The Californication album turned out to be the most commercially successful work of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and gave fans of the famous American rock band several major hits at once. The title track, which topped several charts, became one of them, although at the time of recording, the musicians were already ready to abandon it.
However, let’s consider the history of the creation of the song from the beginning.
Californication by RHCP song story
It began with a text that Anthony Kiedis composed while on a journey. The main idea came to him in New Zealand, when on the street he accidentally overheard an unfamiliar woman chattering about Chinese clairvoyant spies.
He later recalled:
I thought about home and was amazed at how deeply the rest of the world was saturated with what originated and developed in California … I love this place – good, bad, ugly – and just wrote poems about it.
Kiedis collected the name Californication from two words: California – California, and fornication – adultery, fornication. It is very difficult to find its English-language counterpart. In Runet, there are options for “Californication”, “Californovene”, “Californiamania”, “Californication”, “Californization”, “Californization” and others.
Anthony was very pleased with the text of Californication and considered it one of his best creations. However, difficulties arose with the musical part of the song, due to which the band members were already about to abandon the track. Frusciante managed to solve the problems literally at the last moment. He composed the main riff (influenced, he says, by The Cure’s Carnage Visors) and generally determined how the composition should sound.
The meaning of the song Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
The words of Californication speak of the moral decay of modern society. According to the songwriter, California is largely to blame for its decline, promoting all sorts of excesses and vices: craving for fame, adult video, consumerism and superficial culture. In a word, we are talking about the fact that the whole world is becoming artificial and false, like California.
The song directly and indirectly refers to real people (Kurt Cobain), music albums (David Bowie’s Station to Station, Hole’s Celebrity Skin) and even fictional places (Alderaan – the destroyed planet from Star Wars). The line about the first-born unicorn alludes to actress and fashion model Dorothy Stratten, to whom Peter Bogdanovich’s book “Kill the Unicorn” is dedicated.
Release and achievements
“Californication” was released as the fourth single from RHCP’s self-titled album. It did not rise above number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, but topped the US Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. In the British charts, she reached the sixteenth position.
Californication is included in VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs of ’00s” list. At the end of 2009, listeners of the Israeli radio station Galgalatz recognized Californication as the best song of the decade.
Video of Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
It makes no sense to describe the music video for the song Californication, created in the form of a computer game. Let’s once again watch the online clip “California” Red Hot Chile Peppers.
Interesting Facts
- During the recording of Californication (as well as Otherside), Frusciante played a vintage Gretsch White Falcon guitar.
- The version of the song on the Greatest Hits compilation is slightly different from the original.
- The creators of the popular TV series Californication (“Californication”), which was filmed by Showtime, did not consider it necessary to discuss with the band members the use of the title of their song, as well as the name Dani California (that is the name of one of the characters). The RHCP sued them back in 2007, but the process has yet to be completed.
Lyrics of Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Psychic spies from China
Try to steal your mind’s elation
Little girls from Sweden
dream of silver screen quotes
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 settled in the 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 your waging?
First born unicorn
hard core soft p***
Dream of California
Dream of California
marry me girl
Be my fairy to the world
Be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a 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
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
Everybody’s been there
And I don’t mean on vacation
Destruction leads to a very rough road
But it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl’s guitar
They’re just another good vibration
And tidal waves couldn’t save the world
From California
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
hard core soft p***
Dream of California
Dream of California
Dream of California
Dream of California
Californication Lyrics by Red Hot Chili Peppers Alternate
Clairvoyant spies from China
They try to steal your euphoria
Little girls from Sweden
Dreaming of being talked about on the blue screen
And if you have such dreams –
It’s california mania
It’s the end of the world
And all Western civilization
The sun may rise in the East
But finally it sits down here
It’s clear that Hollywood
Sells california mania
Pay the surgeon very generously
To break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin – do you have that chin?
Or are you still doing it?
firstborn unicorn,
soft hardcore p***,
Dreams of california
Dreams of california
Marry me baby
Be my fairy
Be my personal constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside
Who craves information
And buy me a star on the boulevard
It’s california mania
Maybe space and the last frontier,
But it was made in the basements of Hollywood
Cobain, can you hear the heavenly bodies
Do they sing songs on different stations?
And Alderaan is near
It’s california mania
Born and raised by those who will praise
Birth control
Everyone has been there
And I’m not talking about vacation
Destruction leads down a broken road
But it also breeds creation
And earthquakes for the guitar girl
Become just another good vibe
And the waves of the tide couldn’t save the world
From california mania
Pay the surgeon very generously
To break the spell of aging
More painful than the others
Although analysis does not show this,
This is exactly what you want
firstborn unicorn,
soft hardcore p***,
Dreams of california
Dreams of california
Dreams of california
Dreams of california
Chorus of Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Am
Phycic spies from China
F
Try to steal your mind’s elation
Am
Little girls from sweden
F
dream of silver screen quotes
CG
And if you want these kind of dreams
F
It’s californication.
Chorus:
Am F
First born unicorn
Am F
hard core soft p***
CG Dm
Dream of California
CG Dm
Dream of California
Can you play Californication on the guitar? Post your videos.
Song quote
Californication is the best record the Chili Peppers have ever made.
Flea
Download Californication
Here you can not download the song Californication in mp3 for free, but you can listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks online and watch clips in good quality.
