And if you want these kind of dreams, it’s Californication. The second verse, the reference to Swedish women attempting to make it big in Hollywood, makes a comment on the disappointment that many people face once arriving in California. While the first verse was taken from a personal encounter Kiedis had with a woman on the street, it also makes a subtle jab at the increasing amount of consumerism in America. Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind’s elationĪnd little girls from Sweden dream of silver-screen quotation. Both China and Sweden are mentioned in the first two lyrics: Jumping right in, the opening verse touches on the wide geographical reach that California holds. The lyricism in this song, after all, is poetic in the sense that it shows the listener what is going on, rather than just telling them what is happening around them.
#Meaning of lyrics fishing in the dark full#
The song was written by band members Kiedis, Smith, Flea, and Frusciante and deserves a quick breakdown of verse to get the full picture of the song. Putting pen to paper, The RHCP presents this message through a string of clever allusions and metaphors about the Dream of Californication. In essence, it’s a song about the rot that lies just underneath the surface.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers saw that California represented these extremes-both the elaborate gilded nature of it all and the darkness underneath. There’s deceit, plasticity, and desperation under the gilded face of the American Dream. “Californication” is a song about the underbelly of American society.
Read more about the meaning of “Californication” below, and a warning, it gets pretty dark. In 1999, the Chili Peppers-whose current lineup consists of members Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante-released the ever-popular “Californication.” And, not only did the band see the flip side of this community, but they wrote a song about it. The Los Angeles-hailing rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers have seen the other side of California, the darker and blatantly superficial side of the state. California: The most produced, polished state in the 50 United States with a large population of surfers and celebrities walking under the Hollywood Sign in the City of Angels.