The Story Behind: "Californication" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Californication is a song by the American funk–rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The song was was the fourth single from their comeback album Californication released in 1999, while the song was released as a single in May 2000.   

The song reached number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, number 16 on the UK singles chart and number one on both US Modern Rock Tracks and US mainstream Rock Tracks. Since its release it is one of the bands biggests hits and is played on almost every setlist to this day.  

Writing Process

The song proved to be one of the toughest songs to write on the album. The band struggled to complete the song in time for the album's release, until one day Frusciante walked into the studio saying he got the song down, using the same writing process as for the hit song »Under the Bridge«, released in 1991 on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The inspiration that helped Frusciante with the song writing was the song »Carnage Visors« by English rock band The Cure.  

Meaning of the Lyrics

The lyrics were as stated by Kiedis »one of the best he had ever written«. They talk about the dark side of Hollywood and how the world is becoming more and more plastic and superficial, like California.

The opening line "Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation." Kiedis got inspiration from hearing a woman in New Zealand talking about "psychic spies in China". Another interesting line is "Cobain can you hear the spheres singing songs off station to station and Alderaan's not far away, it's Californication", which includes a few pop-culture references: David Bowie's album Station To Station, Alderaan is the planet princess Leia was from the film Star Wars and Kurt Cobain (singer of the band Nirvana), which was a friend of the band. 

The song also talks about faking your age with surgery in the line "Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging", dreaming of becoming a movie star "And buy me a star on the boulevard, It's Californication.", and the manufactured image made by Hollywood "Space may be the final frontier but it's made in a Hollywood basement."  

Music Video

The music video was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. It depicts a video game, which features all the band members that have their own adventure.

Frusciante runs thorugh Hollywood, avoiding bodyguards and celebrities. Chad Smith is snowboarding in the mountains where he falls off a cliff onto a moving train. Flea runs through a park, where he saves a bear from a hunter, rides a mining cart and scares away lumberjacks cutting trees. Anthony swims in the San Fran Bay, where he is surrounded by women and sharks that he also surfs on, infront of a wheel of a car where he drives off. To this day, it is the most viewed music video on Youtube with over 370 million views.