Red Hot Chili Peppers » Tracks
Californication (5:20)
4,579,984 plays (671,566 listeners)
The song reached #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, and #16 on the UK charts, and hit #1 on both US Modern Tracks and US Mainstream Rock Tracks. It is notable for its sparse combination of guitar and bass notes in the intro, and its unique music video.
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”), Star Trek, (“Space may be the final frontier, but it’s made in a Hollywood basement”), Celebrity Skin magazine (“Celebrity Skin is this your chin”, although this could also be a reference to Hole’s song, “Celebrity Skin”), and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain (“Cobain can you hear the spheres”). The line “teenage bride with a baby inside” refers to the fictional character Dani California, who is also mentioned in later songs By the Way and the eponymous Dani California. The song’s riff closely resembles the song “Elevation” off of “Marquee Moon” by Television.
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”), Star Trek, (“Space may be the final frontier, but it’s made in a Hollywood basement”), Celebrity Skin magazine (“Celebrity Skin is this your chin”, although this could also be a reference to Hole’s song, “Celebrity Skin”), and Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain (“Cobain can you hear the spheres”). The line “teenage bride with a baby inside” refers to the fictional character Dani California, who is also mentioned in later songs By the Way and the eponymous Dani California. The song’s riff closely resembles the song “Elevation” off of “Marquee Moon” by Television.
Related Tracks
-
Otherside
Red Hot Chili Peppers -
Scar Tissue
Red Hot Chili Peppers -
The Pretender
Foo Fighters -
Learn To Fly
Foo Fighters -
Seven Nation Army
The White Stripes -
Killing in the Name
Rage Against the Machine
Albums featuring this track
-
Californication
Red Hot Chili PeppersBuy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $10.99
- 7digital Search
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $299.88
- eBay Search
-
Live In Hyde Park
Red Hot Chili Peppers Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Greatest Hits
Red Hot Chili Peppers Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $10.99
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon $14.52
- eBay Search
-
Rockfornication
Red Hot Chili Peppers Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Shouts
-
micktosin wrote:
This song is amazing
-
TBr4gg wrote:
GR8 song
-
aryanrocksworld wrote:
25 + years and their still kicking ass!!
-
xNavyLv1 wrote:
Im so sad that John has left the band. Its never going to be the same. These guys are a one of a kind group. They have perfect chemistry. Hopefully someday John will return. We can only pray
-
Kimmie21xo wrote:
middle school days (: i loved every song on this cd ^^
-
CaiUnderground wrote:
great song
-
bodystarx wrote:
SMOKE!
-
HerrAlex wrote:
a few years ago i was kind of addicted to this song ;-)
-
johnnynuxxx wrote:
They march to their own beat
-
frdlr wrote:
Cobain can you hear me
-
SuperA7X wrote:
Insprirational.
-
micktosin wrote:
hot
-
blackpoolrock wrote:
Great live, top band.
-
kN1ght0AwL wrote:
I <3d this track
-
davidbowiegirl wrote:
Great song <3
-
josh_9619 wrote:
perfect song
-
supersorina wrote:
ღ ♫ღ ......;-))
-
Rebuddle1 wrote:
my fav!!!!!!!!
-
MrCosmin wrote:
I LOVE this song. :X:X:X:X:X <3<3<3<3<3<3<3
-
MCR_17 wrote:
Perfect song ♥
Listeners
-
ShKeeper
Listening now
-
psychodelik
Listening now
-
RustyHook
Listening now
-
Woolvi
Top Listener
-
OhNoARyot
Top Listener
-
Omegabr10
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
mlopezcol tagged Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication with alegria and red hot chili peppers. 14 minutes ago
-
JustMikeD19, GeneralAwes0me, tripwns and 5 other people loved Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication. 23 minutes ago
-
bennydabuska added Californication to bennydabuska’s library. 2 hours ago
-
Jackloup93 added Californication to a deleted playlist. 3 hours ago
-
Jackloup93 added Californication to Jackloup93’s library. 3 hours ago
-
MrAIKEN33, dentron33 and astrophelle loved Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication. 3 hours ago
-
AndrewKyleBerg added Californication to AndrewKyleBerg’s library. 4 hours ago
-
laz0rscrew and oopsypants loved Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication. 4 hours ago
-
PedrooMora added Californication to PedrooMora’s library. 4 hours ago
-
RobboJPR, bbail, Rajheem and 10 other people loved Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication. 5 hours ago
Related Journals
-
Milestones
by darkriser |
22 Nov 2009 | Add comment
-
13 pytań o Top 50.
by koko_PL |
21 Nov 2009 | 2 comments
-
Pun's Not Dead
by Thelonious9 |
6 Oct 2009 | 6 comments
