The story behind RHCP's 'Under the Bridge'

"Under the Bridge" is one of the most hallowed songs to come out of the "Blood Sex Sugar Magik" album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And like most great rock songs, there is an interesting story behind it.

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The band was working on the album in Los Angeles. Vocalist Anthony Kiedis at the time was emotionally distraught. He had just finished battling his heroin and cocaine addiction during his relationship with Ione Skye. Even during recording sessions, Keidis felt isolated as band members Flea and Frusciante often smoked marijuana and ignored him. His loneliness triggered memories of Skye and left him musing for companionship.

Keidis would find that companionship in the City of Los Angeles. Ignored by his bandmates, he felt like the city was his only companion. He wandered through the streets of LA and hiked the Hollywood Hills on his own. It was then when the lyrics "Sometimes I feel like / My only friend / Is the city I live in / The City of Angels / Lonely as I am / Together we cry" came to him.

Some lyrics also pertained to Keidis’ former bandmate. The lines ""sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner" refers to Hillel Slovak, former guitar player who died of a drug overdose.

The song verses depicted Keidis’ harsh experiences while he was battling addiction. The verse in Under the Bridge depicted his efforts of purchasing drugs under a bridge in gang territory.

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Hello there! Steven Scansaroli here. I ’m currently pursuing a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the College of New Jersey, School of Engineering. I’m also a music enthusiast, and my favorite band is Red Hot Chili Peppers. For more reads on my interests, visit this blog.

A Friendly Neighborhood Ranking Of The Spider-Man Movies

Spider-Man is arguably the most popular Marvel superhero of all-time. The films of everyone’s favorite webcrawler have been huge box-office hits. But not all were as well-received as fans would have hoped. Here’s our definitive ranking of Spider-Man movies.

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Spider-Man 3

Yes, this is the worst of the lot, and it wasn’t (entirely) Sam Raimi’s fault. Sony execs wanted him to include more than he should have and what resulted was a sorry mess. What a pity.

The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2

We’re clumping these two mediocre films together. While I think Andrew Garfield looks great as Peter Parker, he was too emo. Everything about these two films felt like they revolved around how Parker felt. If he were sad, which was too often, the films would take a gloomier tone.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

“Homecoming” is the latest Spidey film, and the only one to be included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it featured an underage Peter, which was good for today’s audiences, and kind of felt a bit too politically correct, overall, the film delivered. And it did feature an amazing villain in Michael Keaton.

Spider-Man

This was the movie that introduced Spider-Man to the silver screen, and what a debut it was. It was the first time everyone got to see our hero swing like he did in the comics. It was fun and heartbreaking, and amazing.

Spider-Man 2

Without a doubt, the greatest Spider-Man movie, “Spider-Man 2,” not only surpassed the first film in every single way, but it added more depth to each major character. Not only is this hailed as the greatest Spider-Man film, but many critics also agree that it was the greatest comic book film ever produced.

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Ranking the albums of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Red Hot Chili Peppers is easily one of the bastions of rock. Formed in 1983, Anthony Kiedis and company have maintained their touring ways and continued churning out singles and albums well into the late 2010s, proving the lasting power of their brand of music. On the occasion of the band’s 25th year, let’s rank three of RHCP’s most critically acclaimed and celebrated albums.

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Mother's Milk 

This is the first gathering of the band’s most enduring lineup of Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante, and Chad Smith. The band’s fourth album doesn’t have as many hits as the rest on this list, but it’s where we can find the band’s infectious take on Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” which aided in the album reaching the top 20 of Billboard’s Modern Rock Chart. It is also RCHP’s first album under the Capitol label. 

Californication 

This 1999 album is easily the most popular for the sheer number of hits alone, from “Otherside” and “Scar Tissue” to “Around the World” and the title track. The band managed to reimagine their sound for the new millennium, with more haunting guitars riffs and steady backbeats without compromising the band’s funk roots. 

By the Way 

Just three years after the wild, unprecedented success of Californication, RHCP proved that they were not falling the way of complacency, releasing this super melodic yet gritty offering that can easily be labeled the go-to album of modern rock. The funk aspects are still there, but the experimentations with sound design and vocal harmonies are all over the place. This “new sound” is epitomized by “The Zephyr Song” and the album’s title track. 

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Hi, I’m Steven Scansaroli and I’m a sophomore engineering student at the College of New Jersey. I’m a huge fan of rock music, and my favorite is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. More of my writingshere.

The Best Players In The New Jersey Devils History

The New Jersey Devils have had a colorful 44 years in the National Hockey League (NHL), peaking in 1995, 2000, and 2003 when the team won their three Stanley Cup titles. Several of the best players in franchise history played during these seasons, the most notable of which are the following:

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Martin Brodeur

Brodeur has a legitimate claim to two “greatest ever” titles: the greatest Devil and the greatest goalie in history. He was instrumental in all three championship runs, forming a brick wall on the net and making it difficult for opponents to score. He also won three Vezina and five William Jenning trophies, which are awarded to the best goaltender in a season, and set several all-time records in the NHL, including wins, shutouts, games played, and more.

Scott Stevens

Brodeur did not do it alone; had plenty of help. One of the notable defensemen on the team was Scott Stevens. He was considered as one of the hardest hitters in the history of the sport, and saved the best of his performances for his face-offs against the best offensive players back then, such as Eric Lindros and Paul Kariya. While Stevens showed impeccable skills in the rink, he was also known for his leadership, with teammates complimenting him for making them better.

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Steve Scansaroli here, an electrical and computer engineering sophomore at The College of New Jersey. I love watching hockey and I am an avid fan of the New Jersey Devils. Read more about the team here.

Why Rhcp’s 'Scar Tissue' Reads Like Poetry

Six multi-awarded studio albums after, and in the wake of a tumultuous decade of touring, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released “Californication” in 1999. Among the many gems that would catapult the band into even more worldwide acclaim is the album’s first single, “Scar Tissue.”

Those who encounter the accompanying video first will immediately see how the song is seemingly self-deprecating take on success, an introspective song about “smarting up.” The video shows the band crossing the desert, looking weary, injured, and licking its wounds. Maybe the idea is to simply capture the essence of the song, of the scar tissues the members have sustained up to that point in their career.

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The lyrics glorify isolation and the search for a haven, a resting place, even redemption. The infectious dribble of lyrics meditates on what seems like mundane images like “a young Kentucky girl” or waving “goodbye to ma and pa” or “lick(ing) your heart and tast(ing) your health.”

But it is in the way the chorus croaks,“With birds I’ll share this lonely viewin’,” that the song truly shines as poetry. The aching repetition dulls the senses, as though the listener himself or herself gets drawn into a weariness. And, all this time, the backbeat and weeping guitar riffs tell us that, in Anthony Kiedis’ own words, “we are all outsiders looking in.”

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Hello, I’m Steve Scansaroli, a sophomore electrical and computer engineering student at the College of New Jersey. The Red Hot Chili Peppers is my favorite band so you can say I’m an old soul. For related reads, visit this blog.