True Men Don't Kill Coyotes

"True Men Don't Kill Coyotes"
Song

"True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" was the first song The Red Hot Chili Peppers ever released as a single. It is the first track from their 1984 debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers, which received significant college radio play despite overall moderate sales.

This song was written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Jack Sherman and Cliff Martinez, rather than the original line-up (Anthony and Flea with Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons).

It was included on the band's What Hits!? collection on CD and DVD.

Music video

A video was made for "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" and it helped to build the band's growing fan base.

The clip, which received moderate MTV rotation, used a lot of fluorescent colours, and showed the band playing the song on a cartoonish desert-like scenario. In the beginning of the video, a weird farmer character pours a radioactive-labeled liquid substance into a patch of desert in front of a crudely assembled Hollywood Sign. From this, the entire band bursts from the ground and start to perform the song. The video was directed by Graeme Whifler, who gained notoriety for directing music videos for bands such as The Residents, Renaldo and the Loaf, Yello, Tuxedomoon, Mx-80 Sound, Snakefinger and many other artists on the Ralph Records label. For some unexplained reason, the recording has been tuned down a half step from the album recording.