Under The Bridge

In 1991, the Red Hot Çhili Peppers released "Blood Sugar Sex Magik." As many of you know, this album is arguably their best work, as each and every single song on the album is different and mixes their old funk style with a a newer melodic feel. There are several songs on here that are masterpieces; "Give It Away", "Sir Psycho Sexy" and "Suck My Kiss" are a few to mention. But, if there were one song that expresses loss, emotion and pure emptiness that was so significantly different from any other song on the album it would be "Under The Bridge". This personally, is my favorite song of all time and there 3 reasons why. First, the guitar work in this song is so incredible and really showed the capabilities of John Frusciante at the time. We all know he is one of the best guitar players in the world now, but at the time the Chili Peppers had a dominant funk/fast playing style. They really explored their musical capabilities with this song and it certainly paid off.



Second, the most amazing thing about this song is it wasn't supposed to be on the album. It started off as a poem written by the singer Anthony Kiedis, and he was very critical of himself and did not want this song to be put on the album. But, it was placed on the album and ended up becoming the Chili Peppers most popular song EVER. That is truly amazing.


Third, this song tells a story and expresses so much emotion from both Frusciante and Kiedis. The song is about Kiedis's drug life and how empty he felt at the time; the city being his only saving grace. And, each and every time they play this song live, the crowd always sings along and you can tell each band member is so delved into the song. It is truly remarkable.