One thing that hair metal knows how to do is bust out a ballad. Poison has Every Rose Has It’s Thorn, Warrant has Heaven, and Cinderella has a Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone). That last one is a personal favorite of mine, which is why it made it into The Mixtape to My Life.
From to the opening piano to the unmistakable sound of lead singer Tom Keifer, this song has it all. But while we may think it’s about lost love, the backround its actually quite different.
So What is the Background?
While recording the album Night Songs, singer Keifer was contemplating the bands success and starting thinking of what would happen if that success were to suddenly fade away. Thus, the song was born. However, even thought it was written during the recording of Night Songs, Don’t Know What You Got wasn’t included, and was instead placed on the follow-up album Long Cold Winter.
It was the band’s most successful single, peaking at number twelve on the Billboard’s Top 100. The video also got heavy rotation when MTV actually played music.
How Does it Fit Into the Book
I’m going to try and describe this without giving too much away. Let’s just say the song comes at a time when all seemed to have been lost. But it isn’t, so it’s more of a reflection. Justin knows he could have lost everything, but now, he has more than he thought. Yes, it’s vague right now, but hopefully you’ll get it it.
Take a look at the video below, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the Spotify button to see and hear more songs that inspired The Mixtape to My Life.
Jake Martinez - Author 