Terminator Archive - You Could Be Mine

TerminatorBy Gavin Feb 24, 2014Comments

The Guns 'n' Roses song You Could Be Mine (from the Use Your Illusion II album) was released in June 1991 to coincide with the release of James Cameron's blockbuster sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The music video (below) shows footage taken directly from the movie and promotional teaser trailers, which are intercut over a "live" performance from the band as Arnold Schwarzenegger, starring as the T-800 Terminator enters the venue of the performance seeking to terminate lead singer Axl Rose...

The song recieved heavy play requests during the summer of 1991, helping it to reach 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and at the end of the year MTV placed it as the number 1 of the top 100 music videos for that year.

Guns 'n' Roses had dinner at Arnold Schwarzeneggers home to negotiate the the use of the song and the recording of the video especially for the film. This came about after writer and director James Cameron noticed the repeated references to the band that were already present in the movie (for example; John Connor's G 'n' R T-shirt and the T-800's shotgun hidden inside a box of roses) and realised the wise business potential of signing the band up.

Originally, however the director intended, at least in his and co-writer William Wisher Jr.'s shooting script, to use the 1978 single I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones (see below).

The legacy of Guns 'n' Roses You Could Be Mine even extended over into 2009's Terminator Salvation when John Connor (played by Christian Bale) plays the song to lure a Moto-Terminator towards his position towards the later part of the movie...