-Oh

Riad and the Bedouins
So that’s the world that you can win
But I have had enough of them
And you can’t blame me

‘Cept the time they’re Bedouins
Nomads and barbarians
I won’t bend my will to them, you ag-gra-vate me
All My salvation
And all my frustrations
Caught in the lies
No one I love as well
Somewhere in time
Where only I could tell

Oh Sweet salvation like
All My frustrations
Caught up in lies
No one I love as well
Somewhere in time
Where only I could tell

Oh-Oh, Oh
Oh-Oh, Oh
Oh-Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Oh-Oh, Oh-Oh, Oh-Oh, Oh-Oh, Oh

Oh Sweet salvation and
All My frustrations
Caught in the lies
If you have worked so well
Somewhere in time
Then only I could tell, oh

oh oh
oh oh
oh oh
oh oh…

Rhiad and the Bedouins
had a plan and thought they’d win
Rhiad and the Bedouins
Dropped a bomb(?) and lost again

10. Sorry

You like to hurt me
You know that you do
You like to think
In some way
That it’s me
An not you
(But we know that isn’t true)

You like to have me
Jump an be god
But I…
Don’t want to do it

You don’t know why
I won’t act the way
You think I should

You thought they’d make me
Behave and submit (submit)

What were you thinking
Cause I don’t forget

You don’t know why
I won’t give in
To hell with the pressure
I’m not cavin’ in

You know that I
Got under your skin
You sold your soul
But I won’t let you win

You talk too much
You say I do

Difference is nobody cares about you

You’ve got all the answers
You know everything
Why nobody asked you
‘S a mystery to me

I’m sorry for you
Not sorry for me
You don’t know who in the hell to
or not to believe
I’m sorry for you
Not sorry for me
You don’t know who you can trust now
Or you should believe
You should believe
You don’t know who you can trust now
Or you should believe

You close your eyes
All well and good
I’ll kick your ass
Like I said that I would

You tell them stories they’d rather believe
Use and confuse them
They’re numb and naive

Truth is the truth hurts
Don’t you agree?

It’s harder to live
With the truth about you
Than to live with
The lies about me

Nobody owes you
Not one goddamn thing
You know where to put your
Just shut up and sing

I’m sorry for you
Not sorry for me
You don’t know who in the hell to
Or not to believe
I’m sorry for you
Not sorry for me
You choose to hurt those that love you
An won’t see them free
Won’t see them free
You choose to hurt those that love you
An won’t see them free

You don’t need
Anyone else to be
Sorry for you
You’ve got no heart
You can’t see
All that you’ve done for me
I know the reasons
You tear me apart

11. I.R.S.

Ah, ah
Is it true
What they
Say of
You

Gonna call the president
Gonna call a private eye
Gonna get the IRS
Gonna need the FBI
There’s not anymore
That I can do

All the reasons
That you give
I’d follow you
To where you’d lead
And if that’d be
The end of time it’s true

Wouldn’t be the first time I been wrong
Wouldn’t be the last
I’m sure I’ve known
With all the rumors I could tell
Somethings didn’t work so well
Well anyway it feels the same

As when you first told me you were gone
So long ago but I stil held on
Through all the motions the love and the sex
And that’s the truth and here’s the worst yet
Would it even mattered the things that I’d say
You made your mind up and gone anyway
And there’s no use now in draggin’ it on
Shoulda seen it comin’ all along

Well it’s true
I had
My doubts of you

Gonna call the president
Gonna call a private eye
Gonna get the IRS
Gonna need the FBI

Gonna make this a federal case
Gonna wave it right down in your face
Read it baby with your morning news
With a sweet hangover and the headlines too

Ah…
Ah…

I bet you think I’m doin’ this all for my health
I shoulda looked again babe at somebody else
Feelin’ like I’ve done way more than wrong
Feelin’ like I’m livin’ inside of this song
Feelin’ like I’m just too tired to care
Feelin’ like I’ve done more than my share
Could it be the way I’ve carried on
Like a broken record for so long

And I do
Oh, oh

Gonna call the president
Gonna call a private eye
Gonna get the IRS
Gonna need the FBI

Oh, what shall I do
If I gave my heart to you
It’s such a crime, you know it’s true

Gonna call the president
Gonna call a private eye
Gonna get the IRS
Gonna need the FBI

Gonna make this a federal case
Gonna wave it right down in your face
Read it baby with your morning news
With a sweet hangover and the headlines too

There’s not anymore that I can do

12. Madagascar

I won’t be told anymore That I’ve been brought down in this storm And left so far out from the shore
That I can’t find my way back My way anymore
No, I won’t be told anymore That I’ve been brought down in this storm And left so far out from the shore
That I can’t find my way back My way anymore No I…I
Forgive them that tear down my soul
And bless them that they might grow old
And free them so that they may know That it’s never too late
Oh the many times What seem like a memory I’ve searched and found the ways you use to lure me in
I’ve found the ways, oh why it had to be Mired in denial, and so afraid
If we ever find it true That we had the strength to choose I’m free of all these chains We held together

I’m gonna tell you a story
What?
What?
How can a person grow up with all this around them?
Where does it come from?
All this hatred?
What we’ve got here is..
Failure to communicate
Everybody’s acting like we can do anything and it don’t matter what we do. Maybe we gotta be extra careful because maybe it matters more than we even know..
Hatred isn’t somethin’ you’re born with
It gets taught
I felt this fear
Let’s get something straight, alright?
This whole thing was fucked up
All men betray. All lose heart!
I don’t want to lose heart!…I want to believe
Stand up for righteousness! Stand up for justice! Stand up for truth! You got to call on that something That can make a way out of no way That power that can make a way out of now no way I tell ya I seen the lightning…I’ve heard the thunder roll! Sometimes… I feel discouraged Sometimes I feel discouraged He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone, no never alone, no never alone! Promised never to leave me! Never to leave me alone!
Black men and white men Together at the table of brotherhood! I have a dream Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty!! WE ARE FREE AT LAST!!

I won’t be told anymore That I’ve been brought down in this storm And left so far out from the shore
That I can’t find my way back My way anymore
No, I won’t be told anymore That I’ve been brought down in this storm And left so far out from the shore
That I can’t find my way back My way anymore

13. This I Love

And now I don’t know why
She wouldn’t say goodbye
But then it seems that I
Had seen it in her eyes

And it might not be wise
I’d still have to try
With all the love
I have inside
I can’t deny

I just can’t let it die
Cause her heart’s just like mine
And she holds her pain inside

So if you ask me why
She wouldn’t say goodbye
I know somewhere inside

There is a special light
Still shining bright
And even on the darkest night
She can’t deny

So if she’s somewhere near me
I hope to God she hears me
There’s no one else
Could ever make me feel
I’m so alive
I hoped she’d never leave me
Please God you must believe me
I’ve searched the universe
And found myself
Within’ her eyes

No matter how I try
They say it’s all a lie
So what’s the use of my confessions to a crime
Of passions that won’t die
In my heart

So if she’s somewhere near me
I hope to God she hears me
There’s no one else
Could ever make me feel
I’m so alive

I hoped she’d never leave me
Please God you must believe me
I’ve searched the universe
And found myself
Within’ her eyes

So if she’s somewhere near me
I hope to God she hears me
There’s no one else
Could ever make me feel
I’m so alive

I hoped she’d never leave me
Please God you must believe me
I’ve searched the universe
And found myself
Within’ her eyes

So now I don’t know why
She wouldn’t say goodbye
It just might be that I
Had seen it in her eyes
And now it seems that I
Gave up my ghost of pride
I’ll never say goodbye

14. Prostitute

Seems like forever and a day
If my intentions are misunderstood
Please be kind
I’ve done all I should
I won’t ask of you
What I would not do
Oh, I saw the damage in you
My fortunate one
The envy of youth

Why would they tell me
To please those
That laugh in my face
When all of the reasons
They’ve taught us
Fall over themselves
To give way

It’s not a question of
Whether my heart is true
Streamlined
I had to pull through
Look for a new
Beginning on you
Oh, I got a message for you
Up and away
It’s what I gotta do
Give what you have
For what you might lose

What would you say
If I told you that I’m to blame
And what would you do
If I had to deny your name
Where would you go if I told you
I love you and then walked away
An’ who should I turn to
If not for the ones
You could not save

I told you when I found you
If there were doubts you
Should be careful and unafraid
Now they surround you
And all that amounts to
Is love that you fed by
Perversion and pain

So if my affections
Are misunderstood
And you decide
I’m up
To no good
Don’t ask me to
Enjoy them
Just for you

Ask yourself
Why I would choose
To prostitute myself
To live with fortune and shame
Oh yeah
When you should
Have turned to the hearts
Of the ones
That you would not save

I told you
When I found you
All that amounts to
Is love that you fed by
Perversion and pain