Regardless of whether the Red Hot Chili Peppers bring hatred or happiness to the listener when one of their songs is played, it is certainly clear that they spread an honest message to the public that other musicians refrain from. Although they have had members come and go throughout the years the Chili Peppers continue to lead the “alternative” in the rock industry starting from their beginnings in Hollywood, California, in 1983. Their form of alternative rock incorporates sounds from funk, punk rock, rap, and metal that helped them gain popularity among the subcultures that were flourishing at the time in Los Angeles that later turned into international stardom. “A potent combination of L.A. skateboard cool, tattoos, thrash, and funk, the
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“The punk subculture...signified chaos at every level, but this was only possible because the style itself was so thoroughly ordered” (4). Punk rockers before the Chili Peppers wore chains, safety pins through their skin, trashy fabrics in vulgar designs with dyed hair and multiple-zip t-shirts and trousers (4). This band followed suit with tattoos, long hair, and flashy outfits of their own revealing their rebellious nature. With costumes ranging from light bulb-heads to nothing but undies, they always make a fashion statement while performing. Unlike punk rock music though, the Chili Peppers chose to stray away from violence to focus on social issues like drug addiction and embracing sexuality, two things very against conventional standards. While drugs and sex were popular topics in rock previously, “the popular artists of the times wrote very delicately, but also prominently, about these topics. It was rare to find a condemnation of these behaviors,” (5). This is where the Chili Peppers step …show more content…
Hillel Slovak, “the band’s original guitarist and a close friend [to lead singer Anthony Kiedis] since high school...died of a heroin overdose in June 1988” (2). Kiedis himself suffered from heroin addiction, but was able to come clean in August of 1988 following Slovak’s death, and found inspiration for their music from his struggle. “Under the Bridge” describes the place where Kiedis found himself using heroin, and how it was destroying him as a person. In the chorus, Kiedis sings “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” (8). Kiedis’ choice to speak out honestly about how doing heroin and other drugs inevitably destroys one’s life, reveals the Chili Peppers’ principle that nothing should be kept in the dark. These lyrics reveal the isolation felt when doing drugs and how it is nearly impossible to get out of the endless cycle of using. In the music video for “Otherside,” a song produced in their 1999 album Californiacation, the viewer sees a man in a dark place fighting a dragon, then his own shadow, and finally a crow as he tries to escape these evils, but is unsuccessful and dies in the end (9). This video represents Slovak’s battle with addiction that ended with his death. The Red
“The punk subculture...signified chaos at every level, but this was only possible because the style itself was so thoroughly ordered” (4). Punk rockers before the Chili Peppers wore chains, safety pins through their skin, trashy fabrics in vulgar designs with dyed hair and multiple-zip t-shirts and trousers (4). This band followed suit with tattoos, long hair, and flashy outfits of their own revealing their rebellious nature. With costumes ranging from light bulb-heads to nothing but undies, they always make a fashion statement while performing. Unlike punk rock music though, the Chili Peppers chose to stray away from violence to focus on social issues like drug addiction and embracing sexuality, two things very against conventional standards. While drugs and sex were popular topics in rock previously, “the popular artists of the times wrote very delicately, but also prominently, about these topics. It was rare to find a condemnation of these behaviors,” (5). This is where the Chili Peppers step …show more content…
Hillel Slovak, “the band’s original guitarist and a close friend [to lead singer Anthony Kiedis] since high school...died of a heroin overdose in June 1988” (2). Kiedis himself suffered from heroin addiction, but was able to come clean in August of 1988 following Slovak’s death, and found inspiration for their music from his struggle. “Under the Bridge” describes the place where Kiedis found himself using heroin, and how it was destroying him as a person. In the chorus, Kiedis sings “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” (8). Kiedis’ choice to speak out honestly about how doing heroin and other drugs inevitably destroys one’s life, reveals the Chili Peppers’ principle that nothing should be kept in the dark. These lyrics reveal the isolation felt when doing drugs and how it is nearly impossible to get out of the endless cycle of using. In the music video for “Otherside,” a song produced in their 1999 album Californiacation, the viewer sees a man in a dark place fighting a dragon, then his own shadow, and finally a crow as he tries to escape these evils, but is unsuccessful and dies in the end (9). This video represents Slovak’s battle with addiction that ended with his death. The Red