Understanding Under The Bridge
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มี.ค. 2022
- It's easy, in retrospect, to underestimate the importance of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but despite all the jokes about their fixation with California, the truth is their music is actually really good and nuanced, and they were one of the most influential acts in the alt rock movement that defined the '90s. They helped fundamentally change the world of rock music, and if we want to understand how, there's no better song to start with than their complex exploration of the struggles of addiction: Under The Bridge.
Patreon: / 12tonevideos
Merch: standard.tv/12tone
Discord: / discord
Mailing List: eepurl.com/bCTDaj
Facebook: / 12tonevideos
Twitter: / 12tonevideos
Twitch: / 12tonevideos
Instagram: / 12tonevideos
Email: 12tonevideos@gmail.com
Last: • My Biggest Musical Pet...
Script: tinyurl.com/tx7t3pn5
Huge thanks to our Elephant Club members:
Susan Jones
Jill Jones
Duck
Howard Levine
Brian Etheredge
Khristofor Saraga
Len Lanphar
Ken Arnold
Elaine Pratt
William (Bill) Boston
Chris Prentice
Jack Carlson
Christopher Lucas
Andrew Beals
Dov Zazkis
Hendrik P
Thomas Morley
Jacob Helwig
Warren Huart
Kevin Wilamowski
Davis Sprague
Grant Aldonas
Alex Knauth
Braum Meakes
Hendrik Stüwe
Dan Bonelli
Kevin Boyce
Kelly Christoffersen
Donal Botkin
Scott Howarth
Luke
Stephen Cook
David Bartz
Symmetry
Dhruv Monga
Ken Jones
Obadiah Wright
Kobalent
Carlos Rendon
Aleksandar Milojković
Kylie McInnes
Jody
Daniel Reaman
Tom
PhilRosas
Reiji Kobayashi
MISLS
Neil Moore
And thanks as well to Henry Reich, Gabi Ghita, Gene Lushtak, Owen Campbell-Moore, Eugene Bulkin, Logan Jones, Oliver, Anna Work, Adam Neely, Rick Lees, Dave Mayer, CodenaCrow, Nikolay Semyonov, Arnas, Caroline Simpson, Michael Alan Dorman, Blake Boyd, Luke Rihn, Charles Gaskell, Ian Seymour, Trevor Sullivan, Tom Evans, Lamadesbois, JH, David Conrad, Chris Chapin, Chris Borland, Todd Davidson, Elliot Burke, Tim S., Elias Simon, Jake Lizzio, Jerry D. Brown, Ohad Lutzky, Aaron Epstein, Chris Connett, Peter Leventis, Kenneth Kousen, James, h2g2guy, W. Dennis Sorrell, James A. Thornton, Brian Dinger, Professor Elliot, Stefan Strohmaier, Shadow Kat, Adam Wurstmann, Kelsey Freese, Angela Flierman, Richard T. Anderson, Andrew Engel, Kevin Johnson, Ryan, Rodrigo "rrc2soft" Roman, Jeremy Zolner, Patrick Callier, Danny, Francois LaPlante, Volker Wegert, Joshua Gleitze, Britt Ratliff, Darzzr, Joshua La Macchia, Peter Brinkmann, Alexey Fedotov, Alex Keeny, Valentin Lupachev, John Bejarano, Gary Butterfield, naomio, Alex Mole, Steve Brand, Rene Miklas, Red Uncle, Kaisai Morihito, Doug Nottingham, Nicholas Wolf, Betsy, Tonya Custis, Dave Shapiro, Jacopo Cascioli, Rafael Martinez Salas, Walther, Robert Beach, Jason Nebergall, Graeme Lewis, Jake Sand, Mathew Wolak, S, Lincoln Mendell, Aditya Baradwaj, Sam Rezek, Destros, Lucas Augusto, Juan Madrigal, Evan Satinsky, James Little, RaptorCat, Jim Hayes, Scott Albertine, Jigglypuffer, leftaroundabout ., Jens Schäfer, Mikely Whiplash, Austin Amberg, Francisco Rodrigues, Elizabeth, Michael Tsuk, רועי סיני, Conor Stuart Roe, ThoraSTooth, Brandon Legawiec, Dragix PL, Evgeni Kunev, Hikaru Katayamma, Alon Kellner, Rob Hardy, Gary Evesson, Kottolett, Dylan Vidas, Patrick Chieppe, Eric Stark, David Haughn, Gordon Dell, Byron DeLaBarre, Matty Crocker, anemamata, Brian Miller, Lee-orr Orbach, Eric Plume, Kevin Pierce, Jon Hancock, Jason Peterson, Peggy Youell, EJ Hambleton, Jos Mulder, Daryl Banttari, J.T. Vandenbree, Brian Davis, Pamela O'Neill, Thomas Morgan, Ludwick Kennedy, Wayne Robinson, Gabriel Totusek, Ridley Kemp, Mark James, SecretKittehs, Mnemosyne Music, AkselA, Philip Miller, Sam Plotkin, David MacDonald, Nellie Speirs Baron, Charles R., Joshua Lewis, Adam Ziegenhals, Mark, Amelia Lewis, Sam, DialMForManning, Wayne Weil, Michael Wehling, PatSandmann, Brandon Peckham, Kristofer Hill, William Merryman, Ryan Mayle, J Denton, James, David T Peterson, Bryan C. Mills, Justin St John-Brooks, Mark Lacey, Jaren Tilford, Catherine Berry, Watch Harder, XCompWiz, Michael Blaby, Bean, A Devoted Servant, Milan Brezovsky, Edmund Horner, Daria Gibbons, NinoDoko, Fernando Felix, Joseph Satin, Piush Dahal, Matthew Moore, Walt Seefeld, M. Bock, Daniel Joseph Moynihan, Andrew Wyld, Josh Witkowski, not a coincidence, Graham Orndorff, Michael Sacksteder, JD White, Jeffrey Mann, Jason McPherson, Chris Robson, A.J. Yates, Matt Moulder, Leander Tietjen, Joe Johnston, Jordan Friendshuh, Alex Tafur, Chris Davis, findRED, Howl’s one-handed, Gary Backaus, Eugen Lounkine, Fernando Gros, Geoffrey Barnett, OVB_2nd, Hakim C, Joe Molloy, gunnito, מתן אריאל-הברון, Claymore Alexander, Dixon Roberts, Jay Wilson, RoxyPop, Pär Nord, Paul Tanenholz, Chris Cresswell, Chris Breault, Julio D, Justin Zboyovski, Adam Poata-Smith, J.R. Hyde, and A! Your support helps make 12tone even better!
Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold!
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) One thing I should be clear about is that I'm not saying my experience with depression means I completely understand Kiedis's experience with addiction. They're not the same thing. I'm just drawing parallels in order to make the story of the song resonate with my own life experience, because that's how we as humans relate to stories.
2) I wrote down my transcription of the intro wrong, the note on the and of 2 in bar 1 should be an F#, not a D. It doesn't matter to literally anything I say at any point in the video, but still, whoops.
3) In order to avoid getting into an unnecessary tangent, I chose to focus the discussion on balanced voice-leading relationships only on major triads, but if we expand it to all consonant triads, then we see the same thing in minor triads a major 3rd apart as well.
4) One cool thing in the intro is that in the D chord he introduces the A fairly early, but for the F# chord he holds the A#, the note that most clearly spells out their disagreement, until later in the bar where it can be a bit more metrically emphasized. Didn't have anything to _say_ about that and it's a fairly logical consequence of the arpeggio shape he's playing anyway, but I think it's neat.
5) I called the move to the verse a key change, but I think it's reasonable to argue that the intro doesn't really _have_ a key, so it's less a change in key and more a change in our attitude toward tonality.
6) Also I said E is the furthest major triad to voice-lead from both D and F#, but the argument could be made that G# is further from D and C is further from F#: It's the same number of total half-steps, but you can't do tritone-based root motion without at least one note moving by an augmented 2nd. Whether that makes it further depends on how you define your parameters, but for those of you familiar with Douthett's Cube Dance, all three chords occupy the same distance there, so I think my description is fair, and having the same relationship to both the intro chords makes E feel like the most natural of the three to use here.
7) Musicians use "accompaniment" to mean lots of different things. Here, I'm using it to mean the texture and performance technique of the supporting orchestration.
8) I wish I knew more about drum production because when I talk about how the hi-hats give it a shimmering quality, that's definitely partly about the way they're mixed, and I can hear that, but I don't really have to vocabulary to turn that observation into anything meaningful so I had to leave it out.
You added a context that I would never have drawn, so thank you for sharing your experience
9:50 - "not important" are you throwing shade at my boi Tygra? Or is there more to the reference that I'm missing? EDIT: AGAIN at 16:15, my boi don't matter?!
@@slawless9665 I wondered what was up with that. That's a complex doodle for a quick one-off each time... there's a meme I'm missing, right? Got to be...
For me, you nailed the meanings of the all the sections except the choruses. I don’t think there’s enough in there to say it’s about Keidis not wanting to go back to that dark time in his life. I think it’s simply the given reason for using. The character “doesn’t want to feel” so he wants to be taken to the place he loves: the space of numbness, wistfully described in the verses. His panic and desperation would make better sense of difficult rhythms and minor key. Thanks for a really enjoyable analysis :)
5) I kind of like the idea of keys being an attitude toward tonality. I'm not saying I think it's a useful or accurate way to define keys, just that this phrase resonated with me and felt like a worthwhile description of something bigger.
"being sad takes effort and you don't have any to spare, you put on this thin veneer of existence just to get through the day but underneath it you just feel empty, there's nothing there" I've never heard a better summarization of depression, that hits really close to home.
Such a great personable moment in the midst of artistic discussion
Having been dealing with it for years, there are good days and bad. Sometimes mental exhaustion manifests as physical exhaustion, and those are the worst days.
I felt that
This is so accurate, you just become numb to what’s going on because what’s the point in caring or emotions. That sort of numbness is what made me start SH and I’m working on trying to kick it.
I'd be absolutely fascinated if you decided to take 1991 or any other year you find especially crucial to music and broke down why those years matter so much
Well, that year radio went from, on the one hand, really corny Disneyfied pandering pop and a little new jack swing and Latin if you were lucky, and OTOH really corny hair glam metal, to alternative rock, and a little electronic rave music if you were lucky. There was still Motown Philly and then ATL and all that afterwards, and there were other kinds of radio stations before and after, but Top40 and MTV had a big change in vibe between 91-92. Seismic change, even. Fastest and most thorough change in mainstream music and fashion style that we'll never see again, because the information age changed the conditions that allowed that to happen as it did. MTV used to be pretty powerful, culturally. There just weren't as many options... unless you lived in a big city, where the stuff was actually happening. There was no world wide web. If you wanted to talk to someone on another continent, you had to use your land line and know their country code and phone number, and it could cost $10 per minute, depending on which country. People in small towns sometimes never left, and often rarely talked to outsiders other than family who had moved. I got to see both worlds, but mostly lived in Manhattan, NYC. It was a trip, visiting relatives in the countryside. When flannel shirts came back in style with grunge, they'd only just gone out of style in rural New England. I think that area must've been the last bastion of Burt Reynoldsesque trucker-chic in America. Actually, no it wasn't... I still found some on my travels in the mid-late 90s. There was still the possibility that Elvis could be alive and hiding somewhere. 91-92 is really the pivot point, though, and it just took some time for it to settle down everywhere. Cable TV and MTV really made it possible to reach most areas immediately, which was still fairly new at the time.
@@GizzyDillespee Speaking of flyover country. I feel like once nu-metal and hard rock/butt rock came on the scene they took over the midwest and other rural areas and remain a permanent fixture in the lives of aging Millennials. People that age seem to have stuck with the same style of clothes they may have worn to a show when they were seniors in high school in the late 90s and 00s. Boot cut or carpenter jeans, goatee, monster energy hoodie or some other tough guy brand.
I think the key thing is that 1991 saw a massive change in rock music, and American rock in particular, but that didn’t necessarily apply if you weren’t into guitar rock and weren’t in America and didn’t get MTV. 1991 saw groundbreaking releases from The KLF, Orbital, 808 State, LFO, The Orb, Massive Attack and others, so while it was hard to ignore grunge, for a lot of people around the world there were many more interesting things going on. Those examples are just in electronic music, but similarly if your main interests were reggae, hip hop, pop, singer-songwriters, R&B or other genres, then what a bunch of guitar bands were doing in Seattle wasn’t quite as big a deal as if you were into rock.
@@wellurban Even in Seattle, the electronic music movement took over there after grunge faded. I was thinking more along the lines of American top 40 music and MTV culture. It was a weird cultural time in America where MTV had this outsized role in musical taste creation.
For sure, American top 40 was hardly all that was going on. Even in America, give swaths of the country only had country or oldies FM radio stations, or some weird stuff on AM sometimes. Driving across America back then, you really needed a tape or CD player.
I remember hearing electronic music in clubs and raves obv, and sometimes on MTV, especially crossovers like the Prodigy or NIN. At parties, if you wanted to know the name of the tune, you'd have to ask the DJ, or recognize it from crate digging. It was still relatively underground. It hit the American college scene about the same time as grunge. Those commodore Amiga demos and Nirvana's Bleach were concurrent. I remember that. There were local House scenes and so on, but it wasn't part of the mainstream national consciousness yet. If those people knew anything, it was from alarmist news reports about raves and ecstacy pills, but nothing about Chicago house parties vs Detroit techno or whatever people talk about from back then, now.
Hip-hop and r&b definitely never left the top 40, but the vibe of the top 40 really changed in America in 91. I can't speak to other countries. I note that the best of those Amiga demos all came from Europe, as did much of the best electronic music at that time - Europe or England. But there was some in the Americas too.
One other thing rarely mentioned is all the other 80s bands. Bands like Dire Straits, Simple Minds, etc. were all pushed into the oldies circuit at the same time. The only ones who survived were U2, who had just reinvented themselves.
True story: was listening to this the other day in the car, thought to myself, "I wonder if 12tone will do this song." Thanks!
Thanks for willing this into existence.
hey can you think about
Can confirm. This is a true story (until proven otherwise)
Best feeling
As someone who's struggled with substance addiction all their life, I always took the chorus as him being in withdrawal. And when he says "take me to the place I love", it could be interpreted as him wanting to get high again and take away the withdrawal symptoms, but then when he says "take me all the way", you realize he's talking about wanting to go back to normal; the way he was before his addiction began. Anyone who's struggled with addiction knows the weight you carry knowing that there's no longevity in that way of life. You'll either get sober, or die. No in between. And when he says "take me all the way", he's saying he wants to go back to a way of living that's sustainable, that's stable.
I think when he says "take me to the place I love" he's talking about the euphoria of being high. That's where he wants to stay. Other voices chime in too. Symbolizing he's not alone. "That's where I drew some blood ". There is no recovery in this song. He's sad about it but also happy about it. When he says "I don't want to feel like I did that day". He was talking about the withdrawal of being sober.
I think the double meaning there is the central question of the song. And it's the critical question for all addicts. What do we love more, being high or being connected to the people in our lives? And then the outro is him answering that question. "forgot about my love". It's really simple but subtle at the same time.
Pretty sure I read somewhere that Kiedis said 'the place he loves' in the song is actually being sober and writing music with his band, which he was struggling to do at the time because his bandmates were still taking various things and he wanted to distance himself from that.
As a lifelong Baltimore Orioles’ fan, your sketch for “defeat” is a chef’s kiss.
When I saw that I was like wooooow hahaha
12tone: here’s my complicated analysis
Frusciante: I just thought it sounded cool
I have a feeling that's how most songs are written. I look at analyses like this as trying to understand the subconscious processes that lead to something sounding good or right to the composer.
Froosh has stated on record that he used this piece to experiment with his ability to make Major chords sound sad and Minor chords sound happy. In other words, he knew exactly what he was doing... and he thought it sounded cool, and it did.
Sweet.
I think pulling all this “hidden” meaning out of it is a bit silly. I guess it’s a fun thought experiment and that’s just what this channel is, but saying it all with such confidence feels weird to me.
@@jfw1991 Art is in the interpretation. It requires passion if you're going to go in depth with it. I think that might be what you're hearing.
Wow, the fact that the choir is led by Frusciante's mother feels really intense. It must've been awful for her to see what the band, but more importantly, her son, was going through, and I can only imagine how this collaboration came to be...
The triumphant sound over the dark lyrics was largely a Frusciante choice. He wanted the contrast because he thought it would bring the song to life.
And it did.
I think the reason for the climax to be so dark has one major reason: juxtapositions are powerful. The act of having such a beautiful orchestral part juxtaposed with lyrics of attempting suicide i think shows how someone like Kiedis, completely consumed by depression and addiction, can view suicide as something beautiful in a really dark, twisted way. Depression warps your view on everything. Thats my interpretation at least, which lines up with my own experiences with depression pretty well.
I love the idea of the juxtaposition being the key, but I never saw Kiedis' lyrics being about suicide. He's not trying to die in that moment. He was just so desperate to not feel the emptiness and loneliness he felt trapped in that he would shoot up whatever heroin he could get so he could have a moment where he could make it all stop. He gave his life away because in that moment he gave up on caring if he lived or died. That's very different to me than actively trying to end one's life, and to me it actually heightens that juxtaposition you described. It's this huge moment where the music throws everything in while the lyrics describe a really bleak and empty experience of just giving up on everything. I'm really sorry you've experienced the kind of self-destructive feelings of suicide yourself though, and I really hope you don't still see suicide as something beautiful any more.
@@yetanotherbassdude I can understand that interpretation. And no, its not something i think about often anymore. Things get better, thats what I always remind myself.
@@vegaomega6072 Never struggled with addiction but I work in addiction treatment. It sounds to me like he's talking about shooting up - you don't try to commit suicide under the bridge downtown, you shoot up there. The "drawing blood" is from the needle going in.
@ghost mall You are correct, "drew some blood" is an intra veinous reference not a suicide attempt.
Or the fact that he was able to talk about it, and talk about it in past tense at that, is a triumph for him. It feels good to be able to talk about your darkest times once they're behind you and you know that that's not where you are anymore
The Orioles logo as a symbol for failure was an absolute haymaker. 10/10 just for that
Even as an O’s fan, I got a nice chuckle.
12Tone went absolutely savage there.
Had to pause the video to say just this. Perfect.
I totally missed that laughing at him drawing Tigra, the…other Thundercat for “doesn’t matter”
6:25
12tone: "this gives the melody almost a sense of defeat"
12tone: _draws the logo for the Baltimore Orioles_
I came here to learn about a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, not have my favorite baseball team get shit on
LMAOOO I noticed the same thing
Emotional Damage!
Lucky for you, you get both!
@@fuzzywumble *n0W tHaT’S a lOtTa dAmAGe*
that has to be the most specific reference he's ever done.
And I'm finally at the point where I get more of the music theory than the references.
holy cow this hits hard. my thoughts on the ending as a recovering addict are that we remember our darkest times because they are what brought us into the light. the more space we have to reflect on them, the more we learn from them. they are there to remind us that we have come so far. they can be painful beyond belief in early recovery, but we draw strength as we grow away from the trajectory we were on. please do not belittle your comparisons between depression and addiction for they are two sides of the same coin. Thank you for talking so candidly about something that so many speak of as taboo, and thank you for sharing your love of music and art in such a beautiful way. Stay Awesome friend!
I definitely identified with the song on the depression level, especially the lines "I don't ever want to feel, like I did that day. Take me to the place I love, take me all the way."
I interpret the ending the same way you do. No matter how far you come, no matter how good you are doing. You are never done being depressed and you are certainly never done being addicted. It's a constant thing that you have to be aware of for the rest of your life.
I hope you're are doing good one year from your comment friend! The world would be lesser without you
revisiting this again with two years under my belt to show another friend fresh in recovery! also I am just now seeing this reply
13:44 I know very little music theory, but that shift from A to Amin in the 'outro,' especially under the lyrics, "Oh, *nooo*," always hit me so goddamn hard.
Some thoughts I had about the final climax was that it symbolizes this jarring rush of joy, the first trip that the lyrics talk about, under that bridge. It comes to end the "blandness" of life (symbolized by the slower beat and more idle instrumentation of the rest of the song), but fades as quickly as it started, leaving you with the same chords/feelings, yet with little of the texture and layers they had before. In my mind, writer's intent aside, this whole song structurally feels like an addict's struggle. Prolonged numbness and desperation, resort in a quick high, repeat.
This video found me on a day I didn't know I needed it.
I attempted suicide a few months ago, and it took me a few days of wandering around on the street before I decided to call someone and come back home alive. I even slept under a bridge.
That feeling of moving, but staying where you are; sometimes spiraling down before coming back to a numb neutral place, sometimes taking a few steps up and away, before stumbling back down. It's such an impactful rhythm when you feel that way for months or years at a time. I never considered how the notes of this song told that story just like the lyrics did, and it resonates deeper now
I'm currently listening to this on my lunch break. Even getting this job puts me in a weird place because part of my brain "knows" this forward progress will eventually be erased. It can't let go of that rhythm. As poignant as the song is, it IS uplifting to know the real-life story of the artist's addiction surpasses that. Even our best art doesn't define us
I'm glad you're here, friend.
@@dooshnukem32 Couldn't have put it better.
I'm glad you came back
I don't know you, and we'll probably never meet, but you should know you're not alone feeling that way.
Also, in case no one else has told you today, I love you
Love the ending. Pain is loud. Trauma screams.
In my mind the huge heavenly choir when he's under the bridge 'drawing blood' and 'forgetting about this love' could possibly be about literally dying (overdose) but more likely it's about just 'enjoying' a shot, much like the solo part of 'Master of Puppets' where we get the rush of the 'master' before becoming a 'puppet' and hating our life again.
The ending being a full choir coming together with new lyrics and harmony is a perfect metaphor to my mind: The only way out is ultimately to have support from your community, however large you need that to be, and to try something new, even if only a little different. And on top of that, look who leads that section.❤
I don't know if you noticed this, as it sounded like you might have alluded to it, but the guitar intro sounds like a drunk or intoxicated person trying to walk and stumbling multiple times. Since the song's about struggling with addiction, this makes perfect sense.
yea i agree, it really has the the drunk feels to it
@@imo2759 It's like, he goes up, then he goes down, then he goes up again, and he's begging himself to go up a little bit more, but then he goes down again.
Even if I don't understand anything about music theory it's still interesting learning about how music structure can be just as impactful to a songs meaning as the lyrics. Keep up the great work
The lyrics are the least important aspect. Go read poetry if you think it’s all about lyrics.
@@MustObeyTheRules this song's lyrics were literally taken from a poem written by kiedis lol
@@MustObeyTheRules I mean it definitely depends on what you’re listening to but sure
@@mrtoast244 all lyrics are basically poetry but if that’s all you’re after then just go read them. What do you need the music for?
@@MustObeyTheRules the music lets people add tone to their lyrics which helps people to understand their ideas
I think that the ending of the song is really about him reliving "that day" in his mind. Because of the line "Oh god I'm back my love" it feels like this is a kind of flashback in his thoughts to that moment. And clearly a very intense and anguishing one for him based on the orchestration.
The line is "forgot about my love"
@@shaunthesheep5343 yeah..
This is so much more moving than the first Peppers song I ever heard. I remember it like yesterday- True Men Don't Kill Coyotes.
The Orioles bird while saying defeat is ruthless well done
I don't have any personal experience with either depression or addiction (though I have, more that once, been in intimate relationships with people experiencing depression), so I'm not going to claim any special understanding, but I certainly can imagine that day under the bridge having long-lasting significance and impact. There's a line in the pilot of Star Trek Deep Space 9 "You exist here." Aliens from outside of linear time tell the main character this when he asks them why they keep bringing him back to a painful and traumatic moment in his life. That moment had such a huge impact that in a very real way, he never left that moment. Trauma has a way of holding on to you making it difficult to get past it. I can't possibly know the artist's experience with what he felt that day, but it certainly sounds like it might have been traumatic. And the text is very similar to the lines in that episode ("I don't ever want to feel like I did that day"/"Why do you keep bringing me here? I don't want to be here"). Anyway, there were several moments in this video that nearly moved me to tears, so a) good job and b) thank you (sincerely).
The very last three words of the song: "Here I stay"/ Sisko's "I exist here".
Thank you for opening up about some of your own experiences with depression in this. I think people's knowledge about it is better than it was, but that idea that for some people with depression the feeling of complete emptiness can actually be a lower and more depressed state than actually feeling sad is so important and still needs to be talked about more.
Definitely. Being sad means you feel something, being depressed is more akin to being empty. There were points in my life where it felt so good to get hit with a wave of sadness because I had been prodding along in a depressed state for so long I didn’t realize it. It felt good to feel bad because I hadn’t felt anything for a long time.
this was one of my favorite songs, and RHCP was my favorite band as a depressed lonely 13 year old with severe unmedicated physical and mental illness and addictive tendencies. i can really see in this video that everything about it comes together to have the effect that made me feel like i wasn’t the only one who felt like that. (i’m 24 now and still recovering but doing much better)
also happy belated 52nd birthday to john frusciante
The last lyric "I guess I'll stay" is the key to the last verse and whole song, in my opinion.
The Final VERSE leading to Keatus's lowest moment (suicide attempt, overdose, whatever) and the upbeat is the fact it happened, it actually lead to a more positive state, so that's how I read it. Spot on as usual. I love this album, been listening to it since the 90s and I cut my teeth playing bass on it too in those days, so know it well fantstic album
That ending, in my opinion (and from personal experience of addiction), memorialises the rock bottom that is talked about in 12 step programs. Keeping that moment clear in one's memory serves as a reminder of what is in store if a return to the habit occurs, while also acting as a marker of how much life has improved as a result of abstinence. This is why The Peppers use such a triumphant climax in melody if not so much in the lyrics. Memorial rather than celebration.
I think this has one of the most important bass lines in pop music. The Bass line over the chorus is perfection. I don't think I've heard anyone talk about it before either. Thank you for talking about it!!
I absolutely adore the way you talk about music. Every song is a story beyond even its lyrics, and you show that with your videos
I've always found the "key change" in the chorus here to be ambiguous (sometimes it sounds like it is one, sometimes it doesn't), one of the many great qualities of this song.
As somone that done this exact thing. As much as you hate what you become and addiction, but that hit you get when you draw blood in and finally hit the vein you were desperately searching for, then the plunge, the relief and the rush and euphoria from the hit is amazing and its hard to think about and you can still get that feeling and even tastes and smells. It's hard knowing your never going to feel it again like you did that day but its ultimately for the best
Still hard not to think about that amazing hit but lament at the destruction and trauma you caused.
One thing - I never heard that coda as triumph - but as desperation.
There is an energy to desperation as well, and that is what the song ending conveys to me.
To me the word for it would be "frightful."
"The past is never dead. It's not even past," Faulkner wrote. This is the past that isn't: the days under the bridge, the lies and the needles. The real horror of it is so much clearer now, but loneliness lets the appeal of it snake up out of memory a little too.
@@eritain Very well put. To me, it feels like his desperation at realising exactly how low we was _and_ the very real fear that he may end up there again at any moment, were he to be even the least bit careless (as evidenced by his actual eventual slide back into addiction after writing this song).
About the ending part: it's important to notice it's thought out from a guitar perspective and has a lot of open notes. The guitar plays: A (XX7650), C/G (XX5550), G6 (XX5430) and Fmaj7 (XX3210). So the E (open high E string) function as a steady drone note, "glueing" it all together, which makes the transitions smooth and you don't "hear" you're moving between A major and A minor scales. The chords are all derived barre chords, but without the barre's, if you can follow me. The barre's are replaced by the open high E string. (I'm a bit in doubt if he also lets ring out the open A string throughout, but I don't think so).
Also interesting about the intro: most guitar players would want to play this with a capo on the 2nd fret, which isn't the case. You're playing a "campfire" C shape chord, but moved up a whole step with a barre on the 2nd fret. I've learned to play this around the time it came out and always thought it was a good exercise for these kind of chords, since it's not a regular chord shape in rock music.
Just to be sure: it's a great and educational analysis (like always btw), but I just wanted to add this from my guitarist point of view. Well okay, one small criticism: maj7 chords are awesome ;-)
Great points! I see many guitarists overlooking this detail of playing the high e string open in the outro chords. It certainly adds character (playing it the way Frusciante does). Also spot on with the campfire chord, although I don't barre on the 2nd fret. You don't play the high e in the intro, do you?
There is a cool video of young(er) Frusciante himself breaking down the guitar parts. iirc it's not 1:1 the album version, but close enough. And you see/hear all the nuances he uses. Awesome style!
@@SansibarRacing In the intro I don't play the high e string, but I think it's easier to hold the shape as a barred chord then just with my index finger on the 2nd fret at the g string.
ive always felt like this song is screaming out loud to let yourself know you are alive. Not in triumph, or in pain, but in recognition of yourself despite everything around you. You scream because you need to acknowledge that you aren't dead, and its the only way to tell the difference.
Major 7ths are effective but best used sparingly, like the wah wah pedal or the 12-string guitar.
Had to like the video at 9:30. Thank you for bringing profound humanity to compliment your technical analysis. It's so necessary for understanding this song!
Catharsis, is a pleasurable almost euphoric feeling that comes from integrating trauma. The more traumatic the scar, the more euphoric the catharsis. It's after the trauma happens and you're some safe distance away that catharsis can happen. I think that's what's behind the triumphant outro. Music is, often made for the purpose of expressing identity, of what we are and what we're not. I think the song is about identity of no longer being a junkie, of being a survivor.
Some of the little drawings you do to illustrate your point are ingenious. Drawing the bicycle from "The Prisoner" when talking about trying to escape is just brilliant.
This might not be the most technical Chili Peppers song ever, but the thing I always appreciated about it was that it has a lot of the trademark “Frusciante-isms” as well as the walking basslines Flea is known to do when he isn’t slapping it up.
What I always saw the outro representing was the climax of Keidis’s downward spiral, the drawing of blood. It always made me think of the scene in Forrest Gump when Jenny is about to commit suicide while Free Bird plays in the background and it’s at the tempo shift part.
As a person with depression that found solace in music, you give such a refreshing and eye opening definition or explanation on stuff I innately felt and didnt understand why I felt it so understandably and empathetic to. Basically you explain almost scientifically why I feel certainusic in my soul. Thank you
This song hits so hard, I loved your video, I remember when I was a kid my dad always put on the radio red hot chilli peppers, I didn't saw him often so listening to the band is really nostalgic
Under the Bridge is actually my favorite RHCP song due to the jarring change. It makes my soul shiver every time and I love it!
16:37 Tbh I agree here. The song ends on that part because the struggle isn't over, and never will be.
My dad was an addict long ago, and he's always said that there is no such thing as a former addict, only a recovering one, because you're never truly free from the addiction no matter how long you've been clean.
i've been listening to this song for 30 years, and i've literally NEVER put it together once that, that last section...... is the "bridge". like the song title.
w h o a
Never clicked this fast for any other video
Damn, the description of depression might be the most well-thought out, succinct, and most accurate description I've ever heard. Thanks.
I think this is a good example of how a great guitarist can take a boring, over-used chord progression and add enough flourish to make it great. John is so damn smooth in this thing, just feels like he's sliding and slinking his way around. Love it.
Glad to see the Axis of Awesome callout. I didn't realize listening to this song for so many years what it was about. The darkness was conveyed well enough and the part about relating to the city rather than to the people resonated with my personal depression. Despite being loved by many people in my life, I felt like I would never be loved, and in some respects like a waste of space, and I found a comforting resonance in the darker parts of the song from that.
To be clear, what I suffered from is clinical depression, the details of it really did not matter. As you pointed out, it wasn't that I was sad that I felt I wouldn't be loved, I was just cold to it, empty. Like I was at the bottom of a pit and too drained to even care that I wasn't getting out. The "never be loved" was just a label my mind put on the experience because I was in a bad place with my family relationship and really didn't have anything else.
I will say, the most harmful thing you can do for someone who is experiencing depression is to tell them to "cheer up" or other similar platitudes. That's like telling someone at the bottom of a pit with broken arms and legs to "climb out". If you want to help, then just be present. Don't give advice, don't criticize, don't dismiss it as "seeking attention" (almost literally the last thing one of my relatives was told), don't try to understand or relate it to your experiences. Just be there. Listen to what they have to say, or have a conversation about something else, but don't try to fix it. You're not qualified to help, but you can be an anchor for a little while. And when you need to leave, leave them with whatever your country's phone number is for the kind of help they need.
Absolutely amazing analysis, you deserve all the support in the world! 10/10 channel
Thank you for talking about your experience with depression I tend to downplay myself a lot bc I don’t believe my problems are as bad as what other people are going through and that’s exactly what I’m going through right now a state of nothingness even what I love barely gives me motivation, anyway thank you bc this perspective made me realize my thinking
I think the ending is a bit like punk music. It's the same thing when Rise Against's Tim McIlrath screams lyrics that'd make a man cry, with quite energetic drums and guitar under, because when you're at the edge of what you can hold, you need to release it. You need to shout it out.
Wonderful analysis of a song that's beautiful and hits hard. I've lost people in my life to addiction and depression, and I really feel this song.
Thank you... I am an audio engineer who knows almost nothing about music theory, so your work help me do my job better.
First couple of times I heard this song, I frankly didn't remember its name; I legitimately thought it was 2 different songs, or some kind of two-fer. It was only when I pieced together this was an RHCP song that I realized the Bridge at the end is so enduring. It legitimately feels like the most out-of-place chord is the first one, using a C# while the rest of the chords belong to C/Am. To start there at the beginning of each phrase and on the 3, you _really_ feel these chords.
Great analysis, as always!
I think that the song celebrates „that day” as a pivotal moment in the healing journey. Do not relapse, remember that day, appreciate the present. It kind of makes sense with the amazing analysis you have done - it is a conclusion of the song, a memento - therefore it is highlighted in the outro
Your description of Depression and its relation to the song is perfect. Thank you.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik is such an incredible album!! EVERY song is so good!!
Using the Orioles logo for sense of defeat… I’m not even an O’s fan and that one hurt
I have been listening to and playing and singing this song since it came out. Probably a thousand times or more. I know the song.
But I could never really put it into words, or even point out what part of the song, which instrument, which words make me feel the song the way I feel it.
You did that.
And your description of what depression is, is also incredibly accurate.
I already knew the history of this song, but you breaking it down right from the music really brought it new life!
"Sitting passively in your own emptiness..." I always wondered why I felt such a strong connection with maj7 chords.
This is a beautiful break down of that song
1999-2004 i think was monumental for rock and metal as well. every huge band now seems to all have their best works from this era.
Love your vids man! Always learn so much.
you kinda hinted at this in your conclusion but it's worth stating more explicitly: major verse/minor chorus works here because "major" and "minor" do not mean "happy" and "sad"
During the realms of addiction.. you're not sad or angry. More apathetic.
Couldn't care less about anything other than scoring the new hit..
Trust me I was addicted to oxycontin.. biggest mistake I ever did. And still paying the price for it.
I can't afford this or that so f*** it.. the embrace of death is okay.. or annihilation can't be that bad..
Been there and done that.
I've never been addicted, but I guess depression is somewhat similar then. Contrary to popular belief depression isn't being sad, it's much worse than that. It's more like the complete lack of any feelings or drive. You minimize effort as much as possible, wether it's physically, mentally or emotionally, to a point were you almost completely stop getting out of bed. You'll get up to go relieve yourself and eat something (whatever takes the least amount of effort) maybe once a day, maybe every few days. You're fully aware of your situation but you just don't feel any emotion (sometimes it gets kinda crazy and you start questioning your own humanity) or any drive to do something as simple as getting up and doing something mundane like taking a shower, cleaning up, going outside, calling someone you care about...
I'm pausing at 15:50 to comment on the impression I get from the climax of Under The Bridge. It shares something with the chorus of the Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter". There may not be any actual logic in this impression I get, but it feels the way it feels anyway: huge, dark, scary, completely intentional, and with a choir.
Blood Sugar Sex Magic was the last mainstream recording I ever bought. It's where I parted ways with the RHCPs and mainstream rock music, possibly because I understood the feelings expressed, but I never personally went down the rabbit-hole of drug addiction. There was a hard limit to how much I could actually relate to Ant'ny's experience.
That said, your analysis here is beautifully and unexpectedly deep. You've deepened my appreciation of this song, and maybe my understanding of my own emotion condition. Excellent work, Cory!
I'm always blown away by your analysis! Loved this video.
I love you brother thank you for this + all your other videos. They make me happy and inspired
this is the first video i see from you, but its amazing! thank you!
1:20 - those notes still give me chills
This is just amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this. Brilliant
Your insight into the song makes it that much better.
This is one of the best if not the best of all of your analysis. Congrats, I love it
I love how you combine analysis and interpretation! Keep on rockin’!
Great tune, great analysis! I love the tune and I play guitar, but never quite got the hang of the progressions 'til you demonstrated all of it. As for addiction, the 'bottom' is paradoxically a moment of enlightenment and utter despair. Yet, it never has to be despair again. The song with both lyrics and progressions, captures this perfectly.
You just blew my mind, the quality of this video is completely insane and I now face the problem of having to find time to watch all the others you've created ! I'll manage. Thank you very much for the work you put into this content, it is greatly appreciated !
Great work, congratulations. You show deep competence as well as a deep sensitivity. Well done.
This song means a lot to me and I've been listening to it almost every day for my entire life, but this video managed to move me and made me cry. Thanks for this wonderful analysis.
I didn't realize i needed the emotional implications of this analysis today, but here we are. Thanks for covering this. I've always found music healing/cathartic, and this video also fell into that description
Really brilliant stuff, dude.
That Emaj7 chord, just hanging there for a moment, is wonderfully blissful over the agony of the story.
Major 7 chords are awesome, what you talkin' about Willis????
Wow thank you for that story of this beautiful song. I'm gonna listen to it differently from now on
I was backstage at a large festival as a guest of Chad, through a mutual friend who had been in rehab with him - I was chatting with Flea and Anthony, who was also freshly out of rehab, approached us and immediately launched into a discussion about how 'clear' everything was for him now. In retrospect, I wish I'd been a little more empathetic, but I was young, had no experience with addiction, and it was really awkward, really quickly - and when Flea asked if I wanted a beer, I immediately said 'YES!' and we wandered off to get them. Not my best moment, but at that time I just wasn't equipped to understand the hell Anthony & Chad had just gotten out of...
Rick Rubin should almost be considered a fifth Beatle here. Or Pepper. Whatever. But he was instrumental not only in the huge, luminous sound, but he also consistently pushed Flea to scale back the pyrotechnics and allow the other elements room to breathe. That, in turn, had knock on effects for the songwriting generally.
As always, loved this installment of 12tone, a real treasure of the internet. Thanks for all of your hard work!
Watching this video for the third time and listening to you analyze the individual notes again made me think about how this song is very similar to "she talks to angels" by the black crowes but from a different perspective, it would be interesting to see what you think about it if you decide to do a video on it. Thank you for helping me listen to music with greater appreciation for the meanings behind the lyrics.
I woke up this morning feeling exactly like the worst of those empty, hollow days from my youth and listening to you explore this song actually helps. Thanks for both interesting and honestly hopeful and inspiring videos :D
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS I've never even requested it or seen anyone request it but I knew he would have to talk about this eventually
Was looking for a new music theory channel that wasn't just teaching basics. Just found one of my new favorite YT channels ever :)
Incredible video! It's amazing to see how mich knowledge you have. I hated music theory in school, but now I know I didn't hate music theory, but the music we were looking at. Now I wish I knew more to understand everything you've said.
Keep up the good work dude!
As on O’s fan Using their logo to signify defeat is straight up gold
This is an amazing analysis that makes me appreciate the song a lot more.
Great analysis, and +100 for the ASCII Rogue/Nethack screen, with an E for the 'rogue' chord. :D
Thank you for telling us about your depression. So many people think it's just being sad, when in actuality it's an inability to feel anything.
You're doing a really good job bro!
I've watched a lot of TH-cam recently with the thought of starting TH-cam as well and I noticed how shitty most of the content is. Doing something that actually portraits knowledge and transferring it in such a beautiful manner as you do isn't the norm. I highly respect you for doing that.
Great vídeo as always, thanks a lot.
That was a beutiful analysis! Really made me hear the music with another perspective. The struggle with depression is real, and we must talk about it in order to deal with it.
I thought this would be just a lyrics explaining video but this is FENOMENAL. Explaining what is going on musically has always been more interesting to me than the more directness or the lyrics, I never subscribed so fast to a channel before, thx YT algorithm