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.
Image source: eil.com
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.”
Image source: viajadora.com
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.
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