UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING Discovering the ’ ‘Secret’ Formula for Composing Commercially Successful Music

Diplomarbeit

Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Magisters der Philosophie

An der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

vorgelegt von Daniel THALLINGER

Am Institut fur Anglistik

Begutachter: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr.phil. Hugo Keiper

Graz, Juni 2017

Acknowledgements

Aus tiefstem Herzen danke ich meiner gesamten Familie – vor allem meiner Mutter und meinem Vater, die immer zu mir stehen und das Beste in ihrem Sohn sehen. Dank der liebevollen Un- terstützung meiner Eltern war es mir möglich, mich in den verschiedensten Bereichen zu ent- falten und ein hoffnungsvoller, positiver Mensch zu bleiben.

Herzlichen Dank will ich auf diesem Wege auch an meine besten Freunde Dronelli aka Busen- freund, Soul und Kris richten sowie auch an alle Menschen, die mir ihre Aufmerksamkeit, Hilfe, Freundschaft und mehr schenkten.

Allen Professoren und Professorinnen, die mich auf meinem Weg begleiteten, möchte ich hier- mit auch offiziell danken. Besonderen Dank lasse ich an dieser Stelle meinem Diplomarbeits- betreuer, Prof. Dr. Hugo Keiper, zukommen. Er nahm mich und mein musikalisches Diplom- arbeitsthema auf bzw. an und schenkte mir so die Möglichkeit, mich mit einem Thema zu be- schäftigen, das mich bis in die Haarspitzen elektrisiert. Neben seiner fachlichen Kompetenz weiß er mit einem sympathischen Lächeln innerhalb eines Augenschlags für eine entspannte Atmosphäre zu sorgen. Auch dem großartigen Prof. Dr. Lieb schenke ich meinen tiefsten Dank. Sein offenes Ohr für jegliche Anliegen, seine fachliche Kompetenz sowie auch sein verständ- nisvolles Wesen waren mir eine große Unterstützung im Laufe des Studiums.

In der Art und Weise eines Walt Whitman möchte ich abschließend meinen Dank auch dem noch so kleinsten Atom schenken, das mein liebgewonnenes Universum zusammenhält.

IV EIDESSTATTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG

Ich erkläre an Eides statt, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen/Hilfsmittel nicht benutzt, und die den benutzten Quellen wörtlich und inhaltlich entnommene Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe.

Graz, am 8. Juni 2017 ……………………………………… (Unterschrift)

STATUTORY DECLARATION

I declare that I have authored this thesis independently, that I have not used other than the declared sources / resources, and that I have explicitly marked all material which has been quoted either literally or by content from the used sources.

Graz, 8 June 2017 ………………………………….. (signature)

V TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ...... IV EIDESSTATTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG ...... V STATUTORY DECLARATION ...... V I Introduction ...... 1 1. The World of Commercial Success ...... 4 1.1 Charts and the Internet ...... 4 1.2 Musicians Strive for Success ...... 5 2. Song Structure ...... 7 2.1 Famous Song Ingredients and Important Aspects of Pop Songs...... 7 2.1.1 The Verse ...... 7 2.1.2 The Refrain ...... 8 2.1.3 The Chorus ...... 9 2.1.4 The Bridge ...... 12 2.1.5 The Hook ...... 13 3. The Red Hot Chili Peppers ...... 15 3.1 Background and Context: The Most Successful RHCP Line-Up ...... 16 3.2 Lead Singer: ...... 16 3.3 Bass Guitarist: Michael ‘’ Balzary ...... 17 3.4 Guitarist: ...... 19 3.5 Drummer: ...... 21 4. Analysis of Songs and They Appear in ...... 23 4.1 : ...... 23 4.1.1 Hit Single: “” ...... 24 4.1.2 Single: “” ...... 29 4.2 Album: Californication ...... 31 4.2.1 Hit Single: “Californication” ...... 33 4.2.2 Single: “Parallel Universe” ...... 39 4.3 Album: ...... 44 4.3.1 Hit Single: “By the Way” ...... 45 4.3.2 Single: “This Is the Place” ...... 48 4.4 Album: ...... 51 4.4.1 Hit Single: “” ...... 51 4.4.2 Song: “Stadium Arcadium” ...... 54

VI II Conclusion ...... 58 III Bibliography ...... 63 Primary Literature/ Material ...... 63 Secondary Literature ...... 63 Electronic Sources ...... 64 IV Appendix: Lyrics ...... 66

VII LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Ride_Verse 1 ...... 11 Figure 2: Ride_Chorus 1 ...... 11 Figure 3: “Under the Bridge” – audio track – own editing ...... 25 Figure 4: “Suck My Kiss” – audio track – own editing ...... 29 Figure 5: Californication album cover ...... 31 Figure 6: “Californication” – audio track – own editing ...... 34 Figure 7: “Parallel Universe” – audio track – own editing ...... 40 Figure 8: “By the Way” – audio track – own editing ...... 45 Figure 9: “This Is the Place” – audio track – own editing ...... 48 Figure 10: “Dani California” – audio track – own editing ...... 52 Figure 11: “Stadium Arcadium” – audio track – own editing ...... 55 Figure 12: Constants of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘secret’ formula ...... 61

VIII I Introduction

Universally speaking, we are surrounded by language at every moment of our lives – the lan- guage inside of our brains, our thoughts, the written language, the language of signs (for exam- ple, a red rose indicating love), the language that is used during a conversation or the language of music. These different forms of language take on different roles: our thoughts, for example, are essential with regard to different activities such as planning, organizing or dreaming, and without the language of signs, traffic lights would not be understood by traffic participants. Taking a closer look at the language of music, parallels can be found concerning the aforemen- tioned different forms of language. The most important fact about any form of language, how- ever, is that it can be understood by people. With regard to a song, this means that all of its elements have to be comprehensible or at least of significance. According to Josefs (1996:3) a hit song “consists of three distinct and equally important elements: melody, rhythm, and har- mony”. It is the aim of musicians and bands all over the world to create songs whose language (melody, rhythm, harmony and lyrics) can be understood not only by them but more importantly by a large number of people. If the musicians’ unique language of music creates joy in an ex- ceptionally high number of listeners, they have reached one of the highest aims: writing a hit song.

An example of a band that has found its unique language of music that is understood by millions of people worldwide and which has composed a considerable number of hit songs are the Red Hot Chili Peppers1. The Red Hot Chili Peppers can easily2 be described as an earworm-factory: in fact, they know how to arrange songs and which words, harmonies, song structures or even duration they have to choose in order to find their way into the ear canals of people all around the world. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ creativity cannot only be found in the aforementioned song composition skills, but also in their wide range of musical genres, as they release songs from pop to mainstream rock, passing crossover, funk, hard rock and many more on the way.

One might assume that writing commercially successful songs is a God-given talent. However, if one takes a closer look, there emerge numerous factors that lead to commercial success within today’s often unpredictable world of music. With regard to these factors, the main aim of this thesis is a careful analysis of eight Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, comparing successful songs to less famous ones in order to find out whether there is a hidden formula for writing successful

1 The Red Hot Chili Peppers are abbreviated RHCP in this thesis as this is their official abbreviation. 2 This is a reference to their song “Easily” released in 1999.

1 songs. Hence, the present thesis will focus on answering the following questions:

Which special features exist regarding RHCP hit singles and their commercially less successful songs with regard to the following aspects: intermediality, the aesthetic of lyrics, song-struc- ture, beats per minute, progression of chords as well as the songs’ volume level, i.e. chorus > verse; verse > chorus; bridge > verse, etc. In other words: is there a ‘secret’ formula for these aspects?

In the first part of the present thesis, the focus is on relevant terminology, in order to provide necessary information for a thorough analysis of eight RHCP songs. Therefore, terms such as power chord, verse, chorus, bpm, or pan will be discussed. Due to the fact that extensive work in this field has already been put forward by Daniela Ettl and Hugo Keiper, the terminology part is very concise, as detailed information can be found in the aforementioned work.

The second part of the thesis will focus on the analysis of eight Red Hot Chili Peppers songs. Therefore, very successful songs such as “Under the Bridge”, “Californication”, “By the Way”, and “Dani California” as well as less famous ones including “Suck My Kiss”, “Parallel Uni- verse”, “This Is the Place”, and “Stadium Arcadium” are analyzed and compared. Including less successful songs in the analysis seems important in order to enable a reliable comparison.

In detail, these are major aspects of the songs that are going to be analyzed:

• background: release date, information regarding the composers’ intentions • intermediality: lyrics and music, video, e.g. by taking a closer look at how the lyrics and the music ‘flow’ (harmonies and chords supporting the vocals) • song structure: identifying the most common song structures of the band and their im- portance • lyrics: focus on clarity of the message, and finally • beats per minute: the songs’ tempo.

Moreover, the songs are converted into audio-tracks with the help of Apple’s professional Logic Pro 10 music production software. Images of these audio-tracks will be provided that are edited to clearly illustrate the songs’ structure as well as the importance of alternations in loudness (chorus > verse; verse > chorus; bridge > verse, etc.).

My personal interest in this project stems from the motivation to find out the secret of writing successful songs. I myself have been writing songs for over ten years now and in fact recorded

2 and composed around 90 songs, I have played in several bands and was awarded the Steirisches Leistungsabzeichen im künstlerischen Hauptfach Gitarre. My affiliation to music even in- creased my scholarly interest. When I came into contact with the RHCP’s song “Under the Bridge” for the first time, I could feel what the band must have felt when they created it. I had never been to Los Angeles or the US, but I was able to imagine what the band members had felt. I asked myself how this was possible and, at first, made no attempts to find an answer. All I noticed was that the song felt new albeit a bit familiar – a fact that established my interest to find an answer. I began to look and listen closer, to feel the songs more deeply. Consequently, I started using methods for analyzing songs to find a key, a secret or hidden formula, an answer comparable to Douglas Adams’s universal answer 423.

3 In Douglas Adams’s famous book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an over thousand years-old computer produces an answer to Life, the Universe and all the Rest. This answer is 42.

3 1. The World of Commercial Success

1.1 Charts and the Internet

It is important to note that the serious way of defining whether a song is commercially success- ful is official charts, such as the UK Single/Album Charts, Billboard 200, iTunes Charts, Aus- trian Single Charts etc.

Since the founding of the free internet platform YouTube in 2005 – where people all over the world can upload videos and/or music and listen to songs – people’s perception of commercially successful songs has changed fundamentally. Each of the countless videos on YouTube is pro- vided with an exact number of views, i.e. the number of times the respective video was watched. As a consequence, YouTube users assume that a song with, for example, over 200,000 views must undoubtedly be a commercial success because it was listened to so often. However, this has to be seen critically, as the number of views is not necessarily an indication of a video’s quality or success. In fact, websites such as www.getviews.com, www.socialmediadaily.de, www.youtubeviewskaufen.com, or www.qqtube.com provide the possibility to increase the number of views of a certain video by simply buying them. Given that a high number of views is commonly perceived as an indication for commercial success, YouTubers (i.e. the people who upload the songs and/or videos) can buy YouTube views and, consequently, influence a song’s standing with regard to its commercial success. According to an advertisement of Buy- realmarketing (2017, online) a “[h]igh volume of YouTube views makes your video stand out and this creates traction. It draws people’s attention and it significantly opens more doors for your success.”

In addition to the possibility of increasing the views of a song by making use of the aforemen- tioned offers, the number of views also rises when people listen to a song several times. As a consequence, the number of views is no reliable indicator for the actual number of people con- suming the song.

Although the number of views is thus not always an indicator for a song’s commercial success, it can still make a song commercially successful, as is the case with famous YouTubers, i.e. people or artists who have become successful because of a song they uploaded on YouTube.

4 Hence, although YouTube considerably influences the music business4, it cannot be taken as a verified source for defining the commercial success of a song.

1.2 Musicians Strive for Success

Musicians all over the world strive for success not only with regard to personal (the dream of being famous) but also in commercial terms. The challenge of composing a commercially suc- cessful song is that there does not seem to be a ‘secret code’ or ‘formula’ for it. For example, merely copying the song structure of The Beatles’ “Let it Be”, changing the title to “We Will See” and making some additional, minor changes to the melody does not guarantee that the result is a hit single, although several artists mention famous models when asked about the process of composing their songs. For example, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Drummer Chad Smith refers to “Controversy” by Prince during an interview on the RHCP’s song “”. He states that when recording the song, the RHCP attempted to create a bass and drumsound comparable to Prince’s “Controversy” (see YouTube ChadSmith 2017, online). It seems then that, on the one hand, musicians stick to traditional patterns, sounds and styles, while, on the other, they attempt to produce new sounds, new lyrics with new messages and new combina- tions of chords in order to create a song that has the power to please millions of people.

Recently, the band Twenty One Pilots released a hit single called “Stressed Out”. Interestingly, the first lines of the lyrics focus on the lead singer’s ambitions as a musician:

I wish I found some better sounds no one’s ever heard I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words I wish I found some chords in an order that is new I wish I didn’t have to rhyme every time I sang (https://genius.com/Twenty-one-pilots-stressed-out-lyrics)

With these four lines, lead singer Tyler Joseph perfectly illustrates musicians’ ambitions for trying to find a formula for composing a commercially successful song. The song hit the top of the charts in 2017 – despite the lead singer’s doubts. Although Tyler seemingly lacked self- confidence regarding his voice and the sound and words, the song is heading towards one billion views on YouTube.

4 Knopper (Rollingstone 2017, online) puts forward that “As album sales have fallen about 60 percent in the past decade, YouTube has become increasingly important – 98 percent of American Internet users ages 18 to 24 visit the site – and the company says its ad sales have delivered $3 billion to artists and content creators. ‘YouTube has become radio for kids,’ says Ken Levitan, who manages Kings of Leon, Cheap Trick and others.”

5 Tyler strives for “better sounds”, a “better voice”, “better words” and wishes for “some chords in an order that is new”. One might thus assume that in order to compose a hit song, every one of its ‘ingredients’ has to be new.

However, in 2011 an Australian band named The Axis of Awesome put forward some kind of ‘secret’ formula for composing commercially successful songs. In their attempt to discover the formula, The Axis of Awesome focused on the chord progressions of 46 hit songs and found out that a remarkable number consists of the same combination. Songs such as Alphaville’s “Forever Young”, Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry”, Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated”, The Beatles’ “Let it Be”, Jon Bon Jovi’s “It’s my life” or The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “” can be found on the list containing the 46 hit songs5 that show the same combination of four chords. It is an important fact that all these songs share the same specific combination of four chords. Inevitably then, this could be seen as a formula for these 46 songs, but taking into account a song’s overall complexity, this formula does not function convincingly as a secret formula for hit songs in general.

5 The following songs consist of the same combination of 4 chords: Journey – “Don’t Stop Believing”, James Blunt – “You’re Beautiful”, Black Eyed Peas – “Where Is the Love”, Alphaville – “Forever Young”, Jason Mraz – “I’m Yours”, Train – “Hey Soul Sister”, The Calling – “Wherever You Will Go”, Elton John – “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (from The Lion King), Akon – “Don’t Matter”, John Denver – “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, Lady Gaga – “Paparazzi”, U2 – “With Or Without You”, The Last Goodnight – “Pictures of You”, Maroon Five – “She Will Be Loved”, The Beatles – “Let It Be”, Bob Marley – “No Woman No Cry”, Marcy Playground – “Sex and Candy”, Men At Work – “Land Down Under” , Jack Johnson – “Taylor”, Spice Girls – “Two Become One”, A Ha – “Take On Me”, Green Day – “When I Come Around”, Eagle Eye Cherry – “Save Tonight”, Toto – “Africa”, Beyoncé – “If I Were A Boy”, Kelly Clarkson – “Behind These Hazel Eyes”, Jason DeRulo – “In My Head”, The Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”, Joan Osborne – “One Of Us”, Avril Lavigne – “Complicated”, The Offspring – “Self Esteem”, The Off- spring – “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid”, Akon – “Beautiful”, Timberland featuring OneRepublic – “Apologize”, Eminem featuring Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”, Bon Jovi – “It’s My Life”, Lady Gaga – “Pokerface”, Aqua – “Barbie Girl”, Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Otherside”, The Gregory Brothers – “Double Rainbow”, MGMT – “Kids”, Andrea Bocelli – “Time To Say Goodbye”, Robert Burns – “Auld Lang Syne”, Five for fighting – “Superman”, The Axis of Awesome – “Birdplane”, Missy Higgins – “Scar” (see YouTube_Axis of Awesome 2017, online).

6 2. Song Structure

2.1 Famous Song Ingredients and Important Aspects of Pop Songs

Every song consists of different sections such as verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse 2, chorus, bridge etc. These are to be dealt with at a later point in this thesis. These different sections alternate in their order. Looking at the beginning of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song “Other- side”, for example, one notes that it starts with the chorus followed by the verse; their song “Dani California”, on the other hand, starts with the verse followed by a pre-chorus and a cho- rus. Despite these structural differences, both songs are huge commercial successes.

In pop songs, the emphasis is on the voice that performs the lyrics by singing, rapping, scream- ing etc. while instruments such as drums, guitars, synthesizers or bass are generally used to support the voice and lyrics. The melody of the instruments accompanies the melody of the voice and its lyrics. Meyer (2002:5) refers to Frank Sinatra in order to emphasize the importance of the balance between lyric and melody: “a great song is a perfect marriage of a lyric and a melody”. Rihanna’s song “We Found Love” is a perfect example of this “marriage” of lyrics and music. As the song begins, a synthesizer playing two simple chords accompanies Rihanna’s voice; the synthesizer supports her voice in such a way that the attention is on the vocals and lyrics. The synthesizer can thus be compared to a transparent package that protects and holds together the lyrics.

Another example of this “perfect marriage of a lyric and a melody” can be found in The White Stripes’ hit single “Seven Nation Army”. Bassline and voice are perfectly balanced, as they do not interfere with the voice nor does the voice interfere with the bassline and drums. They support each other, perfectly aware that the voice and the lyrics it performs are the most im- portant aspect of the song. With regard to the song “Seven Nation Army” the message of the verbal language becomes the center of attention.

2.1.1 The Verse

In the world of pop music, most songs contain lyrics. In the verse, the audience comes into contact with the topic of the song in a very detailed way: because of the verse’s lyrics, the listener finds out what the song is about, whether it is a love song, a political critique, a song about living a good or bad life etc. According to Perricone (2000:87), the verse is “the section of the song that spins out the story”. As most pop songs begin with the verse, its content deter- mines whether the audience likes, loves or dislikes the song. This is naturally also determined by their subjective feelings and interpretations of the lyrics. In contrast to all other sections (see

7 2.1.1 to 2.1.5), the lyrics of the verse are less simple and, consequently, tend to leave consider- able room for interpretation.

The verse of the hit single “Blue” by Eiffel 65 illustrates this space for interpretation. The lyrics are simple and can be referred to as typical pop-music-English, as almost everyone can under- stand them. Importantly, they leave plenty of room for interpretation:

Yo listen up here’s a story About a little guy that lives in a blue world And all day and all night and everything he sees Is just blue like him inside and outside Blue his house with a blue little window And a blue corvette And everything is blue for him and himself And everybody around ‘Cause he ain’t got nobody to listen to (https://genius.com/Eiffel-65-blue-da-ba-dee-lyrics)

On the one hand, the word blue can refer to blue (‘sad’) or the color blue. In the , we see blue aliens in a blue world. The lyrics are ‘open’ and depend on the audience’s interpre- tation, as they can take on several ‘faces’. On the one hand, the lyrics might refer to a “little guy” living on the Blue Planet, i.e. Earth. Because of the fact that he lives there, “everything he sees is just blue like him”. On the other hand, the lyrics could refer to a sad/ blue life lived by a sad/ blue “little guy” on a sad / blue planet. The “little guy” feels sad “all day and all night”, even his house and his Corvette metaphorically feel sad.

With regard to this, it seems that the more room for interpretation the verse of a song provides, the more likely is the audience’s positive response.

2.1.2 The Refrain

According to Perricone (2000:87), the refrain has to be differentiated from the chorus. A re- frain’s most special feature is its occurrence mostly at the end of a verse as its last line. While the refrain is not a song-section that stands for its own, the chorus is a separate section (note: the verse is also a separate section).

An example that illustrates the successful use of this special ingredient of a song, the refrain, is used by in her hit single “Come along”. It was released in 2001 and can be defined as a pop-rock song. Both verse 1 and verse 2 end with the sentence “Time flies, make a statement”. In verse 1, “take a stand” is added to the sentence and in verse 2, “strike a pose” is added. However, the emphasis is on the refrain and the aforementioned “Time flies, make a statement”.

[Verse 1] Play with it while you have hands Dust settles, cities turn to sand

8 Trespassing this is their land Time flies, make a statement, take a stand

[Verse 2] Stay out, stay clear but stay close Friends, foes, God only knows Let’s be the thorn on the rose Time flies, make a statement, strike a pose (https://genius.com/Titiyo-come-along-lyrics)

The refrain’s emphasis is created by clearer, louder vocals compared to the additional sentences “take a stand” or “strike a pose”. In verse 1, the refrain summarizes the central idea of the preceding lines. In each preceding line, Titiyo creates the image that “time flies”. For example, in line 1, one should “play with it while you have hands”, which metaphorically recommends to take a chance while a chance or possibility is still there (because “time flies”). In line 2, Titiyo creates the image that “time flies” through her statement that “dust settles, cities turn to sand”. The listener might have an hourglass in mind: in the end, everything turns to sand (be- cause “time flies”). It is important to live every day to the fullest (=carpe diem) .

With regard to the musical level, the refrain is emphasized by a chord change. The chord suc- cession in the first three lines is: Em – G – Em – G, i.e. two chords are being played alternat- ingly. In line 4 – the refrain – the first chord Em is changed to C (the other chords stay the same as in the preceding lines). As a consequence, the refrain is highlighted and the listener’s atten- tion is raised.

Refrains are not only used in modern pop music but were also used in traditional folk songs. According to Reardon (2017, online), traditional folk songs often contain refrains which occur at the end of a verse but have “no dramatic build or variation in melody or chord progression”.

2.1.3 The Chorus

The chorus is similar to the refrain but occurs more frequently. It can be compared to the heart of a song. Although every part of a song is equally important, special attention is paid to the chorus of a song just like special attention is paid to a human being’s heart. The chorus takes on three significant functions: it provides the central statement of the song (see Perricone 2000:87), it adds variety with regard to melody and catches the audience.

First and foremost, the chorus provides the central statement of a song. In the hit single “Go with the Flow” by Queens of the Stone Age, for example, the central statement of the song is contained in the chorus. While the verse discusses different issues and is rather complex, the lyrics of the chorus focus on the song’s central theme. The verse contains the central statement only indirectly and the chorus is necessary to make the central statement clear to the audience.

9 [Verse] It’s so safe to play along Little soldiers in a row Falling in and out of love Something sweet to throw away I want something good to die for To make it beautiful to live I want a new mistake Lose is more than hesitate Do you believe it in your head?

[Chorus] I can go with the flow Don’t say it doesn’t matter Matter anymore I can go with the flow (I can go) Do you believe it in your head? Do you believe it in your head? Do you believe it in your head? (https://genius.com/Queens-of-the-stone-age-go-with-the-flow-lyrics)

The central statement of the chorus is that it is possible to “go with the flow”, meaning that one can have faith and that everything is going to work out. The possibility of going with the flow is directly connected to the sentences “it’s so safe to play along […] I want something good to die for […] I want a new mistake, lose is more than hesitate […] do you believe it in your head?” To each of these lines, the addition “I can go with the flow” can be added:

It’s so safe to play along, I can go with the flow. I want something good to die for, I can go with the flow. I want a new mistake, I can go with the flow. Lose is more than hesitate, I can go with the flow. The question at the end of the verse creates a bridge to the first line of the chorus: Do you believe it in your head that I can go with the flow? The song “Go with the Flow” thus illustrates the interplay between verse and chorus.

On the level of melody and instruments, the chorus – as compared to the verse – shows differ- ences regarding two main aspects: vocal-melody and the drums. The vocal-melody of the cho- rus is catchy whereas the vocal-melody of the verse is rather monotonous. Consequently, the listener becomes aware of the chorus’s beginning, as the new song section is indicated through a melody change of the vocals. Furthermore, the vocals of the chorus are less agitating when compared to the verse – a relief is created that underlines the central message of the chorus and song.

However, not only the vocal-melody ‘transforms’ in the chorus, but also the drums. The inter- play between vocals/ lyrics and drums is more elaborate in the chorus in order to highlight the central message of the song. The drums emphasize the uttered words by miming the act of going (“you can go” – drums perform a fill-in (drum-break)) and the act of flowing (“with the flow”

10 – a higher number of beats on the snare drum create the feeling of an increased tempo although the actual tempo stays the same).

In short, the drums and the chorus-vocals support the central message, namely “I can go with the flow”.

Figure 1: Ride_Verse 1 In music videos, the chorus (and the embedded central message) are often emphasized and given special attention. The music video “Ride” by the band Twenty One Pilots perfectly illus- trates the peculiarity and importance of the chorus. The simple video shows the band perform- ing their song in a wood, the drummer plays drums and the singer performs the vocals and additionally plays the guitar. While the verse is set at night (the musicians perform their song in the darkness of the night), the chorus is set in the light of the day. At the special moment when the chorus begins, night suddenly transforms to day and the musicians are almost blinded by the light (the lead singer uses his hands to protect his eyes, the drummer almost closes his eyes because of the bright daylight).

Figure 2: Ride_Chorus 1

(https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=Pw-0pbY9JeU)

As a consequence, the audience is made aware of the beginning of a new song section – the chorus. Furthermore, the contrast between dark and light adds tension to the song itself. On the level of music, the song’s loudness increases when the chorus begins.

11 2.1.4 The Bridge

The bridge stands on its own and generally appears once during a song’s progression. It is a tool that is used by song-writers to connect different parts of a song and add additional color to it. At a specific moment – commonly after the second chorus – when the song could become somewhat boring and predictable (verse and chorus appear alternatingly and the listener can predict that a verse is followed by the chorus and vice versa), the bridge has the function to counteract the song’s predictability. Perricone (2000:87) differentiates between two forms of the bridge: the transitional and the primary bridge. The difference between a transitional and a primary bridge is in their position in a song and their duration. The primary bridge is equivalent to what musicians refer to as the bridge (the song section that commonly appears after the sec- ond chorus), while the transitional bridge “is always found before the central statement” and used as a connector of verse 1 and chorus 1 (the song section in which the central statement is set).

Titiyo’s song “Come along” provides an example of the song section bridge. The overall dura- tion of the song is 3:42 minutes and the bridge is set after the second chorus at 2:35 minutes. Pattison claims that regarding the lyrics, the bridge provides the audience with a new message or statement (cf. 1991:57). However, Titiyo draws on a phrase that is part of the verse, namely the aforementioned refrain.

Time flies make a statement take a stand Time flies make a statement take a stand Time flies make a statement take a stand Time flies make a statement take your chance (https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=yLsVGwNWOA4)

In contrast to the refrain, the phrase “Time flies make a statement take a stand” is repeated four times – Titiyo makes use of the rhetorical means of repetition to emphasize the importance of the message. The fourth line of the bridge’s lyrics varies regarding the last two words: “a stand” is replaced through “your chance”. The word “chance” is the last word of the bridge that is directly followed by the chorus. The licks performed by the guitar during the bridge are main- tained in the chorus; in the bridge, the tunes are foregrounded, as they are almost as loud as the vocals, whereas in the chorus, they retreat to the background and leave space for the central message.

In the music video, the bridge is marked by a shot that in film theory is referred to as extreme close-up (a very close shot of Titiyo’s face). According to Van Sijll (Tboake 2017, online) an extreme close-up makes people “more memorable visually” and “allows us to feel sympathy

12 for the character in question”. This sympathy is used as a tool to manipulate the audience while the vocals perform the phrase “time flies make a statement take a stand”. As a consequence, the strength of the bridge’s lyrical message increases.

2.1.5 The Hook

Whilst verse, chorus and bridge are the parts of a song that stand on their own, the hook is not an independent section but can, for instance, be part of a chorus. Although each section can be seen as equally important, the so-called hook takes on a pivotal role when it comes to the suc- cess of a song. Perricone (2000:86) puts forward that the hook is a “term that generally means an extremely memorable melodic/lyric phrase”. This phrase’s job is to create an earworm in the minds of the listeners. Examples of hooks can be found in every commercially successful song.

The Bee Gees 1977 hit song “How Deep Is Your Love?” contains a perfect example of a hook. The latter is embedded in the pre-chorus, chorus 1 and chorus 2. Before chorus 1 begins, the Bee Gees use a pre-chorus that smoothly leads to chorus 1:

[Pre-Chorus] And you come to me on a summer breeze Keep me warm in your love Then you softly leave And it’s me you need to show How deep is your love? (https://genius.com/The-bee-gees-how-deep-is-your-love-lyrics)

The hook appears for the first time in the song. The hook (or the last line of the pre-chorus) is stressed by a higher pitch regarding the vocals compared to that of the first four lines of the pre- chorus. As a consequence, the audience unconsciously (or consciously, depending on the lis- tener) realizes that this line is a special sentence in the song. The last two words “your love” of the pre-chorus overlap with the first line of chorus 1:

[Chorus 1] How deep is your love How deep is your love I really need to learn Cause we’re living in a world of fools Breakin’ us down When they all should let us be We belong to you and me Due to the overlap of the last two words of the pre-chorus and the first words of chorus 1, the hook becomes stronger. Two different voices (voice 1 is high with regard to its pitch and voice 2 is low) are used to perform different parts of the hook. This is a special feature of “How Deep

13 Is Your Love?” and no role model for a hook in pop-music. Nevertheless, it illustrates the suc- cessful use of a hook since the section stays in the mind of the listener.

The first sentence of chorus 1 (the hook) is repeated. The rhetorical intention of repetition is implemented and intuitively – or consciously – used by the musicians as a tool to manipulate the audience and making sure that the hook stays in the mind of the listener, as it cannot be misheard.

A successful hook can even be used as a phrase for advertisements: the furniture and furnishing store Leiner used the catchy phrase “How Deep Is Your Love” in its TV and radio commercials. According to Wiener Zeitung newspaper, Leiner employs the 1970s catchy phrase in order to ask their customers how deep their love is with regard to their furnishings (cf. Wiener Zeitung 2017, online). Another example of a commercially successful pop-song that was used in an advertisement because of its hook is the song “1234” by Feist. The catchy phrase “1234” intro- duces and rounds off a 2010 TV commercial by the company Apple (see YT_Feist, 2017). The fact that the phrase stays in the minds of potential customers of Apple strongly contributes to linking the product in the potential customers’ minds – a powerful tool used by marketing agen- cies for product-placement, securing that the product is not overlooked by potential customers.

14 3. The Red Hot Chili Peppers

“Despite the image of four half naked yobs pulling faces, dropping their trousers and taking drugs, drink and womanizing to new extremes, the Chili Peppers have always produced records that surprise, challenge and intrigue millions of fans”, states Harvey (1995:67) with regard to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ outstanding career.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1983, the RHCP’s intentions mainly focused on “producing music and having a good time” (cf. RHCP_Greatest Hits 2010:24). Their live shows were colorful and their song texts had a touch of adolescent arrogance and rudeness. They preferred not be taken seriously and, consequently, they were not. In 1991, however, they released their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik (magiK). One of its songs is “Under the Bridge”. Not only was this song among the top ten of the US Single Charts (Single Chart position: 2), but it was also the first one that was taken seriously. All of a sudden, the small Californian Band had become famous all over the world.

When they started in 1983, the live shows were the core of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the musical aspect was subordinate: the music was rather used to support their crazy shows with their partly unsettling costumes and behavior. The majority of songs was short and the lyrics were simple and lacked depth. Regarding the sound quality, the band’s major issue was the contradiction between the energy of their live performance and that of their demo-tapes. Whilst the live shows perfectly entertained the audience (as they hid their musical weakness), the demo-tapes could not convince the majority of people. In his autobiography, lead singer Kiedis mentions their lack of discipline and illustrates this by referring to other bands (comparable to the RHCP) such as the Beastie Boys (cf. Kiedis 2012:110-114). Nevertheless, the RHCP’s pop- ularity among young people grew due to the high quality of their live performances. Front man Kiedis and bass player Flea dreamt of increasing their fame. Consequently, lead singer Kiedis – after having taken drugs – entered the headquarter of the record company EMI and convinced them to give the RHCP a chance. A couple of years later, the band had become EMI’s cash cow6.

6 A cash cow is a business jargon to describe a product, division or field that sells very, very well.

15 3.1 Background and Context: The Most Successful RHCP Line-Up

As the commercially most successful songs of the Red Hot Chili Peppers were written by lead singer Anthony Kiedis, guitar player John Frusciante, bass player Michael ‘Flea’ Balzary and drummer Chad Smith, it is of great importance to analyze the band members – not only with regard to their musical skills but also concerning their private backgrounds and characteristics as individuals. As the following chapters will illustrate, the lives of the four musicians who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 14 April 2012, differ considerably from the lives of seemingly ‘ordinary’ people. This leads to different thinking, different behavior, a different clothing style and an extraordinary life as rock stars (cf. Apter 2010:296). On the one hand, their unconventional lives were one of the major reasons for the younger generation of Los Angeles to join their live-performances. On the other hand, these personal differences sig- nificantly influenced their song-writing and paved the way to commercially successful songs such as “Californication”, “By The Way”, “The Adventures of Maggie Rain Dance” and many more.

3.2 Lead Singer: Anthony Kiedis

With regard to Anthony Kiedis’ life, it emerges that the latter was a drug addict for many years. Kiedis opens his autobiography – the bestseller – by referring to the numerous kinds of drugs he took in the past: “For years and years, I filled syringes and injected myself with cocaine, speed, Black Tar heroin, Persian heroin and even LSD” (2004:2). This illustrates the major role drugs played in the lead singer’s life. However, Kiedis feels no regret about his past life nor about the consumption of numerous different drugs; rather, he mentions that he now has stopped taking drugs and is clean (cf. Kiedis 2004:2).

The most important step in Kiedis’ early years was moving from Michigan to Los Angeles. In Michigan, he had led an ordinary life, but his career began in Los Angeles. However, his first career was not that of a famous musician but rather a drug career that started when his father introduced the young Kiedis to the world of drugs by giving the twelve-year-old his first joint (cf. Gaar 2015:58). As a consequence of Kiedis’ continuing ‘drug-career’, his life turned into a downward spiral a few years later: problems with the law, a loss of interest in the classes he was attending at UCLA and stagnation of his acting career (he played Sylvester Stallone’s son in F.I.S.T. and was part of several TV commercials) were only some problems he faced. Thus, Kiedis searched for a way to give reason to his and discovered the power of music. Gaar (2015:58) states that “the first song Kiedis recalled making a strong impression on him was

16 Neil Young’s ‘Heart of Gold’”. In fact, parallels can be found regarding Kiedis’ life and the song “Heart of Gold”. Whilst Neil Young was searching for a heart of gold, Kiedis was search- ing for a sense in life. He could not play an instrument or sing and, consequently (and logically), did not see himself as a musician. However, it was Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five’s song “The Message” that gave Kiedis hope when he discovered rapping (2015:58). The lack of having learnt how to play an instrument or being able to sing proper tunes no longer affected Kiedis since the most important skills in rapping are writing powerful lyrics and performing them in a rhythmic, strong and largely monotonous manner.

Kiedis’ early lyrics were simple, short and they lacked profundity. In several cases, they were used to attract women: “Whenever anybody in the band [RHCP] was having trouble scoring with a certain girl, I’d insert her name [in the lyrics], and boom, it was like clockwork, twenty- four hours would not pass without that girl falling under the spell”, Kiedis states regarding his early lyrics. These were thus used to manipulate women (in a rude way), as the following lines illustrate:

I want to party on your pussy, baby I want to party on, party on your pussy I want to party on your pussy, baby I want to party on your pussy, yeah, yeah, yeah (Booklet The Uplift Mofo Party Plan 1987:15) However, in the following years and after the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s founding in 1983, Kiedis not only widened his vocal repertoire and learned to sing proper melodies but also started to write serious lyrics. His improved vocals and lyrics can be seen as one of the reasons for the remarkable success of the RHCP’s first major hit single “Under the Bridge” (see 4.1.1).

3.3 Bass Guitarist: Michael ‘Flea’ Balzary

“Defying the stereotype of the mute bass player who just fades into the background, Michael Balzary, AKA Flea, is as upfront and in-your-face as much as his extravagant lead singer [An- thony Kiedis]”, as Gaar (2010:54) argues.

Interestingly, analyzing the biography of Michael Balzary, one discovers four parallels to An- thony Kiedis: first, he moved to Los Angeles in his childhood; second, he made his first drug experiences there; third, he fell in love with music and, fourth – as the above quote states – he is as extravagant as lead singer Kiedis.

Together with his mother, Flea (Balzary’s nickname) moved from Melbourne, Australia to New York and a few months later to Los Angeles where he soon had his first encounter with drugs.

17 Balzary’s drug career can be compared to that of Anthony Kiedis. In fact, both Kiedis and Balzary became school friends and soon started taking drugs such as Quaaludes7. According to Gaar (2015:54), one of Flea’s major reasons for taking drugs was to escape reality because his stepfather was a violent alcoholic.

Kiedis and Balzary wanted to be different from the people around them. In fact, Balzary actually was different because of his strange Australian accent and his appearance (he was a small, pale boy who was often bullied). Kiedis and the drugs allowed Balzary to escape from the world of others, or rather ‘ordinary people’, into his own special world. He states that “Anthony and I would jump off buildings into swimming pools for kicks. And there would be old ladies sunning themselves and we’re flying out into the sky...” (Oral/Visual History RHCP 2010:77). Kiedis’ and Balzary’s actions were politically incorrect and somehow represented a cliché behavior of rock stars – although they were no rock stars yet. At a later stage, their drive for nudism and individualism would be one of the most important aspects of the band’s increasing fame.

Regarding Balzary’s love for music, he was initially rather interested in jazz legend Miles Davis than in . Influenced by his love for music, Balzary soon started playing the trumpet and became part of the L.A. Junior Philharmonic and his school band. In contrast to his friend Anthony Kiedis, Balzary was blessed with a deep understanding for music and had a different musical taste. Another friend of Balzary, the talented guitar player , “insisted he learn the bass so that he could play in his band” (Gaar 2015:54). The gifted musician Balzary thus became the bass player in Slovak’s funk band called What Is This?. With Balzary’s posi- tive energy, the band soon became famous among L.A.’s younger generation.

When the extravagant Kiedis joined Flea and the band members (without the singer) of What Is This?, he rapped a poem in an overwhelmingly energetic way and a new band was soon founded, called the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their songs were used by Balzary and Kiedis to express their deepest emotions – emotions that were different from that of the people around them, emotions that soon became a fascination because of their wildness, rudeness and open- ness. Regarding the drug-abuse of Balzary, Kiedis states that because of private problems and stress in the band, Balzary took drugs in the morning, during the day and even at night (cf. 2004:285).

7 According to www.drugs.com (online, 2017) “Quaaludes (methaqualone) are a synthetic, barbiturate-like, central nervous system depressant [...]. Quaaludes promote relaxation, sleepiness and sometimes a feeling of euphoria.”

18 However, the Michael “Flea” Balzary of today can hardly be compared to that of the 1990s. Today, Balzary is clean and has overcome his drug addiction, he lives a healthy life, runs the Silverlake Conservatory of Music and Art8 and is still a successful musician (who never stopped practicing). Considering the success of the RHCP, Michael Balzary sees a deep connection regarding the (esoteric) approach of giving and receiving: in order to receive one has to give love and make the world a better place by giving love.

We’re alive soon we’ll die. And that will be great so let’s love. Love everything away, today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpvxoNbKHbw)

The lines above are the lyrics of Flea’s 2012 song “Lovelovelove”; they reflect his idea of making the world a better place with the force of love – “So let’s love / Love everything away, today”. The song’s vocals (in the chorus) are performed by children in order to emphasize the feeling of peace. Regarding the vocal’s overall mood, the chorus is somehow comparable to Michael Jackson’s “We Are the World”. In Flea’s opinion, success depends on how much love and dedication a person gives, and he underlines the importance of love by tattoos on the fingers of both hands: on each finger (excluding the thumbs) there is one letter of the word LOVE forming the picture of L – O – V – E (cf. illustration in Gaar 2015:55). In the RHCP song “Charly”, lead singer Kiedis refers to the tattoo by rapping “Get the message on Flea’s fist”.

3.4 Guitarist: John Frusciante

The analysis of John Frusciante’s biography brings to light parallels to bass Michael Balzary and singer Anthony Kiedis: like Balzary and Kiedis, he was not born in Los Angeles (but moved there with his mother from New York), he made his first drug experiences in L.A. and, finally and most importantly, he shares the same deep fascination with music (cf. Gaar 2015:22).

After his parents’ divorce, the young John Frusciante moved from Arizona to Los Angeles with his mother. He soon discovered his fascination for the rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck as well as the famous musician Frank Zappa. Due to this fascination, he started to play the guitar, practiced up to 15 hours per day and dropped out of school in order to become a rock star (2015:22). Already at the age of 15, he was fascinated by the Californian band The Red Hot Chili Peppers and learned to play all of their songs. When Hillel Slovak, the RHCP’s guitar

8 Propeller (2017, online) states that “after a teacher asked Flea to come speak to the kids at her school, he discov- ered the challenge underprivileged kids face with no access to the arts. Heartbroken, he built and funded the Sil- verlake Conservatory of Music and Art in hopes of providing basic music education.”

19 player, overdosed on heroin, 18 year old Frusciante (who had at that time received an offer to join Frank Zappa but refused) replaced him in 1988. Frusciante’s dream of being part of the band he loved most had finally come true.

According to Apter (2010:200), Frusciante’s “songwriting had given the band’s rap-rock blend a much-needed transfusion of melody.” Frusciante knew how to connect chords in a creative, persuasive manner and was technically well-educated as he had taken classes at the Guitar In- stitute of Technology and, as already mentioned, practiced up to 15 hours a day. His skills and knowledge added profundity to the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song compositions and lifted the band to a new level. The first album with Frusciante and the new drummer Chad Smith (who is still the RHCP’s drummer) was called Mother’s Milk and was the first The Red Hot Chili Peppers album that was ranked in the top 60 of the US album charts by hitting number 52 (cf. Gaar 2015:22). Before Frusciante had joined the band, their best album chart position was num- ber 148 – this illustrates the sudden rise of the band’s success. Gaar states that “Mother’s Milk is the album that depicts the Chili Peppers on the verge of their commercial breakthrough” (2015:22). Consequently, their concerts became larger and the size of their audience increased.

In the early 1990s, Frusciante composed the guitar part of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song “Under the Bridge”. With his skillfully performed guitar and outstanding melody, he paved the way to the later commercial success of the song (see 4.1.1).

Again, the number of RHCP fans, the number of shows the band played and the band’s fame increased. Frusciante’s dream of being a famous rock star had become true. However, years later, he stated that he “had some crazy rock star fantasy of being in a limousine, but never imagined doing anything else but this” (The Red Hot Chili Peppers 2010:5). In a rather contra- dictory manner, he was not pleased with the steadily increasing fame of the band (cf. Gaar 2010:22). As a consequence and due to the intention of writing his own music, he left the band during a tour in 1992 but soon lost himself in heroin for years.

“I’m not afraid of death. I don’t care whether I live or die”, stated a highly depressive and exhausted John Frusciante in 1996 (cf. Apter 2010:296). Five years had passed since the major success of the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik and its hit single “Under the Bridge”. Frusciante was overwhelmed by the success and its abysses. According to Kiedis (2004:285), Frusciante once said “We’re too popular. I don’t need to be at this level of success.”

In 1996, he was close to death because of his self-destructive heroin addiction and was, as follows, described by Robert Wilensky, the arts editor of the New Times LA:

20 His upper teeth are nearly gone now; they have been replaced by tiny slivers of off- white that peek through rotten gums. His lower teeth, thin and brown, appear ready to fall out if he so much as coughs too hard. His lips are pale and dry, coated with spit so thick it looks like paste. His hair is shorn to the skull; his fingernails, or the spaces where they used to be, are blackened by blood […]. (Apter 2010:294) Frusciante had become a human wreck – fortunately, however, he was able to overcome his drug addiction and turn towards a completely new lifestyle including yoga, meditation and healthy food, and rejoined the RHCP in 1998. He had to change his guitar playing style because of his ‘heroin-years’, which had resulted in a weakened physical ability, and, consequently, he simplified the riffs, chords and solos he played. This can be heard in each song of their album Californication (see 4.2ff).

Interestingly, the simplification of his guitar playing style created a completely new mood of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ songs. They sounded fresh and the simple guitar style gave every other instrument’s tune (bass, vocals, drums) its place. Furthermore, the simple guitar style created a contradiction to most of the song’s seriousness.

The album Californication reached the top five of the US album charts and even hit position 3. Moreover, it was an international success as it reached the chart’s top positions in Europe (for example, position 5 in the UK).

3.5 Drummer: Chad Smith

The only member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who can be described as down-to-earth, Chad Smith, joined the band shortly after guitar player Hillel Slovak’s death in 1988. Drummer had quit the band because he could not cope with Slovak’s death. Due to Jack Iron’s drop- out (and the drop-out of his replacement D.H. Peligro), the Red Hot Chili Peppers had to find a new drummer (cf. Wikipedia 2017, online).

Chad Smith’s audition for the Red Hot Chili Peppers can somehow be compared to Cesar’s veni, vidi, vici: Smith came, saw the drums, played them, and instantly became part of the band. In contrast to Kiedis, Balzary and Frusciante, Smith was not interested in drugs and “provided a welcome dose of stability and a rhythmic backbone for everything else to grow from” (Gaar 2015:40). The first album, Mother’s Milk (see 3.4), became the first success of the band. Since then, Smith has been the drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers although he has several other projects running.

According to Smith, he started playing drums when he was seven years old and used empty ice cream packages. His parents were supportive and did not stop the child from playing (cf. Red

21 Hot Chili Peppers 2010:8). Smith, who grew up in a suburb of Detroit, moved to Los Angeles (a parallel to the other band members) and joined the Musicians Institute to improve his drum skills. When he heard that the RHCP (who had a record deal) were looking for a drummer, he decided to audition. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ clothing style was completely different to Smith’s and, at first sight, lead singer Kiedis was not convinced by Smith’s appearance. His powerful audition, however, defeated his doubts and Smith became the RHCP’s drummer (cf. 2010:8).

Smith was not only influenced by the drummers of The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix but also by The Who’s Keith Moon and Deep Purple’s Ian Paice (cf. Gaar 2015:40). Compared to Kiedis, Balzary and Frusciante, who believed in esoteric approaches of giving and receiving, Smith seemingly lived in another world. This contrast and his different musical taste resulted in adding another different color to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song compositions. The most successful RHCP line-up had been found, and together they went straight to sold-out are- nas. Every band member added different colors, and their language of music became attractive to millions of people worldwide. With Smith, the line-up can be compared to that of a casted boy group, as every member of a boy group is different and attracts different people.

Like Kiedis and Balzary, Smith wanted to help people and is still involved in charity work. As a guest at the White House, he joined a concert “also attended by President Barack Obama and his wife […] raising money for arts and education” (Gaar 2015:40). The fact that the band members publicly show themselves as being generous also contributes to the increasing fame and success of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

22 4. Analysis of Songs and Albums They Appear in

4.1 Album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik

According to Apter (2010: 245), “Blood Sugar Sex Magik had transformed their [the RHCP’s] cult following into serious chart action”. In 1991, the Californian band had already released and sold four LPs (number of sold LPs: 4 million). There are three major factors that contributed to the success of Blood Sugar Sex Magik: first, for the first time in the band’s career, they did not change their line-up; second, they had a new producer, and, third, there was a new sense of camaraderie (cf. Gaar 2015: 28). In the past, line-up changes had led to delays and the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s musical style was not well defined. Blood Sugar Sex Magik, however, had the exact line-up of their previous album Mother’s Milk (see 3.5). Consequently, the band members knew each other and could focus on a musician’s most pivotal role: composing music. The song compositions of Blood Sugar Sex Magik show a newly found feeling for combining different musical styles on one LP. For example, the introduction of “” re- minds listeners of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” (cf. 2015: 28). The band members knew and trusted each other even when it came to unconventional ideas: they partly used unconven- tional instruments such as steel pipes, brake blocks or old acoustic guitars. This was a new ingredient of their songs. Another reason for their success in 1991 is their choice of the producer of the album, . According to Harvey (1995: 48), “instead of heading for a mega- bucks studio he [Rick Rubin] took them [the RHCP] to a rented hacienda out of town”. This building was located in Los Angeles and the songs were recorded live. On the song “They’re Red Hot” one can hear the traffic jam of a street close to the hacienda. Rick Rubin’s approach was unusual but turned out to work as the album was a huge success.

The aforementioned new sense of camaraderie stemmed from the fact that the band lived to- gether in the hacienda during the process of recording the songs. As a result, the band members had more time to talk to each other about their song compositions. A camera team filmed them during their time in the hacienda ( 1992, DVD).

Blood Sugar Sex Magik has 17 songs including the hit single “Under the Bridge” (song 11 on the LP) which reached second rank in the US Single Charts of the same year. As the album’s title Blood Sugar Sex Magik illustrates, the album mostly focuses on the topic of sex. The lyrics of songs such as “Suck My Kiss” (see 4.1.2), “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”, “Naked in the Rain” or “Sir Psycho Sexy” tell stories about sex. One of several examples can be found in the bridge of the song “Sir Psycho Sexy”:

23 Lay me down, lay me down, lay me down Descending waves of graceful pleasure For your love there is no measure Her curves they bend with subtle splendor (Booklet Blood Sugar Sex Magik 1991, p. 13)

)However, the album also provides songs with thoughtful messages that do not focus on the topic of sex, for example “The Power of Equality” or “The Righteous & The Wicked” – both songs being concerned with social and political issues. Furthermore, the album’s most suc- cessful song “Under the Bridge” is a profound song about an individual’s feeling of loneliness (see 4.1.1).

4.1.1 Hit Single: “Under the Bridge”

This song changed the band members’ lives as well as the lives of millions of fans. Being suc- cessful, being part of a major label and selling millions Singles of copies of their CD was something the band had not even dared to dream of before. In an interview, bass Red Hot Chili Peppers player Flea mentioned how overwhelming their sudden DE 11 04.05.1992 (25 Wo.) success was: “When we started the band in 1983, I never UK 13 14.03.1992 (18 Wo.) imagined this sort of success for a bunch of little guys US 2 04.04.1992 (26 Wo.) like us.” (cf. RHCP_Greatest Hits 2010:23). Under the Bridge – ranking (https://de.wikipe- dia.org/wiki/Under_the_Bridge) The song “Under the Bridge” was released in 1991 on the RHCP’s LP Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The RHCP pro- vided a video to the song which can be defined as down to earth. In the video’s beginning sequence guitar player Frusciante performs his guitar afterwards lead singer Kiedis wanders through Los Angeles, bass player Balzary and drummer Smith are rarely shown, performing their instruments.

15.2 million copies of the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik found their way into the homes of people all over the world. “Under the Bridge” was different from the songs the band had com- posed so far, with regard to both its textual and musical maturity. The lyrics were more pro- found and the interplay between guitar, vocals, bass and drums more developed. “If there were four different poles on the earth we would all be from an opposite one”, bass player Flea says with regard to the song’s innovation (RHCP_Booklet 2013:4). With regard to Flea’s statement, one of the secrets for the success of “Under the Bridge” can be found in the complex harmoni- ous interplay between the four different poles consisting of Anthony Kiedis’s vocals, John Frusciante’s guitar, Michael “Flea” Balzary’s bass and Chad Smith’s drums. Flea’s metaphor

24 illustrates a significant peculiarity that emphasizes a secret of the RHCP: four musicians with four different approaches to song-writing and composing can find perfect harmony in their mu- sic. “Under the Bridge” is the RHCP’s first song to combine these four different poles in a way that can be understood by the world of pop music and over ten million people worldwide.

Analysis of “Under the Bridge”9

Verse 1 Verse 2 Chorus 1 C 3 Interlude Outro Introduction C 1 C 2 Verse 3 Chorus 2 Bridge + B. Variations

Length: 4:24min; bpm: 84; loudest part: bridge Figure 3: “Under the Bridge” – audio track – own editing10 Introduction

The song is introduced by two chords D and F#. Together, these two chords create a thought- and hopeful atmosphere. The strings are finger picked on an electric guitar – in this case the Fender Jaguar. The Fender Jaguar can be defined as rather unconventional with regard to the musical genre of the song which is pop-rock. Traditionally, a Fender Jaguar is being used for surf-rock music. According to Smiley (2017, online), “[t]here are photos of the Beach Boys in Sept. ‘63 in which both Dave and Carl (NB: the Beach Boys’ guitar players) are playing Fender Jaguars.” Interestingly, the RHCP’s guitar player John Frusciante uses a surf-rock guitar in a band that is mostly associated with the musical genre of funk but in this special case performs a song that belongs to the category of pop-rock. This perfectly illustrates the openness and unconventional approach of guitar player Frusciante, which are significant factors of the song’s first seconds. Its beginning not only consists of the guitar’s chords, but also calls up its history. Due to the fact that the Fender Jaguar is a successful traditional US guitar, it will sound familiar to a certain number of listeners and they might know the sound from earlier bands, e.g. from the Beach Boys or Nirvana.11 This feeling of familiarity reduces the gap between the listener and the still unknown song.

9 Focus on: Intro, Verse 1+2, Connector (C), Interlude, Bridge, Outro/ Full lyrics: see appendix. 10 This is an image of an edited audio track. The white area illustrates the amplitude level of the music. The au- dio track is divided into two sections (stereo). 11 The Fender Jaguar was used by Nirvana’s guitar player and lead singer Kurt Cobain. On the official Fender- website www.fender.com one can find a Kurt Cobain special edition called KURT COBAIN JAGUAR®.

25 Verse 1

In contrast to the intro, the guitar is played in a simple, straight forward way to create a funda- ment for the vocals. The guitar’s role changes from standing on its own in the introduction (complex finger-picking) to accompanying the vocals (strumming). The fact that the guitar is being performed in a simple way moves the listeners’ attention to the vocals and the lyrics. One can therefore easily follow the first verse of the lyrics:

E B C#m G#m A Sometimes I feel like I don’t have a partner. E B C#m A Sometimes I feel like my only friend, E B Is the city I live in C#m G#m A The city of angels E B C#m A E7 Lonely as I am together we cry (https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/r/red_hot_chili_peppers/under_the_bridge_crd.htm)

By using a simple vocal melody, lead singer Kiedis informs the listeners about his feelings in an open and authentic way. The guitar supports this by playing the chords E – B – C#m – G#m – A – E7. The chord E (or its variation Em) is frequently used in the history of pop music12 and is the first chord when the vocals begin.

Connector 113

The connector creates a link between verses 1 and 2. Although it consists of just one guitar chord plus a short first appearance of bass and drums, it plays an important role, as it creates a pause before going on to verse 2. This pause creates relief and simultaneously increases the listeners’ interest in the song’s further development.

Verse 2

More variations of the guitar support the development of the lyrics. Moreover, they support the first line of the second verse directly: “I DRIVE on her streets ‘cause she’s my companion…”. The playful guitar imitates the process of driving on the city’s streets. Kiedis makes use of the rhetorical figure of personification, a figure of similarity: the city is being addressed as if it were a real, living person by applying personal pronouns:

12 „Der E-moll Gitarrengriff ist der der Gitarrengriff ‚par exellance‘. Das hat den einfachen Grund, dass die Gitarre in e-moll gestimmt ist. Sehr viele Gitarrenstücke sind deshalb in e-moll geschrieben. E-moll, des Gitarristen liebs- tes Kind...“ (Franck_2017, online) 13 I decided to use the term connector – the connector is a short part (e.g. one guitar riff) that is used to connect two different song sections, e.g. verse and chorus or verse 1 and verse 2.

26 I drive on her streets ‘cause she’s my companion I walk through her hills ‘cause she knows who I am She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy Well, I never worry, now that is a lie (Booklet Blood Sugar Sex Magik 1991:9)

Chorus 1

For the first time in the song, all instruments play together: guitar, bass and vocals are accom- panied by smooth drums. The number of chords (verse 1 = 6 chords) is halved to three power chords in chorus 1. As a consequence, the chorus is simplified and more powerful. Chorus 1 could also be defined as the hook of the song with regard to the catchy phrases and the vocal’s catchy melody:

F#m E B F#m I don’t ever want to feel like I did that day. E B F#m Take me to the place I love, take me all the way, F#m E B F#m I don’t ever want to feel like I did that day. E B F#m Take me to the place I love, take me all the way, (https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/r/red_hot_chili_peppers/under_the_bridge_crd.htm)

By making use of the rhetorical figure of repetition (the lines and yeah, yeah, yeah are repeated), Kiedis creates the aforementioned catchy phrases (earworms) that easily find their way into the listener’s minds – another important aspect of a hit song.

Interlude

The interlude14 is used to avoid the song’s predictability. It is introduced by fills performed by the drums on the snare. After the drum break, the whole mood changes – firstly, due to a change regarding the drums and, secondly, the chords of the guitar. Regarding the drums, a bass drum and a snare are used for the first time. The listeners realize this change and their attention is raised. John Frusciante reduces the number of chords on the guitar. While the verses started with E, the interlude starts with A. Furthermore, all chords are changed in Bridge 1 (last line of the Verse: E – B – C#m – A – E7 / Bridge 1: A – Am7 – G6 – F7). Lead singer Kiedis creates a contradictory feeling on the level of the lyrics by singing “Oh no no no, yeah, yeah, yeah”. He says “No” and then “Yes (yeah)”, thus expressing his contradictory innermost feelings. Here we see a perfect interplay between the complete chord changes and the contradictory feelings Kiedis expresses in that not only the guitar chords are changed completely (as shown earlier),

14 The term interlude is used as this song section cannot be described as a bridge. The interlude lays the path to the subsequent bridge (cf. ultimateguitar Under the Bridge (2017, online).

27 but also Kiedis’ mood. The listener notes this mood change (either consciously or uncon- sciously) and feels that “something ‘bigger’” is going to happen after this part. In other words, the short interlude prepares the audience for the most important message, the most important phrase of the song, namely the hook “Under the bridge”.

Bridge

The bridge contains the song’s hook, “Under the bridge down-town is where I drew some blood” and is its strongest part. Kiedis refers to his drug addiction and a place in the city where he used to take drugs (a shot of heroin means he “drew some blood” because he used a needle to inject the drug). The most important aspect on the level of instruments is the reduction of the number of chords performed by the guitar. Whilst each line of the lyrics was supported by four to five chords in all other parts of the song, each line of the bridge is now supported by only two chords. To exemplify this, the line “Under the bridge down-town” is accompanied by the two chords A and C and the line “is where I drew some blood” is accompanied by the chords G6 and F7. This reduction of the number of chords creates room for the song’s hook – the latter, consequently, cannot be misheard and the focus is clearly on the hook. With regard to the vo- cals, the hook is emphasized, as it is performed by a gospel-choir. “Under the bridge down- town” is performed solely by the gospel choir and Kiedis supports it in the second line of the bridge (“is where I drew some blood”). While the first line is a reference to a place in a city, the second line is more personal since the speaker states that he drew some blood – conse- quently, his voice is foregrounded (i.e. louder) when compared to the gospel choir.

Under the bridge downtown → solely performed by gospel choir Is where I drew some blood → supported by Kiedis Under the bridge downtown → gospel choir I could not get enough → Kiedis and gospel choir Under the bridge downtown → gospel choir Forgot about my love → Kiedis and gospel choir Under the bridge downtown → gospel choir I gave my life away → Kiedis and gospel choir (Booklet Blood Sugar Sex Magik 1991:9)

Outro

The song is rounded off by the outro, which is performed by guitar and bass. All the ups and downs which reflect those of the band members’ lives have come to an end and the outro is used to create relief. When the aforementioned context of the drug addictions of the three band members Kiedis, Balzary and Frusciante (see 3.2 to 3.5) are considered, this outro perfectly reflects the feelings of these band members: now that the story is told and now that people know the truth, they can find personal peace.

28 4.1.2 Single: “Suck My Kiss”

The fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers released the song “Suck My Kiss” (1992) as a single shows the band’s trust in the song’s hit qualities. However, the song did not reach the German, Swiss, Austrian, British and American charts (cf. Wikipedia 2017, online). In marketing terms, it could thus be defined as a flop. The question that arises is which factors contributed to the flop of “Suck My Kiss” with regard to its (low) commercial success.

Compared to their hit single “Under the Bridge” the song is less elaborate and lacks clarity, as will be shown in the analysis. Not only are the song’s lyrics rather confusing, but the video is, too. In it, a military parade and the half-naked band recording the song at a studio are shown. With regard to the alternation of the military parade and the band members’ naked upper bodies, it could be interpreted as symbolizing masculinity. However, in contrast to the “Under the Bridge” video, there is no clear connection to the lyrics of the song; rather, the video leaves room for interpretation, but it seems that the message was not entirely clear to the audience.

Analysis of “Suck My Kiss”

Introduction Verse 1 Chorus 1 Verse 2 Chorus 2 Bridge Verse 3 Chorus 3

Length: 3:35min; bpm: 108; loudest part: none Figure 4: “Suck My Kiss” – audio track – own editing Introduction

The song is introduced by lead singer Kiedis, who is euphorically shouting “Yeah, I’m sailing yeah!” Directly after this statement, the instruments join in, consisting of a distorted guitar, pushily performed bass guitar and heavy hard rock drums. From the very first moment onwards, the audience can assume that this song will be entirely different to the hit single “Under the Bridge”. Not only is the musical genre (funk rock) different to “Under the Bridge” (pop), but so are the song’s tempo (bpm), message etc. These aspects are going to be analyzed on the following pages.

29 Verse 1

In verse 1, Kiedis goes back to his roots and powerfully raps the lyrics – quite in contrast to “Under the Bridge” where the lyrics are sung. The instruments are played in a straight forward way and – regarding the chords – are mostly similar to the introduction. The main aim of the instruments is to create a base for Kiedis’ fast rapping.

Should‘ve been, could’ve been, would’ve been dead If I didn’t get the message goin’ to my head I am what I am Most motherfuckers don’t give a damn Aw baby think you can Be my girl, I’ll be your man Someone full of fun Do me ‘till I’m well done Little Bo Peep, cumin’ from my stun gun Beware, take care Most motherfuckers have a cold ass stare Aw baby please be there Suck my kiss cut me my share (Booklet Blood Sugar Sex Magik 1991:4)

As the lyrics of verse 1 illustrate, there is no story being told, but a great lack of cohesion. It is not clear what Kiedis wants to express in lines 1 and 2. Furthermore, he makes use of the swear word motherfucker. This underlines the rude sexual atmosphere of the song. More references to sex can be found in the lines “someone full of fun do me ‘till I’m well done Little Bo Peep, cumin’ from my stun gun”, all of which describe the sexual climax.

Whilst the instruments are played in a straight way, the rapping alternates regarding the tempo. This emphasizes the restless mood of verse 1. In the last line, the song’s title is mentioned directly in “Suck my kiss cut me my share” and immediately leads into the chorus.

Chorus

In the chorus, the song’s sexual focus is made clear, as the word kiss appears three times and words such as hurt, pervert, stick, dirty, bliss etc. are used: “Hit me you can’t hurt me, suck my kiss / Kiss me please pervert me, stick with this / Is she talking dirty / Give to me sweet sacred bliss / Your mouth was made to suck my kiss.” The first line ends with the word kiss, the second line begins with the word kiss and the last line ends with the word kiss (anadiplosis)– again, the strong sexual focus of “Suck My Kiss” creates a stark contrast to the hit single “Under the Bridge”.

Verse 2 and Chorus 2

As in verse 1, the audience is provided with simple and partly incoherent lines, for example: “Chicka chicka dee Do me like a banshee / Low brow is how / Swimming in the sound of bow

30 wow wow.” The lines leave too much room for interpretation (e.g. as a sexual reference like in verse 1) and lack clarity. The latter needs to be taken into consideration regarding the song’s low chart position: the audience might not sympathize with the lyrics in the way they did with the “Under the Bridge” lyrics. In fact, the latter’s lyrics are transparent and appeal to the audi- ence and their individual realities.

In chorus 2, there are no changes, neither regarding the instruments nor the lyrics.

Bridge, Verse 3 and Chorus 3

After 2:25min, the song’s bridge sets in: a technically demanding guitar solo is supported by a drivingly performed bass and drum line. The center of the bridge is the guitar solo, which is a mixture of hard and noise rock where different guitar techniques are combined and the high pitch of the performed tunes create unrest. This underlines the harshness of Kiedis’ statement “Suck My Kiss”.

The bridge is directly followed by verse 3 in which the lead singer uses the lines from verse 1. Not only the lyrics and their rap style stay the same, but also the instruments.

Chorus 3, the song’s last chorus, is an exact copy of choruses 1 and 2. In short, not only chorus 3 but also all other sections are not as elaborate as their hit single “Under the Bridge”.

4.2 Album: Californication

Figure 5: Californication album cover The cover of the album Californication (song of the same name, see 4.2.1) needs to be discussed when dealing with the term Californication.

[Californication is] the process by which the American television and film industry, for the most part based in California, spreads their own highly sexualized, consumer driven, version of Amer- ican culture that heavily emphasizes sex, violence, celebrity, and youth as both virtues to be extolled and goals to be achieved.” (Urban Dictionary 2017, online)

31 The matured Red Hot Chili Peppers discuss this idea not only in the lyrics of the song “Cali- fornication”, but they also create an interplay between the song/album title and the album cover. The word californication (a postmodern word, like smog for example) combines two words, namely California and fornication. As can be seen in Figure 5, the sky and the water of the swimming pool change places in order to illustrate the so-called californication: the cover shows that the world is to a certain degree upside down.

The most outstanding reason why the album Californication – released in September 1999, chart position US #3, UK #5 (cf. Gaar 2015:38) – could have come into existence was the return of guitar player John Frusciante. He had overcome his self-destructive drug addiction and could imagine returning to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. However, the band itself was at a crossroads – they wanted to split up but bass player Michael Balzary suggested to take John back into the band (2015:38). According to Kiedis and Smith, this seemed almost unthinkable, as both thought a comeback of Frusciante would be impossible due to his poor state of health. “I seri- ously thought I’d hear about him [John Frusciante] being dead or Od’ing [overdosing]”, stated drummer Smith when asked by Balzary to let Frusciante join the band again (Red Hot Chili Peppers 2010:70).

Frusciante’s return brought new energy and hope, and the reunited band started jamming at Balzary’s garage – an important factor considering the sound of all songs on the album Cali- fornication. However, the musical genre of the Red Hot Chili Peppers cannot be referred to as garage rock but the fact that the band was rehearsing in a garage influenced the compositions of the songs as much as the way they were produced at a later stage (cf. Red Hot Chili Peppers 2010:205). Producer Rick Rubin15 took over the raw energy of the garage rehearsals by an unconventional song mastering technique: all instruments and the vocals often unpredictably override, or overmodulate (producers normally avoid unwanted overriding/overmodulating of instruments since it sounds unprofessional – see 4.2.2, Analysis of “Parallel Universe”). At a later moment, the unconventional sound of the songs on Californication would be one of the reasons for its commercial success. According to lead singer Kiedis, another reason for the success of Californication was the fact that the band’s process of composing new songs was not influenced by expectations of the ‘outside world’ – the band was free to go in any direction

15 The RHCP’s producer since the 1991 hit album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Furthermore, he produced artists/bands such as The Beastie Boys, Mick Jagger, Johnny Cash or Rage Against the Machine (cf. Wikipedia Rick Rubin 2017, online).

32 they liked and, consequently, enjoyed the songwriting process (cf. Gaar 2015:37). As men- tioned earlier, another aspect of the unconventional compositions of all songs on Californica- tion arises from Frusciante’s reduced complexity with regard to his guitar style.

In short, there are five reasons for the album’s sophistication and success: new energy and hope, the place where the songs were written, the unconventional recording technique, low expecta- tions by the ‘outside world’ and a simplified guitar style.

4.2.1 Hit Single: “Californication”

Although the title of the album stems from the song “Californication”, the single was not as successful as their 1991 song “Under the Bridge”. “Californication” reached the top 20 in Great Britain (#16) but only the 69th rank in the USA. One reason might be the seriousness of the song, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers discuss serious political and social issues in the course of the lyrics of “Californication”. Furthermore, the melancholic and untypically long verses can be mentioned as another reason for the song’s chart position. In the mostly superficial world of pop-music this song could not hit the charts in an outstanding manner but nevertheless was the most important inspiration for the hugely successful TV series Californication. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ front man Kiedis stated that the band was shorn of their identity, as their album Californication is one of their most successful albums and the band made the term californica- tion popular (cf. Glas 2016, online). However, the TV series had positive effects on the song “Californication”, which was written in the late 1990s – the TV series was published in 2007 (17 years later) and led to an increase in the song’s popularity. This becomes apparent when the views of the songs on the online platform YouTube are taken into account: the number of views of “Californication” (number of views: approx. 334 million) is more than three times higher compared to the album’s most successful song of the late 1990s, “Scar Tissue” (number of views: approx. 105 million) (cf. YouTube Scar Tissue Californication 2017, online). As can be seen, the TV series helped in distributing the song’s message in a way the band members were not aware of when they sued Showtime.16 Although the song did not rank remarkably high in the charts in the late 1990s, it ultimately became one of the band’s most famous songs and therefore can be defined as a hit.

16 According to Aol (2017, online), the Red Hot Chili Peppers sued Showtime (the production company of the TV series Californication) for stealing their “invention”, i.e. the term californication. However, the term was already used in the 1970s by Times magazine as a headline and also in the early 1990s by the Canadian band Rheostatics (cf. Wikipedia Californication 2017, online).

33 Analysis of “Californication”

Intro Pre-Chorus 1 Verse 2 Chorus 2 Verse 3 Chorus 3 Verse 1 Chorus 1 Pre-Chorus 2 Bridge Pre-Chorus 3

Length: 5:21min; bpm: 116; loudest part: chorus 3 Figure 6: “Californication” – audio track – own editing Introduction

The introduction is built up in a simple manner: it consists of the guitar which alternatingly performs the chords Am and F, and the bass that supports the guitar. After a few seconds, the guitar and bassline are accompanied by drums performed in a somehow military style. As the song discusses social and political issues, there is a clear link between the drum style and the lyrics of the song. The band creates a serious atmosphere that is typical for most of the songs on Californication (cf. Gaar 2015:38).

As for the guitar, Frusciante – as in “Under the Bridge” – employs a special guitar, namely a Gretsch White Falcon. This guitar was used by legends such as George Harrison, Neil Young, Chet Atkins, Mike Campbell and many more (cf. musicradar 2017, online). As was shown in the analysis of “Under the Bridge”, choosing a special guitar for the song creates a familiar atmosphere, as a high number of listeners, at least unconsciously, knows the sound of the guitar from famous songs of the past. Furthermore, the choice of this special guitar illustrates the band’s connection to products of the US (the Gretsch White Falcon is made in the USA17). The tunes played on the American guitar Gretsch White Falcon provide the fundament for the song “Californication” – a clear connection between the song title that focuses on the American state California and the US American guitar brand can thus be seen. “I’ve got it! I’ve got ‘Californi- cation’!” stated guitar player Frusciante according to Kiedis when he presented “his new thirty- thousand-dollar White Falcon hollow-body guitar” (2004:418). What becomes apparent with regard to the tunes performed on the guitar is Frusciante’s new simple guitar style. He performs

17 For further information on the company Gretsch, see www.gretsch.com.

34 only eight tones that are based on two simple chords, Am and F. Compared to the elaborate introduction of “Under the Bridge”, the present one shows the remarkable change in guitar style. The simplification is continued, as there is no change of chords and tunes performed on the guitar when verse 1 begins.

Verse 1

In contrast to the song “Under the Bridge”, there is no chord change when the vocals set in. Moreover, there are no changes regarding the bassline and the drums. This leads to a monoto- nous atmosphere that reflects the constant (monotonous) issues of the so-called californication. The lyrics of the first verse leave plenty of room for interpretation (as one cannot define whether the statements are concrete issues or symbols referring to certain problems) but clearly illustrate the song’s seriousness. A refrain is embedded in the last lines:

Am Psychic spies from China F Try to steal your mind’s elation Am Little girls from Sweden F Dream of silver screen quotations C G And if you want these kind of dreams F Dm It's Californication → refrain

Am It’s the edge of the world F And all of western civilization Am The sun may rise in the East F At least it settles in the final location C G It’s understood that F Dm Sells Californication → slightly changed refrain

(https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/r/red_hot_chili_peppers/californication_crd.htm)

As the lyrics of verse 1 illustrate, Kiedis focuses on the term californication by adding the word at the very end of each verse. The statement of the refrain’s preceding lines can be directly referred to as the process of californication – listeners can assume what is meant by the term. The serious text encourages people to think about the issue and – taking into account the song’s success – the lyrics appeal to millions of people, as they understand the message and are likely to be confronted with the issue of californication in their own realities. This is one of the reasons

35 for the success of the song: lyrics that refer to an issue that affects not only the musicians but also people worldwide (extended from California to a globalized world).

The refrain is supported by a change of the chords played by the guitar (and, logically, a change of the bassline too). The sentence structure and chords are changed even before the refrain – the monotonous alternating of Am and F comes to an end when the penultimate line of the verses appear in stanza 1, “And if you want this kind of dreams” and stanza 2, “It’s understood that Hollywood”. Both lay the path for the reference to californication. Furthermore, they are supported by two chords, namely C and G. The interruption of the monotonous Am-F sequence raises the listener’s attention and the refrain is emphasized.

Pre-Chorus 1

The guitar again perform the chords Am and F alternatingly but in contrast to verse 1, the chords are strummed and not picked. Although the song’s tempo remains the same, the strummed gui- tar creates the illusion that the tempo is increased. The drums and bass support the livelier guitar by loudness and more variation. Therefore, the listener’s attention is raised again (comparable to the refrain). One of the main functions of the pre-chorus is to prepare the listeners for the chorus (cf. Ettl 2010:10).

Chorus 1

According to Kiedis, the band composed “ten different choruses” but none of them convinced them because “all these other songs were pouring out of us”; however, one of the band members started to play an “ultra-sparse riff” and after a while the chorus came to life (2004:403). The song’s chorus is one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ simplest ones with regard to the lyrics. In the chorus, the three words of the phrase “Dream of californication” are repeated two times and the chorus ends after only ten seconds (it begins at 1:33min and ends at 1:43min). Interestingly, a parallel can be found regarding “Under the Bridge” which chorus starts at 1:28min – a starting point that is close to that of the “Californication” chorus. However, the chorus of “Under the Bridge” lasts for 22 seconds. The shortness of “Californication” is not only untypical of a RHCP song, but also for pop-songs in general.

Another parallel to “Under the Bridge” can be found in the repetition of one phrase (see 4.1.1). In “Californication”, the band thus applies a pattern that has already worked in the past. Alt- hough the chorus is remarkably short, the central message is made clear to the audience.

36 Verse 2, Pre-Chorus 2 and Chorus 218

In contrast to verse 1, guitar, bass and drums are supported in verse 2 by a synthesizer which provides simple tunes that enhance the melancholic tone of the verse. As soon as the vocals set in, the synthesizer’s melody comes to a sudden end. Consequently, the center of attention is on the vocals or lyrics that go on discussing certain issues in a symbolic way: the line “Buy me a star on the boulevard, it’s Californication”, for example, refers to the fact that even the stars on the boulevard are for sale in this ‘californized’ world which has lost its credibility. Furthermore, the line “Space may be the final frontier but it’s made in a Hollywood basement” points to a similar issue in a metaphorical way: one cannot trust one’s eyes anymore, as California or Hol- lywood are highly artificial worlds which have the power to fake space.

Similar to the pre-chorus, pre-chorus 2 interrupts the verse with a strummed guitar. However, in contrast to the first pre-chorus, the instruments are accompanied by lamentingly sung back- ground vocals. The latter (performed by guitar player Frusciante) are high regarding their pitch and take on two roles: firstly, the background vocals emphasize the seriousness of the issues discussed in the song’s lyrics and the thoughtful atmosphere regarding its overall composition. Secondly, the background vocals underline a newly found sophistication of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ process of composing. Rubin points out that “they [the RHCP] became sober and it was a different band” (Rubin YT 2017, online). Whilst the songs often lacked harmony and profundity in the past, the embedding of background vocals illustrates the growth of the band not only regarding their song-writing but also the band members’ individual personalities.

Bridge, Verse 3 and Pre-Chorus 3

At a moment when a normal pop song comes to an end (3:22min), the bridge pop ups and perfectly illustrates the “sparse” (cf. Kiedis’ statement in Chorus) guitar play of John Frusci- ante. The guitar is the center of attention and performs a simple, melancholic solo supported by the bass guitar and the drums. The solo is based on a new combination of chords and also includes two new chords, namely F#m and Bm. These minor19 chords provide the base for the tragic atmosphere of the guitar solo and, in combination with the sharp guitar tunes (the tones are high regarding their pitch), bundle the mood of the issue of californication on a musical level.

18 Note: for chorus 2, see chorus 1, as there are no changes in chorus 2 except for the line “Dream of californication” being repeated six times instead of three times, which results in a mantra-like statement. 19 According to Merriam-Webster, a minor chord is a chord “less by a semitone than the corresponding major interval” (2017, online).

37 The last guitar tone of the bridge and the first one of verse 3 overlap and connect the different song sections. As a consequence, the song’s flow on the level of instruments is not interrupted although the drums do not support the beginning of verse 3. As verse 3 can be compared to the very first seconds of the song (no drums at the beginning of verse 3), it is the calmest part of the whole song regarding its loudness. The musicians create a short break, which is needed after the seriousness of the bridge. Moreover, the ‘breather’ gives the listeners the chance to relax for a moment: when the seriousness of the topic and the overall length of the song are taken into account, this moment of relief is necessary to avoid overstressing the audience. The guitar performs just eight tones and is supported by the bass guitar – at that moment, the song’s setting is an image of the first seconds of the song.

Drums and vocals set in after a few seconds and the discussion of the issue of californication continues. In the next lines, the speaker metaphorically points out the thin line between creation and destruction: “Destruction leads to a very rough road / But it also breeds creation.” Kiedis tells the listener about the potential that is embedded in destruction by claiming that “destruc- tion […] breeds creation”. With regard to the process of californication, this statement illus- trates that there is hope. However, in the last line he states that “Even tidal waves couldn’t save the world from Californication” – thus demonstrating that californication is not only a phenom- enon that affects the United States of America or California but indeed the whole world. The question that arises is whether Kiedis’ refers to his world (California) or the whole world. How- ever, the lines of the first verse “Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind’s elation / And little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotation / And if you want these kind of dreams, it’s Californication” show that in the speaker’s opinion, californication affects the whole world (the starting point is the state of California). Bass player Balzary confirms this argument:

“Californication” is really just the act of the world being affected and saturated by the art and the culture being born and raised in California. Traveling around the world, no matter how far I go, I see the affect that California has on the world. It’s about that good and bad, beautiful and ugly. (Songmeanings 2017, online)

Pre-chorus 3 is a combination of pre-choruses 1 and 2, as it combines certain of their elements, namely the background vocals of pre-chorus 2 and the lyrics of pre-chorus 1. As a result, the song’s unpredictability is increased and that of world affairs is highlighted.

Chorus 3

The song’s climax is realized in chorus 3, as this part is the loudest part of the song: not only are the instruments performed most enthusiastically (compared to all previous song sections), but the vocals are, too. As was shown in the analysis of “Under the Bridge”, the Red Hot Chili

38 Peppers invest most energy in a song section that is located at the very end of a song. However, in contrast to “Under the Bridge”, where the band members find peace in the end (see 4.1.1), no peace is found here. The ending can be referred to as an open ending whilst that of “Under the Bridge” is a closed ending regarding the song’s plot.

4.2.2 Single: “Parallel Universe”

In the year 2000, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released the 5th single of the album Californication. In contrast to the previous singles (“Scar Tissue”, “Around the World”, “Californication”, “Oth- erside” or “Road Trippin”), “Parallel Universe” did not enter the charts. This may have been partly due to the preceding four singles and, indeed, the entire album because people had al- ready bought these other singles and the album, and did not see a need to buy the fifth single. Furthermore, the message of the lyrics was not attractive for a high number of listeners. “I read this lyrics and I have no idea what Anthony is talking. Can you help me?”, is what a RHCP fan states with regard to the lyrics (see Reddit Online, 2017). Interestingly, the fan mentions the word talk, which implies that he feels as if lead singer Anthony Kiedis is merely talking about something – probably something unimportant. This illustrates the disparagement of the song’s lyrics: the fan could have used the words singing, writing, rapping or the like instead of talking, which sounds rather degrading.

In fact, the subsequent analysis demonstrates that the lyrics are profound and thoughtful, but that hit songs often need catchy lyrics and clarity – not only regarding the lyrics, but also the overall composition (i.e. the interplay of instruments, or that of the instruments and vocals). Compared to other Californication singles, however, “Parallel Universe” is experimental and complicated regarding the lyrics and its overall composition. In short, the song’s language of music can hardly be understood and appreciated by a great number of the listeners.

Moreover, “Parallel Universe” has further rather unconventional characteristics: first, the mu- sical genre cannot be clearly defined. Second, analyzing the song, one sees that it is highly experimental not only in terms of songwriting and the overall composition, but also regarding the topic. An example of the topic’s complexity can be found in the lines of verse 3:

Psychic changes are born in your heart entertain A nervous breakthrough that makes us the same Bless your heart girl Kill the pressure it’s raining on Salty Cheeks When you hear the beloved song I am with you (Booklet Californication 1999:4)

39 Firstly, the message of the lyrics is not as transparent as in the RHCP’s hit-singles “Under the Bridge” and “Californication”. Secondly, the length of the lines is unusual for RHCP lyrics and, thirdly, the use of imperfect rhymes (e.g. entertain – same) is another tool rarely used by Kiedis20. The use of imperfect rhymes furthermore emphasizes the agitated atmosphere of the whole song.

Analysis of “Parallel Universe”

Verse 1 Verse 2 Bridge Chorus 3 Intro Chorus 1 Chorus 2 Verse 3 Outro

Length: 4:30; bpm: 124; loudest parts: choruses and outro

Figure 7: “Parallel Universe” – audio track – own editing Introduction and Verse 1

The introduction of the song is highly experimental: during the first two seconds, the guitar creates noises which are produced by muting the strings with the right hand (the hand strum- ming the strings). After two seconds, the bass guitar joins in using the same technique (i.e. muting the strings with the right hand while picking the strings). The produced sound is rather unusual and illustrates the musicians’ willingness to provide new ideas. Furthermore, the intro- duction’s simplicity (in terms of the riffs) shows the aforementioned decreased physical ability of guitar player John Frusciante. The guitar style’s simplicity has parallels to the hit single “Californication”.

Although he’ll [Frusciante] tell you it took years for him to get his chops back, I loved the way John was playing when he didn’t have the technical capacity to do everything. He toned down and developed an incredible minimalistic style. Every day he came up with something spectacular. (Kiedis 2004:400)

20 Ettl (2010:24) refers to Kaye (1988:44) when stating that imperfect rhymes are used “especially when the inten- tion of focusing on meaning instead of perfect rhyming becomes obvious in the lyrics”.

40 Kiedis’ statement illustrates that a “minimalistic” style indeed can be “spectacular” – with re- gard to other Californication singles, the minimalistic style of Frusciante was one of the most important influences for the songs’ success. “Parallel Universe”, however, lacks the lightness and simplicity of the other singles despite the minimalistic guitar style. One reason can be found in the hardly distinguishable guitar and bass lines, as these two instruments both perform rather high tones and use the same style (mute). In contrast to other singles, the bass line does not support the guitar by adding a fundament. In fact, the bass line and guitar line often overlap, which leads to a lack of clarity on the musical level. However, it has to be mentioned that the interplay of guitar and bass is elaborate and well thought-out. As was shown in the analysis of “Under the Bridge”, “Suck My Kiss” and “Californication”, clarity and transparency neverthe- less are major aspects of a Red Hot Chili Peppers hit song.

The vocals of verse 1, which set in after the introduction, add even more complexity to this experimental song. The lyrics are thoughtful and provide the listeners with a range of possible interpretations.

Deep inside of a parallel universe It’s getting harder and harder To tell what came first Under water where thoughts Can breathe easily Far away you were made in a sea Just like me (Booklet Californication 1999:3)

Although the lyrics are profound, there exists one parallel with regard to those of “Suck My Kiss”: the message is hardly comprehensible for people who do not listen carefully and try to interpret the lyrics. Considering Kiedis’ early lyrics and their partly rude insanity, the lyrics of verse 1 now show the spirituality and profundity of the lead singer. He performs the vocals in a highly nasal way and the voice does not sound like Kiedis’. In chorus 1, the reason for this can be found in Kiedis imitating a snake.

Chorus 1

In chorus 1, Kiedis powerfully sings “Christ I’m a Sidewinder / I’m a California King / I swear it’s everywhere / It’s everything”, while being supported by a distorted rock guitar, rock drums and a dry bass. The vocal sound is exceptionally high with regard to its pitch. At some occasions (for example: “I’M A CALIFORNIA KING”), the sound almost hurts the listener’s ears when the song is played at a high volume. Again, this stems from the attempt to imitate a hissing

41 snake (Sidewinder/California Kingsnake21) by increasing the vocal’s treble rather than from an error in audio engineering. The high treble of the vocals underlines that Kiedis sees himself as a sidewinder rather than just metaphorically referring to him being one because of the parallels between his and the snake’s attributes (spontaneous, dangerous, impulsive, fast etc.). In tune with the song title “Parallel Universe”, Kiedis sees the world through the eyes of the sidewinder – he actually is a sidewinder.

Kiedis’ transformation into the ‘parallel universe sidewinder’ is also realized by a transfor- mation of the sounds and styles of the instruments. Every instrument transforms itself in chorus 1 when compared to verse 1. Firstly, the guitar sound in verse 1 was clean, silent and muted – after the transformation, however, it is highly distorted and performs straight, free sounding power chords, namely a combination of Cm, G#, D# and G (cf. ultimate-guitar “Parallel Uni- verse” 2017, online).

Secondly, the transformations of the drums and the bass guitar are realized by increased loud- ness and also strongly differ in terms of their style. As Figure 7 illustrates, the sound-wise maximal possible volume is reached in chorus 1 and the vocals occasionally oversteer. As was mentioned in 4.2, producer Rick Rubin used a special mastering technique in order to maximize the song’s loudness.

The song “Parallel Universe” and most songs of the album Californication are often referred to as victims of the so-called ‘Loudness War’: since the song’s level of loudness is increased to its maximum, sounds partly override and one can hear a ‘clipping’ sound. According to Ban- tamu (2017, online) “Loudness war or loudness race is the popular name given to the trend of increasing audio levels in recorded music since the early 1990s, which many critics believe reduces sound quality and listener enjoyment.” However, producer Rick Rubin did not edit or remaster the songs, nor did he give a statement with regard to the song’s production. Taking into account the remarkable success of the album and the expertise of Rubin, he probably con- sciously used this style of mastering in order to stand out. Listening closely to the chorus, one can hear that the sounds partly overmodulate, which increases the rawness of the song and reflects the wildness of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Verse 2

There are no changes in verse 2 regarding the instruments and vocal melody. The guitar and bass guitar again use unconventional mute style and are accompanied by hard, dry drums.

21 The Sidewinder and the California Kingsnake are snakes that can be found in the state of California (cf. Snake- facts 2017, online).

42 Kiedis sings thoughtful lyrics, which might now indicate the view of the world while high on drugs.

Staring straight up into the sky Oh my my a solar system that fits In your eye Microcosm You could die but you’re never dead spider web Take a look at the stars in Your head fields of space kid (Booklet Californication 1999:3)

The fact that the speaker uses the word ‘staring’ in line 1 might indicate that he was high on drugs (when considering his drug-experiences) and staring into the sky. Since Kiedis consumed different hallucinogenic drugs (see 3.2), one can assume that the lines of verse 2 express thoughts that evolved when he was high. According to Kala (2017, online) the song’s lyrics are “written about a personal experience Kiedis had where he had an OBE [out of body experience] and witnessed another universe”. Furthermore, the profound lyrics probably show Kiedis’ eso- teric approach, as esotericism believes that the whole universe is a reflection of oneself (cf. Byrne 2010:204).

In short, the lyrics are deep and thoughtful, but the message of verse 2 is not fully transparent. This further underlines the aforementioned listener’s statement: “I have no idea what Anthony is talking”.

Chorus 2, Bridge, Verse 3 and Chorus 3

In contrast to chorus 1, the hook line in chorus 2, “Christ I’m a sidewinder / I’m a California King”, is repeated twice. Thus, the line almost transforms into a mantra: this firstly underlines the esoteric touch of the song and, secondly, gives the lead singer the chance to increase the chorus’ energy through repetition. In fact, the second line is sung more powerfully compared to the first. With regard to the instruments, there are no changes as compared to chorus 1.

After 2:05 minutes, the bridge sets in and circumvents the song’s predictability. For the first few seconds, the bass line stands on its own and is only supported by the hi-hat of the drums – quite unusual when the other songs and singles of Californication are taken into account. Nor- mally, the bass guitar supports the lead guitar. In the bridge of “Parallel Universe”, the guitar accompanies the bass after a few seconds, but only very sublimely. The drums’ snare and bass accompany the guitars after 10 seconds and the drum creates a transition to verse 3 by means of fills.

43 On the level of instruments, there are no changes with regard to verse 3 and chorus 3 (the lyrics of chorus 3 are the same as in chorus 2). The lyrics of verse 3 – like those of the other verses – are meditative and the message is only partly transparent.

Outro

Noisy guitar sounds at the end of verse 3 foreshadow the beginning of a new song section: the outro. The outro’s center of attention is a highly distorted, noisy guitar solo: when listened to at a higher volume, it hurts the listeners’ ears. It summarizes the complicatedness of the whole song (i.e. its lyrics and composition) by creating an atmosphere that is a direct result of the vortex of thoughts discussed in the verses. Consequently, the only line the already overstrained Kiedis utters is an aggressively shouted “AHHHHHH!!!” Like the other song sections, the outro also reflects the song’s lack of commercial catchiness and clarity.

4.3 Album: By the Way

The album By the Way, which was released in July 2002, became the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most successful album so far, and reached #2 in the US, #1 in the UK and top chart positions in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and many more (cf. Gaar 2015:44). The audience was pro- vided with (even more) matured RHCP regarding the compositions. This is mirrored not only in the clarity and relaxed attitude of most songs of the album, but also in the clean and straight production by Rick Rubin. The producer, who was “widely regarded as the 5th Pepper” (Apter 2010:331), decided to focus on a clear production in contrast to Californication’s raw mastering (see 4.2). Another difference to Californication is the physical and mental fitness of the band members: When recording Californication, most of them were still suffering from the conse- quences of drug abuse. In 2002, however, they were healthy – for the first time in their lives as celebrities. According to Apter (2010:318), Frusciante’s “new drug of choice was ashtanga yoga” and he worked out every day. In addition, Kiedis and Balzary had also left behind their past as drug addicts. Their new lifestyle was reflected in the purity and clarity of the songs on By the Way. It was thus not only the most successful RHCP album so far, but also their first with high chart entries for all of its singles: “By the Way”, “”, “Can’t Stop”, “Universally Speaking” (see Wikipedia By the Way 2017, online). The songs on the album mostly avoid the RHCP’s early funk style, they are melodic and partly influenced by The Beat- les (cf. Apter 2010:319).

44 4.3.1 Hit Single: “By the Way”

According to Gaar (2015:44), the Red Hot Chili Peppers “continued riding the melodic wave set by Californication” in “By the Way””. In fact, the song combines musical elements and styles of their whole career in a clear and transparent way and blends progressive funk, rap, rock and pop. Thus, all genres the RHCP had used in the past were bundled in “By the Way”. The latter wowed fans as the most successful single in 2002, as was mirrored in the charts positions: US Mainstream Rock – Billboard: #1; US Alternative Songs – Billboard: #1; UK Singles – : #2 (see Wikipedia “By the Way” 2017, online). Consider- ing its top chart positions in countries such as Italy (#1), Austria (#7) or Denmark (#6), “By the Way” was also their commercially most successful song so far. According to Frusciante, it “combined the wild part of our [the RHCP’s] sound with the melodic part of our [the RHCP’s] sound.” (Genius “By the Way” 2017, online).

Around the time the RHCP were composing the song, the writing process was interrupted by 9/11, most likely a terror act executed by Al-Qaeda (cf. Apter 2010:330). Fortunately, they were not in New York when the incident happened, but their song-writing process was nonetheless affected, as they considered to stop working on By the Way. In the end, guitar player Frusciante convinced the band to continue: “This is what we do and this is how we make the world a beautiful place” (Apter 2010:330).

Analysis of “By the Way”

Chorus 1 Chorus 2 Chorus 3 Chorus 4 Intro Verse 1 Verse 2 Bridge

Length: 3:38min; bpm: 124; loudest part: chorus 4

Figure 8: “By the Way” – audio track – own editing

45

Introduction and Chorus 1

The song is introduced by Frusciante strumming the chords F, C and Am in a simple manner. The result of the low number of chords (only three), their combination and their simple perfor- mance is a relaxed atmosphere. The same chords provide the fundament for the vocals in chorus 1. Kiedis is “singing high and sweet” (Gaar 2015:44) and is supported by Frusciante’s simple chord combination. Frusciante uses a Fender Stratocaster (an US American guitar brand/ model used by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, George Harrison and many more) (cf. Fender Artists 2017, online).

As was shown in the analyses of “Under the Bridge” and “Californication”, the fact that Frusci- ante employs a guitar that produces a familiar sound influences the perception of the audience (see 4.1.1 and 4.2). Whilst Frusciante performs the three simple chords, Kiedis sings the fol- lowing lines: “Standing in line to see the show tonight / And there’s a light on, heavy glow / By the way I tried to say / I’d be there waiting for / Dani the girl is singing songs to me / Beneath the marquee / Overload”. In contrast to “Suck My Kiss” and “Parallel Universe”, the message of the present chorus 1 is comprehensible and close to the reality of the audience: the speaker sees the world through the eyes of a fan “standing in line to see the show tonight”. Most im- portantly, the lines convey a feeling and create a picture in front of one’s inner eye: that of waiting for a great show and a girl (one might possibly even be in love with). This reduces the gap between singer and rock star Anthony Kiedis and the audience: he leaves his (rock star) throne to be on one level with his fans.

Verse 1

The melodic chorus 1 comes to a sudden end and a stylistically different song section – namely verse 1 – begins. The guitar is strumming one chord (the fact that it is just one chord is highly unusual) and the focus is on Balzary’s funky bass line, which is supported by drivingly per- formed drums. After a few seconds, Kiedis joins in by initially just uttering simple words or phrases, e.g. “Steak knife, card shark, con job, boot cut”, and then rapping fast. All lines of verse 1 create the feeling of being at a rock festival surrounded by an overload of impressions. Verse 1 is used to expand the picture that was created in chorus 1: waiting for a great show and a girl one is maybe in love with. Although some of the terms of verse 1 might be unclear to the audience. The message that everything is happening at a ‘party place’, however, is clear. At a festival, it is not unusual that one’s brain is overwhelmed by impressions and information, and verse 1 perfectly creates this feeling of being at a festival.

46 Chorus 2 and Verse 2

Whilst the ingredients of chorus 1 were Frusciante’s guitar chords and Kiedis’ vocals, chorus 2 is supported by drums and bass. Consequently, the power of the fast verse 1 is not interrupted. To avoid a loss of energy, chorus 2 is shortened by half and the line “Dani the girl is singing songs to me beneath the marque” is omitted. Moreover, Frusciante provides background vocals which support the vocal melody.

On the level of instruments, there are no changes in verse 2 as compared to verse 1. The rapping continues the image of being at a festival and being overwhelmed by impressions. Again, Kiedis makes use of terms that might be unclear to the audience but nonetheless support the aforemen- tioned feeling: “Black jack, dope dick / Pawn shop / quick pick”. Interestingly, the matured Kiedis here recaptures his early years, for example by rudely uttering ‘dope dick’, which refers to the male sexual organ. According to Kiedis, he “thought that single [“By the Way”] was an über-bombastic assault of non-commercialism”, and was perplex when it became such a huge commercial success (Genius “By the Way” 2017, online).

Chorus 3, Bridge and Chorus 4

In the beginning of chorus 3, the RHCP create a moment of relief, as chorus 2 resembles chorus 1. Chorus 2 is introduced by vocals and supported by the guitar (no bass and no drums, as in chorus 1). The only difference to chorus 1 is that the vocals are supported by Frusciante who is performing background vocals. Consequently, a harmonic double sound of the two voices is created which supports the melodic character of the chorus. The second half is supported by calm drums.

The bridge interrupts the calmness of chorus 3 by a slapped bass, hard guitar riffs and drums. Kiedis raps one simple line in a fast, poorly pronounced way so that it cannot be clearly under- stood. The line is repeated six times and due to the consciously bad enunciation of the words, the message appears unimportant: it is more about the feeling the line creates – the feeling that at a festival, there are things (sentences) that cannot be clearly understood.

Chorus 4 is the most euphoric part of the song. Frusciante’s background vocals have become equally important to Kiedis’ lead vocals. Furthermore, the pitch of Frusciante’s vocals is higher, which further supports the euphoric atmosphere. The lyrics of chorus 4 are repeated twice. In the course of the second repetition, the audience is provided with an exact copy of chorus 1. The fact that the ending of the song is equal to its first moments creates the feeling that every- thing might start again because, proverbially, a festival never ends.

47 4.3.2 Single: “This Is the Place”

All singles of By the Way became a commercial success and all hit the charts. However, “This Is the Place” was not chosen as a single by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is the third song on the album and the first one after two songs that were chosen as singles (song 1: “By the Way”, song 2: “Universally Speaking”). The next pages thus discuss if there are reasons why the song was not chosen as a single.

Analysis of “This Is the Place”

Verse 1 Verse 2 Interlude Verse 3 Outro Intro Chorus 1 Chorus 2 Bridge Chorus 3

Length: 4:17; bpm: 113; loudest part: chorus 3

Figure 9: “This Is the Place” – audio track – own editing Introduction

In contrast to the By the Way - singles, “This Is the Place” begins with the bass guitar. As was shown, the most successful single, “By the Way”, begins with the guitar, just like the hit single “Under the Bridge”.

All other By the Way singles, i.e. “The Zephyr Song”, “Can’t Stop” and “Universally Speak- ing”, start with a combination of guitar and drums or guitar, bass and drums. In short, the intro- duction of “This Is the Place” considerably differs from the By the Way hits.

The bass line lasts for eight seconds and is then joined by the guitar performing just one riff. In all other commercially successful RHCP songs, the guitar performs more than one riff in the course of the introduction. Furthermore, the guitar sound is alienated by the effects ‘flanger’ (the sound of the guitar moves from one speaker to the other and vice versa, thus creating a circle) and ‘reverb’ (the guitar sounds as if it was being performed in a cathedral). The guitar sound of the commercially most successful songs was not alienated by effects, as was shown in the previous chapters.

48 Verse 1

The bass line of the introduction provides the fundament for verse 1. The atmosphere created by the instruments supports the content of the verse: it is hazy and tired, which is all the more emphasized when Kiedis starts singing the lyrics in a weary manner. The first line of the song contains its title “This Is the Place”:

This is the place where all the junkies go Where time gets fast but everything gets slow Can I get some Vaseline? Step into a modern scene Take a chance on that which seems to be the making of a dream

I don’t wanna do it like my daddy did I don’t wanna give it to my baby’s kid (Booklet By The Way 2001:1)

The words in bold are dragged: in lines 1 and 2 “This is the place where all the junkies goooo/ where time gets fast but everything gets sloooowww…” the words ‘go’ and ‘slow’ are elon- gated in order to create the image of a place where people take drugs and try to escape time and reality. It is highly probable that these lines are autobiographic and refer to a real place where Kiedis used to take drugs. Furthermore, the last two lines might refer to the incident when Kiedis was given drugs by his father (see 3.2):

“This is the place” refers to his [Kiedis] Dad’s house in California. “This is the place where all the junkies go” is talking about how all the junkies would go to his dad’s house because he was a really big drug dealer on sunset boulevard back in the day. It is about the place where he [Kiedis] was exposed to all these new experiences – good and bad. He was intro- duced into the life of drugs, sex and music here. (songmeaning “This Is the Place” 2017, online)

This illustrates one major difference regarding verse 1 of “This Is the Place” and the verses of the RHCP’s commercially successful songs: its transparency. Although “Under the Bridge” focused on Kiedis’ reality, it also responded to the listeners’ realities, as the song’s major theme is loneliness. As was shown, the topics of “Californication” and “By the Way” also addressed the listeners and their own realities. In contrast to this, verse 1 of “This Is the Place” is highly specific and focuses on a reality only known by Kiedis – and perhaps people taking drugs them- selves and, thus, being familiar with such places.

In short, verse 1 creates a gap between the listeners’ and the musician’s realities.

Chorus 1

In chorus 1, the significant interplay between the instruments and the vocals is continued, as the instruments support the message of the lyrics. The lines “This is my calling, I said my dar-

49 ling / Shocking, appalling all I can do to you / Hammers are falling, I said my darling / Shock- ing, appalling all I can do to you” are performed by Kiedis and supported by dry, hard drums, sharp guitar tunes and a straight bass. The seriousness of the message is underlined by the sharp guitar tones that sometimes hurt the listener’s ears – most likely another reason why the song was not chosen as a single.

Another reason why the song lacks hit-potential is the unclear message of the hook. The speaker states “This is my calling” but in the next lines does not refer to the content of said ‘calling’. As a result, the following question arises: which calling does he mean? In other words, like in the songs “Suck My Kiss” and “Parallel Universe”, the content of the lyrics is not fully com- prehensible.

Verse 2, Chorus 222 and Interlude23

The composition of verse 2 mostly resembles verse 1. The lyrics provide further details of the ‘place’ and they also create a gap between the listeners’ and speaker’s reality. The song’s in- terlude and the bridge completely change the serious mood in three ways: first, the chord pro- gression is changed; second, an acoustic guitar is used instead of an electric guitar, and, third, the lyrics are performed in a relieved way. These three changes stand in stark contrast to the song’s overall seriousness. Although the interlude and bridge are profound in terms of compo- sition, they are also a source for confusion, as the change of mood is out of context.

Verse 3, Chorus 3 and Outro

In verse 3, the RHCP return to the serious mood and atmosphere and the lyrics continue to focus on drugs and their consequences. “On the day my best friend died, I could not get my copper clean” refers to the day when Kiedis’ best friend Hillel Slovak overdosed on heroin (see 3.4).

Chorus 3 is highly elaborate with regard to the vocals: Kiedis’ lead vocals are supported by two tracks of background vocals (they were recorded separately) performed by Frusciante. As dis- cussed, choruses 1 and 2 were partly problematic in terms of hearing pleasure because of the high guitar tones. The fact that two tracks of background vocals are added might overstrain the listeners even more. Furthermore, the last section of the song, the outro, increases its compli- catedness not only regarding the noise-rock atmosphere, but also the lyrics: “I am a misfit I’m born with all of it / The fucking ultimate / Of love inside the atom split / I’m in a flash ray / A mash of DNA / Another popping Jay / Who thinks he’s got something to say”.

22 Chorus 2 is a copy of chorus 1. 23 The interlude could also be defined as the bridge. However, because of the more elaborate song section after the interlude, the more elaborate section is defined as the bridge.

50 To sum up, the song’s and lyrics’ complexity, a partly incoherent character and problems re- garding the hearing pleasure can be referred to as further reasons why “This Is the Place” was not chosen as a single.

4.4 Album: Stadium Arcadium

The RHCP’s commercially most successful album (#1 in the US, UK, in Germany, Switzerland and Austria) was released on 9 May 2006 and, inter alia, won Grammys for “Best Rock Album” and “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” (The Red Hot Chili Peppers Oral/Visual 2010:243). Despite the album’s high chart positions in the aforementioned coun- tries, none of the six singles (“Dani California”, “”, “”, “”, “” and “Charlie”) managed to become number one hits (see Wikipedia Stadium Arcadium 2017, online). However, all hit the charts and were led by the most successful single “Dani California” (e.g. UK: #2, US: #6).

According to Gaar (2015:48), Stadium Arcadium “provides the best introduction to the Chili Peppers’ work, as it shows off their versatility to its best advantage.” In fact, their first double album, with 28 songs, not only combines musical styles from their past, but also adds different colors to their sound (e.g. the straight blues-rock song “Readymade”).

The album was recorded at a ‘holy’ place for the band: the Laurel Canyon Mansion where their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik and the first hit “Under the Bridge” were recorded in 1991 (cf. The RHCP Oral Visual 2010:244).

4.4.1 Hit Single: “Dani California”

Just like “Under the Bridge”, “Californication” or “Parallel Universe”, the first single release “Dani California” (UK: #2, US: #6) illustrates the band’s connection to the place they live in (in this case the state of California). It seems to be a ‘RHCP thing’ to show where they come from – almost comparable to hip-hop songs where the rappers would introduce their names and the place they come from. The several references to places of their own realities illustrate their connectedness and also express pride. With the appearance of ‘California’ in the title, the single “Dani CALIFORNIA” follows a long tradition: “CALIFORNIA Dreaming” (1966) by The Ma- mas and the Papas, “Going to CALIFORNIA” (1971) by Led Zeppelin, “Hotel CALIFORNIA” (1976) by The Eagles, “CALIFORNIA Girls” (1962) by The Beach Boys and many more24. As

24 Further examples of hit songs with ‘California’ in the titles are: “California Sun” (1964) by The Rivieras, “Cal- ifornia Nights” (1965) by Lesley Gore, “It Never Rains in Southern California” (1972) by Albert Hammond or “California Man” (1978) by Cheap Trick (Google California 2017, online).

51 the analysis of the RHCP’s song “Californication” has shown, California is often idolized and a role-model for other states or countries. Mentioning ‘California’ in a song’s title seems to have a positive effect on its standing and statement.

Analysis of “Dani California”

Verse 1 Verse 2 Bridge Chorus 3 Intro Chorus 1 Chorus 2 Verse 3 Outro

Figure 10: “Dani California” – audio track – own editing

Length: 4:42min; bpm: 96; loudest parts: choruses 1-3 and outro

Introduction and Verse 1

The present one is an unusual beginning for a RHCP song, as it is introduced by the drums performing a rhythm that is close to that of “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. When the guitar and bass guitar join in, the similarity to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s song becomes more obvi- ous. In fact, the RHCP consciously use this rhythm in the lyrics of verse 1 and refer to Alabama, a state in America:

Gettin’ born in the state of Mississippi Poppa was a copper and her momma was a hippie In Alabama she was swinging hammer Price you gotta pay when you break the panorama She never knew that there was anything more than poor What in the world, what does your company take me for? (Booklet Stadium Arcadium 2006:1)

The song “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd can be defined as a hymn for the U.S., a song that celebrates a certain area located in the United States of America. The song “Dani California” creates a bridge to “Sweet Home Alabama” and its message regarding the borrowed rhythm as well as its celebration of certain areas in the U.S. (in the course of the song, Missis- sippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, California, Minnesota and North Dakota are referred to which underlines the strong connection to the U.S.). The beat and the references to all these areas reduce the gap between the listeners and the song: the content can be understood by people and affects their own realities.

52 Chorus 1 and Verse 2

The style of chorus 1 can be defined as stadium rock: a highly distorted guitar performing a few power chords is supported by rock drums and bass. The vocals are performed in a self-confident (American) manner and support a simple hook line: “California rest in peace / Simultaneous release / California show your teeth / She’s my priestess, I’m your priest / Yeah, yeah”. The energy of chorus 1 is integrated in the first half of verse 2, as the guitar performs a short and highly distorted solo part (accompanied by drums and bass).

The chorus is clear and every instrument has its place, there are no sounds that hurt one’s ears. Although the chorus includes rock sounds rather unsuitable for a radio version, the song was a commercial success. It seems that the feeling of freedom the song and chorus convey was de- cisive with regard to the listeners’ positive response.

Bridge, Verse 3, Chorus 325 and Outro

As was illustrated in the previous analyses, it is an important aspect for the RHCP to try out something new in order to produce hits. The bridge provides a perfect example of this: for the first time, the lead singer changes and instead of Kiedis, the lead singer of the bridge is Frusci- ante. Interestingly, he is given three separate tracks: he performs the lyrics in three different pitches at the same time, recorded separately.

All the energy of the song is bundled in the outro by a Jimi Hendrix style rock guitar solo. Since Hendrix’ style and sound is an ‘American product’ the ‘Americanness’ is condensed in the outro. This solo is highly unusual (and too heavy) for a pop song and, consequently, radio sta- tions tend to stop the song right before the outro in order to make it suitable for radio audiences.

25 Verse 3 and chorus 3 are mostly a copy of the previous verses and choruses.

53 4.4.2 Song: “Stadium Arcadium”

All RHCP hit albums with the most successful line-up (Kiedis, Frusciante, Balzary, Smith) were named after a song on the album which was released as a single (the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik was named after the song “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”,” Californication after “Cali- fornication” and By the Way after “By the Way”). “Stadium Arcadium” is the album’s title as well, but it was never released as a single.

According to Kiedis (YouTube Stadium Arcadium 2017, online), “that song is really about connecting to people by way of music for the sake of honoring the universe and feeling con- nected to the universe”. Kiedis’ sophisticated statement brings to light the song’s most pivotal problem for becoming a single release or hit: the deep message was not transparent and, conse- quently, not comprehensible for the audience. Furthermore, the title itself creates the assump- tion that the song might be a straight forward rock song for a big arena. With regard to this Gaar (2015:48) states, “[the song], “Stadium Arcadium”, does not have the bombast of arena rock one might expect of a song with that title”. This problem of the song title further underlines the aforementionend lack of textual transparency. All other hit songs of the RHCP have titles that do not create false assumptions (see the analysis of the hit songs “Under the Bridge”, “Califor- nication”, “By the Way” and “Dani California”).

Although the song “Stadium Arcadium” provides parallels to, for example, the hit “Californi- cation”, its approach is over-ambitious, as the analysis is going to illustrate. The album itself is often described as ambitious (cf. Gaar 2015:48), the song “Stadium Arcadium”, certainly is too ambitious which reduces its hit qualities. The song thus perfectly illustrates the thin line be- tween complex and too complex: a hit song can be complex but too much complexity over- strains the listeners, as was shown in the course of the analysis of songs such as “Parallel Uni- verse” and “This Is the Place”.

With regard to the structure of the song, it follows a pattern that is not typical of a Red Hot Chili Peppers single, namely Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Verse-Chorus. Fur- thermore, the song’s duration is rather long for a commercially successful song as it takes 5 minutes and 16 seconds. These are further facts for explaining the reduction of the song’s hit qualities (when compared to their hits).

54 Analysis of “Stadium Arcadium”

Verse 1 Verse 2 Bridge Chorus 3 Intro Chorus 1 Chorus 2 Verse 3

Length: 5:16min; bpm: 83; loudest part: chorus 3

Figure 11: “Stadium Arcadium” – audio track – own editing Introduction and Verse 1

“Stadium Arcadium” is another Red Hot Chili Peppers song that starts with an introduction. It seems to be common for the RHCP to introduce a song with the focus on a clean guitar. Re- garding “Stadium Arcadium”, the guitar is accompanied by smooth drums and when the lyrics of verse 1 begin, the bass guitar joins in.

One parallel to other songs that were not chosen as single releases is illustrated when the vocals start to perform the lyrics: the message is not fully transparent and the listeners need to dig deeper in order to understand the text.

Bells around St. Petersburg When I saw you I hope I get what you deserve And this is where I find Smoke surrounds your perfect face And I’m falling Pushing a broom out into space And this where I find the way (Booklet Stadium Arcadium 2006:3)

The first two lines are comprehensible after taking a closer look: they refer to a place where bells are ringing – probably bells of a church – and where the speaker saw a person. Most of the following lines are not transparent, as they seem both rather complex and too specific: “I hope I get what you deserve” and “Pushing a broom out into space / And this is where I find the way” might confuse the audience; this is a parallel to “Suck My Kiss” and “Parallel Uni- verse”. Hence, the reason why “Stadium Arcadium” was not chosen as a single (although its title was used for the album) might be found in the lack of transparency regarding the lyrics.

55 Chorus 1

The hook line of the choruses, “The Stadium Arcadium a mirror to the moon”, and its melody is highly catchy and easily becomes an earworm. However, the other lines of the choruses hardly stay in the listeners’ minds because of the complex lyrics and the unclear enunciation by lead singer Kiedis: “Well I’m forming and I’m warning / State of the art / Until the clouds come crashing / Stranger things have happened / Both before and after noon (before and after noon) / Well I’m forming and I’m warning / Pushin’ myself / And no I don’t mind asking now.” In addition to the complicated lyrics, Kiedis performs the vocals in a ‘flowing’ manner. As a con- sequence, he ‘swallows’ some sounds of the words which leads to mishearing and possibly reduces the hit quality of the song. Regarding the instruments, however, the chorus is suitable for a hit single: the sounds are clear and pleasant and every instrument has enough space to provide a fundament for Kiedis’ catchy vocal melody.

Verse 2 and Chorus 2

Comparable to the hit “Californication”, synthesizer sounds accompany the other instruments in verse 2. This adds depth to the song and increases the aesthetic aspect of the second verse. It comes to light that the adding of additional instruments has become a pattern for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song composition. The fact that, as in “Californication”, they provide a calm synthesizer melody right at the beginning of verse 2 (until the vocals set in) shows how the RHCP make use of strategies that worked in their past.

With regard to the lyrics, verse 2 is complex, personal and, compared to lyrics of their hit songs, rather mixed up (although the artistic quality of the lines of verse 2 is highly elaborate). “Alone inside my forest room / And it's storming / I never thought I'd be in bloom / But this is where I start / Derelict days and the stereo plays / For the all night crowd / That it cannot phase / And I'm calling / Tedious weeds that the media breeds / But the animal gets what the animal needs”.

Reading/hearing the lines for the first time creates the feeling that lead singer Kiedis is alone, somehow lost in a storm and not satisfied. For Kiedis, however, being alone while it is storming is something positive: it is the place where everything starts. Here Kiedis’ point of view differs from the majority of people who do not relate being alone in a storm to good feelings. Conse- quently, the text’s message is not as attractive to the majority of people as the lyrics of their hits.

56 Chorus 2, Bridge, Verse 3 and Chorus 3

In chorus 2, there are no changes when compared to chorus 1. Again, the line “Stadium Arca- dium a mirror to the moon” is the only part that might count as an earworm. According to Balzary (YouTube Stadium Arcadium 2017, online), “the title has such a universal big feeling […] you can embody and embrace all of it”. Balzary’s statement appears rather far-fetched. As a consequence the message of the lyrics might be too specific and personal to provide a base for a hit song. Moreover, taking into account the rather mixed up lyrics (see chorus 1), Balzary’s statement is not fully reflected in the lyrics (not only regarding the lyrics so far but also the lyrics of the whole song).

As was demonstrated in the course of the previous analyses, the RHCP-bridge is a song-section that adds new aspects and a new melody to a song. With regard to “Stadium Arcadium”, the listeners are provided with a dry guitar solo supported by guitar riffs and synthesizer sounds. After a few seconds, the guitars are supported by drums and bass. In contrast to their hit songs, the bridge of “Stadium Arcadium” is not that powerful, as it does not increase the song’s energy. Considering the RHCP’s most successful songs, the bridges do function to increase the power of a song. In other words, the bridge of “Stadium Arcadium” lacks energy when compared to the commercially most successful songs “Under the Bridge”, “Californication”, “By the Way” and “Dani California”.

The complicatedness of the song cannot only be found in its lyrics but also in the fact that the bridge is followed by the most ‘silent’ part of the song (see Figure 11): the beginning of verse 3. The latter is also the shortest verse of the song. In contrast to this, chorus 3 is the longest section and is repeated twice. In short, the over-sophisticated lyrics and the overall composition of the song reduce its hit quality.

57 II Conclusion

Every formula consists of variables and constants – so does the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘secret’ formula for composing commercially successful music. As the main part of the present thesis brought to light, an analysis must tackle far more aspects than just the composition of the song itself. In fact, the background and lifestyle of the band members also affect their song compo- sitions, as does a band’s producer – in this case Rick Rubin. This interplay of several different factors led to the RHCP’s ability to compose commercially successful music.

Moreover, the songs are strongly influenced by five factors: the band members’ own realities (e.g. their way of life or thinking, their commitment to music), the line-up of the band, the time and place (e.g. Los Angeles in 1983), the universality and clarity of the lyrics, the sound of the songs and their overall composition. This illustrates how fragile a band may be: just like a clockwork, all parts must work perfectly, and they must be balanced and harmonious in order to produce hit songs.

Regarding the band members’ own realities, it became apparent how strongly this factor influ- enced the band’s rise to fame. It was shown that none of the band members can be compared to so-called ordinary people. They had no plan B and were connected by their commitment to music. In fact, after lead singer Kiedis found his love for music, he fully focused on becoming a rock star and improved his lyrics (from early primitive texts such as “I wanna party on your pussy baby” to thoughtful ones like “It’s the edge of the world and all of western civilization / The sun may rise in the east but it’s made in a Hollywood basement”). Kiedis was not only willing to work on his lyrics but also on his vocal style: whilst his early years as a musician saw a rather limited repertoire of styles (mostly rapping), he improved and learnt to sing proper melodies and tones.

Bass player Balzary, by contrast, seemed to have a God-given talent regarding his abilities as a musician. Still, the most important parallel to Kiedis is Balzary’s commitment to music: he was completely focused on becoming a serious musician. It is an established fact that both were drug addicts, but in the course of their development as musicians they gave up their unhealthy lifestyles, became sober and even more successful. The same applies to guitar player Frusciante: his strong focus and the lack of a plan B (it was discussed that he dropped out of school at the age of 16 in order to become a rock star) can be taken as factors for his personal success (not only with the RHCP but also regarding his private life, as he transformed from a drug addict with suicidal tendencies into a serious musician who regularly practices yoga). Like all other band members, drummer Chad Smith also consciously declined a plan B, and instead put huge

58 effort into playing drums and becoming part of one of the most famous and influential bands the last decades have seen.

In short, the band members’ full commitment to their lives as musicians can be seen as one constant of said ‘secret’ formula.

Regarding the time and place, the RHCP appeared at the right moment in a city where every- thing seemed to be possible: in Los Angeles in 1983. The contemporary youth culture yearned for new styles and musical genres, and the RHCP provided them with colorful, rude shows and a blend of funk, rap and rock music. It did not take long and they were a well-known live-act around California. However, it was the ‘appearance’ of the new guitar player John Frusciante (after their guitar player Hillel Slovak had overdosed on heroin), that was the major factor re- garding the band’s To be, or not to be. In fact, it was Frusciante who composed songs that could be understood by a great number of people because their compositions had lacked profundity before he became a member of the band. Although the RHCP were known among a certain number of people, the possibility of writing a hit song was low without Frusciante. He was a well-educated guitar player and knew how to find the perfect mix between simplicity and elab- orateness.

Despite the folk belief that one of the most important aspects of a hit song is stickiness and simplicity, the analyses have demonstrated that the most successful RHCP songs are well thought out and elaborate. However, they walk on a thin line and need perfect interplay between profundity and simplicity. It was Frusciante who added this profundity and balance to the RHCP’s compositions. In other words, one constant of the RHCP’s ‘secret’ formula for com- posing commercially successful music is the perfect mixture of sophistication and simplicity.

With regard to the lyrics, hit songs such as “Under the Bridge”, “Californication”, “By the Way” and “Dani California” all have one major aspect in common: the listeners feel addressed by the lyrics. The analyses have shown that RHCP hits stand in stark contrast to their songs “Suck My Kiss”, “Parallel Universe”, “This is the Place” and “Stadium Arcadium”. Whilst a high number of listeners can discover their own realities (and issues) in the hit songs, they cannot fully sympathize, and empathize, with the other songs. In “Under the Bridge”, for ex- ample, the major topic is loneliness – a problem many people have to face and which is there- fore interesting for them. In contrast, “This is the Place”, for example, focuses on a topic that, firstly, cannot be fully understood with regard to its message and, secondly, is too specific. However, it is of great importance to mention that the RHCP songs that were not chosen as single releases and that were not successful as singles nevertheless do address a certain number

59 of people. The only difference to the hit songs is the number of people that can relate to the lyrics. It depends on the individual realities of the listeners whether they feel addressed by the lyrics of a song or not: more people suffer from loneliness (the topic of “Under the Bridge”) than from having a drug dealer father who gave them drugs (the topic of “This is the Place”). The hit singles provide the listeners with a more universal and simple message than the other songs.26

In short, the lyrics of RHCP hit songs tackle topics that are not too specific and their universality allows to address a large number of people.

Another major factor for a Red Hot Chili Peppers hit song is its sound. In the course of the songs’ examinations, it was brought to light that there is a certain sound that is needed in order for a song to become a commercial success. The sounds of the instruments should avoid a too high pitch that hurts the listeners’ ears. Perfect examples can be found in “Suck My Kiss” and “Parallel Universe”: here, the sound of the guitar partly reduces the hearing pleasure. In con- trast, the sound of a RHCP hit song is pleasant and clear. Moreover, the guitar takes on a pivotal role: in hit songs, it is very clean. The guitars themselves that produce the sounds of RHCP hits are also of great importance: it was shown that guitar player Frusciante employs guitar types that were used by famous artists and bands such as Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen or Pink Floyd. The audience can familiarize with the sound of guitars that were used by famous artists.

Another aspect that strongly influenced the RHCP sound is the choice of their producer. When producer Rick Rubin ‘entered the boat’, he knew how to capture the energy of the band. With each album, he placed the focus on different aspects: with Californication, for example, he captured the raw energy by using unconventional recording methods, whilst By the Way focuses on harmony, balance and clear sounds. In short, the sound of a RHCP song decides its proba- bility of becoming a commercial success.

Considering the success of the RHCP it is of great importance to mention that every song em- bodies one step on their road to success. Compared to the hits, the less successful songs are attractive to a smaller number of people. Nonetheless, these people are as important for the fame of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as people who are fascinated by their hit songs.

26 Daniela Ettl’s analysis of lyrics of The Beatles brought to light similar results. “[...] the most essential factors of commercial songs material, universality, simplicity and repetition are all present throughout each lyric.”

60 In summary, the following constants plus additional information (not mentioned in the conclu- sion so far) on the ‘secret’ formula of the Red Hot Chili Peppers hits were brought to light:

(1)

A lifestyle and a way of thinking that remarkably differ from that of so-called ordinary people.

(2)

The line-up: four people (Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, Michael Balzary and Chad Smith) who refuse to have a plan B and share full commitment to music and becoming rock stars.

(3)

The time and place: the conscious/unconscious recognition of the actual state of affairs in pop music and its transformation by combining different genres and setting new trends at a place (e.g. LA) that would yearn for new styles.

(4)

Universality and clarity of lyrics: song texts that can be understood by a great number of people and affect their own realities/identities.

(5)

The sound: providing sounds that are pleasant to the listeners’ ears and specifically employing guitar-types that were used by famous artists and thus sound familiar to the audience.

(6)

Avoiding the use of swear words.

(7)

The external world: a producer that shares the band’s dedication to music and is equipped with the ability to capture their energy on the records.

(8)

Songs that contain the sections verse, chorus and bridge, whose beats per minute are between 84 to 124 and which last between 3:38min and to 4:42min

(9)

One part of the song that is clearly louder than all other song sections.

(10)

The interplay between the instruments and the lyrics: the instruments support the lyrics.

Figure 12: Constants of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘secret’ formula

61 As was mentioned in the first lines of the conclusion, each formula consists of variables and constants. Figure 12 focuses on the constants that were brought to light in the course of the present thesis. The variables of the formula cannot be determined as easily because of their impulsive and transformative character.

In fact, there are aspects that cannot be foreseen and therefore cannot be included in a formula from the beginning. Although Figure 12 illustrates the most important factors with regard to the hits of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it has to be stressed that further research into this field is needed to provide more specific data.

For example, it would be interesting in how far a song’s lyrical message can be understood by people with other languages. Regarding the songs of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a pattern can be found: songs which are highly successful in America reach the same level of success in Europe although a considerable number of people does not understand 100% of the lyrics. As the thesis has shown, the message of the lyrics takes on a pivotal role – it would be worth to provide further research to what degree the success of songs in America affects their success in Europe.

62 III Bibliography

Primary Literature/ Material

Kiedis, Anthony (2004). Scar Tissue. 1st ed. New York: Hyperion.

Mullen, Kiedis, Frusciante, Smith, Balzary (2010). An Oral/Visual History by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. New York: Hyperion.

Albums

Red Hot Chili Peppers (1987). The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. PMRC.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991). Blood Sugar Sex Magik. EU: Warner Brothers.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999). Californication. EU: Warner Brothers.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (2001). By The Way. EU: Warner Brothers.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (2003). Booklet. Greatest Hits. EU: Warner Bros.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006). Stadium Arcadium. EU: Warner Brothers.

Secondary Literature

Apter, Jeff (2004). Fornication – The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story. Bosworth: Leipzig.

Byrne, Rhonda (2010). The Power. Simon and Schuster: London.

Ettl, Daniela (2010). All you need is words. Diploma Thesis. IP: Graz.

Fitzpatrick, Rob (2008). Red Hot Chili Peppers, Give It Away. Buhmann & Haeseler: Berlin.

Josefs, Jai (1989). Writing Music for Hit Songs. Cincinnati: Writers Digest Books.

Pattison, Pat (1991). Songwriting: Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure. Boston: Berk- lee.

Perricone, Jack (2000). Melody in Songwriting. Boston: Berklee.

Whitburn, Joel (2006). Joel Whitburn presents the Billboard Albums. 6th ed. Billboard Books: New York.

63

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“Aol” (2017). Rhcp lawsuit. Tmz documents. http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_docu- ments/1119_rhcp_lawsuit_wm.pdf. [2017, May 16]

Blood Sugar Sex Magik (n.d.) Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [Online]. Wikimedia Foun- dation. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Sugar_Sex_Magik#Auskopplungen [2017, May 09]

“Electric Guitars” (2017). Kurt Cobain Jaguar. Fender. http://shop.fender.com/de- AT/electric-guitars/jaguar/kurt-cobain-jaguar/0143001700.html#start=1 [2017, April 22]

Knopper, Steve (2016). “Youtubes War with the music industry”. . http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-youtubes-war-with-the-music-industry- w433914 [2017, April 12]

Mariano Glas (2017). “Californication: Red Hot Chilli Peppers verklagen Showtime.” In: Serienjunkies.de. 20. November 2007. [2017, May 15]

“Music Radar” (2017). News. Gretsch Guitars. http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/15- gretsch-electric-guitar-stars-240229 [2017, May 10]

Reardon, Bart (2016). “The difference between a chorus a refrain and a hook”. Quora. [Online]. https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-a-chorus-a-refrain-and-a- hook [2017, April 18]

“Rick Rubin” (n.d.). Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [Online]. Wikimedia Foundation. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin [2017, May 16]

Smith, Chad (2017). Red Hot Chili Peppers - Chad on “Go Robot” The Getaway Track-By- Track Commentary. [YouTube video]. Uploaded by Red Hot Chili Peppers on 5 July 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uphQe48D50w [2017, April 20]

Song meanings (2017). Californication. Californication Lyrics. http://songmean- ings.com/songs/view/1372/ [2017, May 10]

Stebbins, Jon (2015). “Beach Boys and Fender Guitars”. Smiley. https://smi- leysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=1239.0;wap2 [2017, April 18]

64 Titiyo (2011). Titiyo - Come Along (Official Video). [YouTube video]. Uploaded by Diesel Music AB on 8 December 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLsVGwNWOA4 [2017, April 20]

Twenty One Pilots (2017). twenty one pilots: Ride (Video). [YouTube video]. Uploaded by twenty one pilots on 13 May 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw-0pbY9JeU [2017, April 22]

“Under The Bridge” (n.d.). Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [Online]. Wikimedia Founda- tion. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Bridge [2017, April 20].

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65 IV Appendix: Lyrics

1. “Under The Bridge”

Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner Sometimes I feel like my only friend Is the city I live in, the city of angels Lonely as I am, together we cry

I drive on her streets cause she's my companion I walk through her hills cause she knows who I am She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy Well, I never worry, now that is a lie

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day But take me to the place I love, take me all the way I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day But take me to the place I love, take me all the way, yeah, yeah, yeah

It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there It's hard to believe that I'm all alone At least I have her love, the city, she loves me Lonely as I am, together we cry

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day But take me to the place I love, take me all the way I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day But take me to the place I love, take me all the way, yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh, no, no, no, yeah yeah Love me, I say, yeah yeah

One time

Under the bridge downtown Is where I drew some blood Under the bridge downtown I could not get enough

Under the bridge downtown Forgot about my love Under the bridge downtown I gave my life away

Yeah yeah yeah Oh, no, no, no, yeah yeah

Where I stay

2. “Suck My Kiss”

Should've been, could've been, would've been dead If I didn't get the message goin' to my head I am what I am Most motherfuckers don't give a damn Aw baby think you can Be my girl, I'll be your man Someone full of fun

66 Do me 'till I'm well done Little Bo Peep, cumin' from my stun gun Beware, take care Most motherfuckers have a cold ass stare Aw baby please be there Suck my kiss cut me my share

Hit me you can't hurt me, suck my kiss Kiss me please pervert me, stick with this Is she talking dirty Give to me sweet sacred bliss Your mouth was made to suck my kiss

Look at me can't you see All I really want to be Is free from a world that hurts me I need relief Do you want me girl to be your theif Aw baby just for you I'd steal anything that you want me to K-i-s-s-i-n-g Chicka chicka dee Do me like a banshee Low brow is how Swimming in the sound of Aw baby do me now Do me here I do allow

Hit me you can't hurt me, suck my kiss Kiss me please pervert me, stick with this Is she talking dirty Give to me sweet sacred bliss Your mouth was made to suck my kiss

Should've been, could've been, would've been dead If I didn't get the message goin' to my head I am what I am Most motherfuckers don't give a damn Aw baby think you can Be my girl, I'll be your man Someone full of fun Do me 'till I'm well done

3. “Californication”

Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation And little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotation And if you want these kind of dreams, it's Californication

It's the edge of the world and all of western civilization The sun may rise in the east, at least it's settled in a final location It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication

Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging Celebrity skin, is this your chin, or is that war you're waging? First born unicorn Hardcore, soft porn

Dream of Californication Dream of Californication

67

Marry me girl, be my fairy to the world Be my very own constellation A teenage bride with the baby inside Getting high on information And buy me a star on the boulevard, it's Californication

Space may be the final frontier But it's made in a Hollywood basement And Cobain can you hear the spheres Singing songs off Station to Station? And Alderaan's not far away, it's Californication

Born and raised by those who praise control of population Well, everybody's been there, and I don't mean on vacation First born unicorn Hardcore, soft porn

Dream of Californication Dream of Californication Dream of Californication Dream of Californication

Destruction leads to a very rough road But it also breeds creation And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar That's just another good vibration And tidal waves couldn't save the world from Californication

Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging Sicker than the rest, there is no test But this is what you're craving First born unicorn Hardcore, soft porn

Dream of Californication Dream of Californication Dream of Californication Dream of Californication

4. “Parallel Universe”

Deep inside of a parallel universe It's getting harder and harder To tell what came first Under water where thoughts Can breathe easily Far away you were made In a sea Just like me

Christ I'm a sidewinder I'm a California King I swear it's everywhere It's everything

Staring straight up into the sky Oh my my a solar system that fits In your eye Microcosm

68 You could die but your never dead Spider web Take a look at the stars in Your head fields of space kid

Christ I'm a sidewinder I'm a California King I swear it's everywhere It's everything Christ I'm a sidewinder I'm a California King I swear it's everywhere It's everything

Psychic changes are born in your heart Entertain A nervous breakthrough that makes us the same Bless your heart girl Kill the pressure it's raining on Salty Cheeks When you hear the beloved song I am with you

Christ I'm a sidewinder I'm a California King I swear it's everywhere It's everything

5. “By The Way”

Standing in line to see the show tonight And there's a light on, heavy glow By the way I tried to say I'd be there waiting for Dani the girl is singing songs to me Beneath the marquee Overload

Steak knife, card shark Con job, boot cut Skin that flick, she's such a little DJ To get there quick by street but not the freeway Turn that trick to make a little leeway Beat that nic but not the way that we play Dogtown, blood bath Rib cage, soft tail

Standing in line to see the show tonight And there's a light on, heavy glow By the way I tried to say I'd be there waiting for

Black jack, dope dick Pawn shop, quick pick Kiss that dyke, I know you want to hold one Not on strike but I'm about to bowl one Bite that mic, I know you never stole one Girls that like a story, so I told one Song bird, main line Cash back, hard top

69

Standing in line to see the show tonight And there's a light on, heavy glow By the way I tried to say I'd be there waiting for Dani the girl is singing songs to me Beneath the marquee Oversalt By the way I tried to say I'd be there waiting for

Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah, guess you never meant it Ooh, ah

Standing in line to see the show tonight And there's a light on, heavy glow By the way I tried to say I'd be there waiting for Dani the girl is singing songs to me Beneath the marquee Of her soul By the way I tried to say I know you from before Standing in line to see the show tonight And there's a light on, heavy glow By the way I tried to say I'd be there waiting for

6. “This Is the Place” This is the place where all the junkies go Where time gets fast but everything gets slow Can I get some Vaseline? Step into a modern scene Take a chance on that which seems to be the making of a dream

I don't wanna do it like my daddy did I don't wanna give it to my baby's kid

This is my calling, I said my darling Shocking, appalling all I can do to you Hammers are falling, I said my darling Shocking, appalling all I can do to you

This is the place where all the devils plead Their case to take from you what they need Can I isolate your gene? Can I kiss your dopamine? In a way I wonder if she's living in a magazine

I don't wanna say it if it isn't so I don't wanna weigh it but I've got to know

I saw you out there yesterday What did you wanna say?

70 A perfect piece of DNA Caught in a flashing ray

I caught you out there in the fray What did you wanna say? A master piece of DNA Caught in a flashing ray

Can I smell your gasoline? Can I pet your wolverine? On the day my best friend died I could not get my copper clean

I don't wanna take it up with little Joe I don't wanna fake it but I've gotta know

I am a misfit I'm born with all of it The fucking ultimate Of love inside the atom split I'm in a flash ray A mash of DNA Another popping Jay Who thinks he's got something to say

7. “Dani California”

Gettin' born in the state of Mississippi Poppa was a copper and her momma was a hippie In Alabama she was swinging hammer Price you gotta pay when you break the panorama She never knew that there was anything more than poor What in the world, what does your company take me for?

Black bandana, sweet Louisiana Robbin' on a bank in the state of Indiana She's a runner, rebel and a stunner On her merry way saying baby what you gonna Lookin' down the barrel of a hot metal .45 Just another way to survive

California rest in peace Simultaneous release California show your teeth She's my priestess, I'm your priest Yeah, yeah

She's a lover, baby and a fighter Should've seen her coming when it got a little brighter With a name like Dani California Day was gonna come when I was gonna mourn ya A little loaded she was stealing another breath I love my baby to death

California rest in peace Simultaneous release California show your teeth She's my priestess, I'm your priest Yeah, yeah

71 Who knew the other side of you? Who knew what others died to prove? Too true to say goodbye to you Too true, too sad sad sad

Push the fader, gifted animator One for the now and eleven for the later Never made it up to Minnesota North Dakota man was a gunnin' for the quota Down in the Badlands she was saving the best for last It only hurts when I laugh Gone too fast

California rest in peace Simultaneous release California show your teeth She's my priestess, I'm your priest Yeah, yeah

California rest in peace Simultaneous release California show your teeth She's my priestess, I'm your priest Yeah, yeah

8. “Stadium Arcadium”

Bells around St. Petersburg When I saw you I hope I get what you deserve And this is where I find Smoke surrounds your perfect face And I'm falling Pushing a broom out into space And this where I find the way

The stadium arcadium A mirror to the moon Well I'm forming and I'm warming State of the art Until the clouds come crashing Stranger things have happened Both before and after noon Well I'm forming and I'm warming Pushing myself And no I don't mind asking Now

Alone inside my forest room And it's storming I never thought I'd be in bloom But this is where I start Derelict days and the stereo plays For the all night crowd That it cannot phase And I'm calling Tedious weeds that the media breeds But the animal gets what the animal needs And I'm sorry

72 The stadium arcadium A mirror to the moon Well I'm forming and I'm warming State of the art Until the clouds come crashing Stranger things have happened Both before and after noon Well I'm forming and I'm warming Pushing myself And no I don't mind asking Now

And this is where I find Rays of dust that wrap around Your citizen Kind enough to disavow And this is where I stand

The stadium arcadium A mirror to the moon Well I'm forming and I'm warming State of the art Until the clouds come crashing Stranger things have happened Both before and after noon Well I'm forming and I'm warming Pushing myself And no I don't mind asking stadium arcadium A mirror to the moon Well I'm forming and I'm warming State of the art Until the clouds come crashing

Stranger things have happened Both before and after noon Well I'm forming and I'm warming To you

73