Chicago Music Exchange | 5 years ago
Mike, Nathaniel and Hussa run us through the RHCP classic "Californication" and have us dreaming of warmer days in this weeks Full Band Friday!
The song explores 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 took the inspiration for the line from hearing a woman on a New Zealand street ranting about "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. The "spheres" are a reference to Music of the Spheres, an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies as a form of music ("Cobain, can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station to Station?"). Other cultural references include the Beach Boys ("They're just another Good Vibration"), 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"). The phrase "First-born Unicorn" refers to Dorothy Stratten, whose life was covered in the book The Killing of the Unicorn.
The song begins in the key of A minor with Frusciante picking the chords of Am and F for twelve measures, before picking the chords of C-G-F-Dm then going back and picking 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 twelve measures, until the chorus when he strums the chords C-Gmaj7-Dm9-Am, then C-G-Dm9. It is notable for its sparse combination of guitar and bass notes in the main riff; Frusciante drew inspiration from "Carnage Visors" by The Cure.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication LIVE Slane Castle 2003: https://youtu.be/I2dyKtSbsbM
Check out more Full Band Fridays'
"Big Legged Woman" Freddie King - https://youtu.be/ursDhvHMhRU
"Wanted Dead Or Alive" - Bon Jovi - https://youtu.be/VgZZfEGECbY
"Old Man" - Neil Young - https://youtu.be/nZmNxJTDe-k
More Chicago Music Exchange:
Instagram - https://bit.ly/3gdPSSV
Twiter - https://bit.ly/2RuYOci
Facebook - https://bit.ly/3e4FI4C
Pinterest - https://bit.ly/3ea3BHZ
Follow Nathaniel -
Instagram - https://bit.ly/3x7OkAf
Check out our Giveaways page to win gear! - https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/pages/giveaways
#RedHotChiliPeppers #Californication #FullBandCover #ChicagoMusicExchange #NathanielMurphy
