The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 459

Number 459

Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Californication"

(1999)

Genre:Alt Rock

art & print available @ andrez

Hi guys, it's been a while i know, but there hasn't been any modern music for a while so that leaves me not many to write about but I'm OK with that. With Red Hot Chili Peppers being from Los Angeles and i residing in NY means i have never got to seen them in action. But then again, i dont know if i would want to, they are kinda old styles to me, but pretty cool for a bunch of guys for their age and considering the lead singer Anthony Kiedis still has abs, well, maybe he will be the new Iggy Pop lookalike for the next 20 years.

Did you know in in 2008 was voted as one of the World's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities of 2008 alongside with Leona Lewis? Also something else that i didnt know was Kiedis appeared in the 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze movie Point Break playing Tone, a surfer? Nope. nor did i, although it would probably help if i watched the film. Oh & hey one last thing, these are some of the chics he has dated, Sofia Coppola, Sinéad O'Connor, Heidi Klum & Nina Hagen. Hes been a busy boi, anyway .... see you next time :) ~ Jasmine

what a drag ~ art by danartlover

Many figured that the Red Hot Chili Peppers' days as undisputed alternative kings were numbered after their lackluster 1995 release One Hot Minute, but like the great phoenix rising from the ashes, this legendary and influential outfit returned back to greatness with 1999's Californication. An obvious reason for their rebirth is the reappearance of guitarist John Frusciante (replacing Dave Navarro-ex Janes Addiction), who left the Peppers in 1992 and disappeared into a haze of hard drugs before cleaning up and returning to the fold in 1998. Frusciante was a main reason for such past band classics as 1989's Mother's Milk and 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and proves once and for all to be the quintessential RHCP guitarist.

walk like an .....

Anthony Kiedis' vocals have improved dramatically as well, while the rhythm section of bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith remains one of rock's best. The quartet's trademark punk-funk can be sampled on such tracks as "Around the World," "I Like Dirt," and "Parallel Universe," but the more pop-oriented material proves to be a pleasant surprise -- "Scar Tissue," "Otherside," "Easily," and "Purple Stain" all contain strong melodies and instantly memorable choruses. And like their 1992 introspective hit "Under the Bridge," there are even a few mellow moments -- "Porcelain," "Road Trippin'," and the title track. With the instrumentalists' interplay at an all-time telepathic high and Kiedis peaking as a vocalist, Californication is a bona fide Chili Peppers classic. ~ [Greg Prato, All Music Guide]

Californication is?

The song is mainly about the dark side of Hollywood. The song opens to the "Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation." Kiedis says in his book Scar Tissue that he got the inspiration for the lyric from when he was in New Zealand *** and he heard a woman on the street ranting about there being psychic spies in China. The track also makes references to the decline in western society, and other topics such as pornography and plastic surgery and even some pop culture references including Star Wars ("Alderaan's not far away"), and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain ("Cobain can you hear the spheres. Singing songs from station to station."). The line "teenage bride with a baby inside" refers to the fictional character Dani, who is also mentioned in later songs "By the Way" and the eponymous "Dani California". Guitarist John Frusciante exclusively recorded this song and Otherside with a vintage Gretsch White Falcon hollow body electric guitar, he also played these songs live with the White Falcon until 2007 when he retired it for one of his vintage Fender Stratocasters.

can i have my socks back?

In Kiedis' book, "Scar Tissue", Kiedis reveals that the band had enormous difficulty in putting the song together, and didn't think it would even make it on the album, as the lyrics had been written, but they couldn't figure out how the song should be played, and to what riffs. Kiedis then explains that Frusciante walked into the recording studio one day, and exclaimed that he had "figured it out". He then played the song as he visualised it, and it went from being a song that could have been an afterthought, to becoming one of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers greatest hits. There is a link between this video clip and the experience of relapsing into a drug addiction that Anthony describes in his book, Scar Tissue: "... The chase is always exciting. There are cops and bad guys and freaks and hookers. You're diving into a big insidious video game, but again, you're being tricked into thinking that you're doing something cool, since the price is always bigger than the payoff. You immediately give up your love and your light and your beauty, and you become a dark black hole in the universe, sucking up bad energy and not walking around putting a smile on someone's face..." . ~ [Source:Wikipedia]

*** Ha typical, it had to be a crazy from crowbarred's country!

For more Red Hot Chili Peppers see Number 521

For Janes Addiction see Number 506

For Nirvana see Number 480

For Iggy Pop see Number 980

What does Growling Bone think of RHCP?

Let's keep it real: white boys do not have to be funky; they only have to rock, and that the Red Hot Chili Peppers do quite wickedly, thank you. Historically, though, RHCP albums have been long on sock-it-to-me passion but short on the songcraft that made their hero George Clinton's most acid-addled experiments lyrically haunting and melodically infectious. Up until this new Peppers joint, Californication, that is. For Lord knows what reasons -- age, sobriety, Blonde on Blonde ambitions or worship at the altar of Billy Corgan -- they've settled down and written a whole album's worth of tunes that tickle the ear, romance the booty, swell the heart, moisten the tear ducts and dilate the third eye. All this inside of song forms and production that reveal sublime new facets upon each hearing.

While all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal, proposing that these evolved RHCP furthermuckers are now moving toward funk's real Holy Grail: that salty marriage of esoteric mythology and insatiable musicality that salvages souls, binds communities and heals the sick. Not exactly your average white band. ~ [Source:RS Greg Tate 1999]

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '459th Song of all Time' was "Rollin' Stone" by Muddy Waters. Muddy Waters has not appeared in The Definitive 1000.

Other songs with reference to RHCP #506, #614, #616, #634, #642, #680

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We don't like any songs) and the Album ranked at 399

This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 76.7 out of 108

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
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