Produser rekaman lagu itu ditangani oleh Manny Charlton, gitaris grup musik rock Nazareth yang berpengaruh di Amerika Serikat pada masanya.
Lagu "Sweet Child O' Mine" menampilkan vokal melengking yang bertenaga milik vokalis Guns N' Roses Axl Rose, permainan gitar utama yang memukau oleh Slash, dibalut ritme gitar yang dimainkan Izzy Stradlin, betotan bas Duff McKagan, dan tabuhan drum Steven Adler (namun sempat digantikan drummer Fred Coury selama tur album "Appetite for Destruction" karena cedera).
Popularitas lagu itu mencapai lintas benua. Hingga di Australia, setelah membandingkan kedua lagunya, ada pihak menuding "Sweet Child O' Mine" mirip dengan lagu rock berjudul "Unpublished Critics" milik grup Australian Crawl dalam album kedua mereka "Sirocco" tahun 1981.
Namun dilansir dari NME dan Guardian, kedua pihak terkait dari band yang dimaksud, James Reyne dari Australian Crawl dan Duff McKagan dari Guns N' Roses, memperjelas bahwa masing-masing pihak tidak ingin melanjutkan perdebatan yang disebabkan oleh tudingan tersebut. Lirik lagu "Sweet Child O' Mine" diambil dari puisi yang ditulis Axl Rose. Puisi tersebut tentang pacarnya, Erin Everly, putri Don Everly dari Everly Brothers. Selain Axl, penciptaan lagu tersebut juga melibatkan Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, dan Steven Adler.
Lirik lagu "Sweet Child O' Mine" sebagai berikut:
She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky
Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry
Whoa, oh, oh
Sweet child o' mine
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
Sweet love of mine
She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by
Whoa, oh, oh
Sweet child o' mine
Whoa whoa, oh, oh, oh
Sweet love of mine
Whoa, yeah
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
Sweet child o' mine
Whoa, oh, whoa, oh
Sweet love of mine
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
Sweet child o' mine
Ooh, yeah
Ooh, sweet love of mine
Where do we go?
Where do we go now?
Where do we go?
Ooh, oh, where do we go?
Where do we go now?
Oh, where do we go now?
Where do we go? (Sweet child)
Where do we go now?
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay
Where do we go now?
Ah, ah
Where do we go?
Oh, where do we go now?
Oh, where do we go?
Oh, where do we go now?
Where do we go?
Oh, where do we go now?
Now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Sweet child
Sweet child of mine
