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| Format = [[Compact Disc|CD]], [[Compact Cassette|cassette]], [[Gramophone record|vinyl]]
| Format = [[Compact Disc|CD]], [[Compact Cassette|cassette]], [[Gramophone record|vinyl]]
| Recorded = Early 1999
| Recorded = Early 1999
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]]
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]], [[rap rock]]
| Length = 5:21 <small>(Album version)</small><br>5:32 <small>(''Greatest Hits'' version)</small><br>3:20 <small>(Radio Edit)</small>
| Length = 5:21 <small>(Album version)</small><br>5:32 <small>(''Greatest Hits'' version)</small><br>3:20 <small>(Radio Edit)</small>
| Writer = [[Anthony Kiedis|Kiedis]], [[Chad Smith|Smith]], [[Flea (musician)|Flea]], [[John Frusciante|Frusciante]]
| Writer = [[Anthony Kiedis|Kiedis]], [[Chad Smith|Smith]], [[Flea (musician)|Flea]], [[John Frusciante|Frusciante]]

Revision as of 13:19, 4 May 2013

"Californication"
Song

"Californication" is the Red Hot Chili Peppers' fourth single and sixth track from their 1999 seventh studio album, Californication. Released in 2000, the song reached #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, and #16 on the UK charts, and hit #1 on both US Mainstream Rock Tracks and US Modern Rock Tracks. It is notable for its sparse combination of guitar and bass notes in the main riff; guitarist John Frusciante drew inspiration from The Cure song "Carnage Visors".[1] The artwork from the single is used on the iTunes re-release of the album of the same name.

Song information

The song is mainly about the dark side of Hollywood and the export of culture through the movie industry. The song begins "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 topics such as pornography ("hardcore soft porn") and plastic surgery ("pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging") and even some pop culture references including Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and David Bowie ("Cobain, can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station to Station?"), Star Wars ("and Alderaan's not far away"), and Star Trek ("Space may be the final frontier but it's made in a Hollywood basement"). This quote can also be interpreted to be about the conspiracy that Neil Armstrong's original landing on the moon was indeed staged. "First born Unicorn/hard core-soft porn" refers to the late Dorothy Stratten. She was first born, and was written about in the novel "The Killing of the Unicorn".

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 2006 when he retired it for one of his vintage Fender Stratocasters.

In Kiedis's book Scar Tissue he reveals that the band had enormous difficulty in putting the song together. Kiedis had written the lyrics, which he felt were some of the best he had ever written, but the band could not decide how the song should sound musically. As they struggled with the song it seemed like they would not be able to finish it in time to include it on the album, until one day Frusciante walked into the studio and exclaimed that he had "figured it out". He 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 Chili Peppers' greatest hits, similar to the way "Under the Bridge" was conceived.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Greatest Hits album uses a slightly different version of the song. Most notably, the first chorus is extended. The reason for this alternate version's appearance on the album is unknown.

Like most of the singles from the album, "Californication" remains a live staple in the band's setlists and is one of their most performed songs since its release.[2]

Composition

The song is performed in the key of A minor with Frusciante picking the chords of Am and F for 12 measures before picking the chords of C-G-F-Dm then going back and picks Am and F for 8 more measures before picking C-G-F-Dm again. For the pre-chorus Frusciante then strums a combination of Am and Fmaj7 chords for 12 measures until the chorus when he strums the chords C-G-Dm-Am then C-G-Dm. After the second chorus a 16-measure guitar solo is played by Frusciante with the key being changed to the key of A Major upon completion of the solo the key goes back to the original A Minor and a third verse and final chorus is played.

Music video

The video takes the form of a 3D video game from the third-person point of view of each of the band members, all on some sort of adventure; this varies with each band member. John, sporting a similar hairstyle to the Blood Sugar Sex Magik era, runs through Hollywood, dodging celebrities and their bodyguards. Chad snowboards in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, then he falls off a cliff and lands on a train. Anthony swims in the San Francisco Bay, surrounded by sharks and females; he then surfs on a shark's back and suddenly jumps into the front seat of, and drives, a convertible car. Flea runs through Sequoia National Park, saving a bear from a hunter, riding a mining cart, and escaping many lumberjacks as they are cutting down all the trees. John enters a film studio, where he interferes with the productions of a space movie, a pornographic film, and a Leonardo DaVinci biographical documentary. Next Chad rails one of the Golden Gate Bridge's main suspension wires on his skateboard/surfboard, while Anthony, joyriding across the bridge, passes through the Andy's Donuts doughnut; he then drives off a cliff, landing on a giant dragonfly with Flea riding it. In the meantime, Chad skysurfs, and John rides the DaVinci flying machine prop from the studio. Anthony then falls off the dragonfly and lands brutally on a giant garden. This scene cuts off into the band passing through an earthquake of the San Andreas Fault, eventually concluding with all four of them meeting at the center of the Earth, where they all touch a 3D cube which transforms their computer-generated avatars back into all four of their own real selves. Intercut with all this is live-action performance footage of the band, which remains in a picture-in-picture insert till a band member passes through the eight-rayed star that became the band's de facto logo symbol when it was first used for the album Mother's Milk; this is enough to make the live-action footage fill the screen each time a band member passes through it.[3] The video itself contains many homages to video games of its time.

The music video is their most watched on YouTube, with over 70 million views.

The song featured in the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005).

Personnel

Track listings

CD single 1 9362 44907 2
  1. "Californication" – 5:21
  2. "I Could Have Lied" (Live) – 4:26
  3. "End of Show Brisbane" (Live) – 8:11
CD single 2 9362 44908 2
  1. "Californication" – 5:21
  2. "I Could Have Lied" (Live) – 4:26
  3. "End of Show State College" (Live) – 9:27
EP 9362 44872 2
  1. "Californication" – 5:21
  2. "End of Show Brisbane" (Live) – 8:11
  3. "I Could Have Lied" (Live) – 4:26
  4. "End of Show State College" (Live) – 9:27

Chart positions

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[4] 44
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[4] 6
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[5] 59
Canadian RPM Rock Report[6] 1
Dutch Singles Chart[4] 41
German Singles Chart[7] 63
Irish Singles Chart[8] 24
Italian Singles Chart[4] 19
New Zealand Singles Chart[4] 8
Polish Singles Chart[9] 1
Swedish Singles Chart[4] 37
UK Singles Chart[10] 16
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40[11] 28
U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Airplay[11] 33
U.S. Billboard Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay[11] 36
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock[11] 1
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[11] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] 69
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[11] 37
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
August 12, 2000 		Succeeded by
"Last Resort" by Papa Roach
Preceded by Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
August 26, 2000 – September 2, 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative 30 number-one single
August 21, 2000 – September 18, 2000 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers". songfacts.com. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  2. ^ http://www.setlist.fm/stats/red-hot-chili-peppers-13d68969.html. {{|accessdate=2013-04-28}}
  3. ^ The Video on YouTube
  4. ^ a b c d e f "RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - CALIFORNICATION (SONG)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  5. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 71, No. 23, October 09 2000". RPM. Retrieved 2010-03-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Rock/Alternative - Volume 71, No. 16, August 21, 2000". RPM. Retrieved 2010-05-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Californicaton (Single)". musicline.de. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  8. ^ "Search the Charts". IrishCharts.ie. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  9. ^ "Polish Singles Chart |".
  10. ^ "Californication". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Red Hot Chili Peppers - Billboard Singles". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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