The song “Every Rose has its Thorn” by Poison talks about a failed relationship between a failed relationship between a man and a woman, and while the man was trying to figure out what he did wrong, he finds out that “[he] never meant that much to [her]” (Poison), which completely destroys him. According to Poisons lead singer, Bret Michaels, this song was actually written in response to a failed love affair with his girlfriend, Tracy Lewis. Lewis allegedly was cheating on him when he was on tour and the next day he wrote this song. The mid-1980s rock band, Poison, uses literary tools, such as natural imagery, metaphor, simile, and juxtaposition in their song, “Every Rose has its Thorn,” to show that in love, there is always going to be conflict, because naturally beautiful moments contain flaws. In this song, the speaker is portrayed as a man who is hurting from his past relationship and so he tries to figure out what made things change and where they went wrong. Throughout the song the speaker reflects on how he was feeling while they were still together and now that they are apart. The song was written as a message to the antagonist, the woman that the speaker loved, and now, is no longer with; he wants answers and he wants her to know how he feels and just how much she hurt him. The speaker lets us know that the pain he is feeling from this broken love of theirs is internal by stating, “To hear that tears me up inside and to see you cuts me like a knife” (Poison).