Red Hot Chili Peppers

Released: July 17, 2006

Songwriter: Anthony Kiedis Chad Smith John Frusciante Flea

Producer: Rick Rubin

[Verse 1]
They come from every state to find
Some dreams were meant to be declined
Tell the man what did you have in mind
What have you come to do?
No turning water into wine
No learning while you're in the line
I'll take you to the broken sign
You see the lights are blue
Come and get it
Lost it at the city limit
Say goodbye
'Cause they
Will find a way to trim it
Everybody lookin' for a silly gimmick
Gotta get away
Can't take it for another minute
This town is made of many things
Just look at what the current brings
So high it's only promising
This place was made on you

[Chorus]
Tell me, baby
What's your story?
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time, oh
Tell me, lover
Are you lonely?
The thing we need is never all that hard to find, oh
Tell me baby
What's your story
Where do you come from
And where you wanna go this time, oh
You're so lovely
Are you lonely?
Giving up on the innocence you left behind

[Verse 2]
Some claim to have the fortitude
Too shrewd to blow the interlude
Sustaining pain to set a mood
Step out to be renewed
I'll move you like a baritone
Jungle Brothers on the microphone
Getting over with an undertone
It's time to turn to stone
Chitty chitty baby
When your nose is in the nitty gritty
Life could be a little sweet
But life could be a little shitty
What a pity
Boston and a Kansas City
Looking for a hundred
But you only ever found a fifty
Three fingers in the honeycomb
You ring just like a xylophone
Devoted to the chromosome
The day that you left home

[Chorus]
Tell me baby
What's your story?
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time, oh
Tell me lover
Are you lonely?
The thing we need is never all that hard to find, oh
Tell me baby
What's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time, oh
You're so lovely
Are you lonely?
Giving up on the innocence you left behind

[Guitar Solo]

Tell me baby
What's your story?
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time, oh
Tell me lover
Are you lonely?
The thing we need is never all that hard to find, oh
Tell me baby
What's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time, oh
You're so lovely
Are you lonely?
Giving up on the innocence you left behind

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a rock band based in Los Angeles, CA that incorporates elements of rap, funk, punk, and rock into their work, mainly classified as an alternative rock band. They made it mainstream off the success of their 1991’s fifth studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, led by singles “Give it Away” and “Under the Bridge.” After losing guitarist John Frusciante and losing popularity following the release of the less successful One Hot Minute, the band reunited for 1999’s Californication. The title track and hit singles “Around the World,” “Scar Tissue” and “Otherside” propelled them back to the fame. After 2002’s solid release By the Way and 2006’s double-disc Stadium Arcadium, Frusciante once again left the band to further pursue his solo career. The band added Josh Klinghoffer to help fill his void, and released I’m With You in 2011.

In December 2019, the band announced via Instagram that Klinghoffer had left after 10 years, and Frusciante would be rejoining.

Their lyrical content was mostly centered around sex, drugs, and the Los Angeles lifestyle, and lead singer Anthony Kiedis mostly rapped them as he wasn’t confident as vocalist. Most members of the band also suffered from drug addiction, as Kiedis and Frusciante had to check themselves into rehab for heroin addiction at various points in their lives. But Californication marked a change in the band’s content matter and lifestyle. The band was sober for the most part, and the lyrics had shifted to songs about love and the pains of addiction, the title even criticized the city they loved so much. In addition, Kiedis had started to sing his lyrics much more often as he finally felt comfortable with his voice. That change has allowed the band to stick around for over 20 years despite multiple changes to their lineup and is part of why they remain relevant.

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Stadium Arcadium

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Stadium Arcadium (2006)

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