By Dagmar Düring & Gina Skierlo
Released in 2000 on the same-titled album, Californication was one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' greatest hits and, in writer Anthony Kiedis' opinion, the best lyrics he had ever written. The text of the song mainly deals with the dark side of California's golden image and in particular with the superficial lifestyle of Hollywood's society. Within this project, we will examine and interpret the most striking ideas of the Californian and Hollywood lifestyle conveyed in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song.
As far as the subject is concerned, the lyrics can be divided into three parts: The first one, ending with the first chorus, deals with the idea of fame and glory in Hollywood. The second one, ending with the next chorus, is about Hollywood life and its creations. The last part begins with “Destructions” which explains what it is about: the dark side of reaching for fame. Structuring the song this way exposes the path people in Hollywood are going on.
Hollywood, as part of Los Angeles and, in a larger sense, as part of California, represents the possibility of fulfilling the American, or even more concrete, the Californian Dream. It is the main destination for people who want to improve their lives and achieve success: “And if you want these kind of dreams / It's Californication” (ll. 5-6). The term “Californication” itself is repeated at the end of almost every verse and overall in the chorus which indicates its importance for transmitting the song's message. “Californication” refers to California producing its own image and spreading it to the world. This golden image of unlimited possibilities excites the whole world and sets it into euphoria – which mainly covers the definition of the term. Even though everyone is aware of the dark side of fame and of the fact that going to LA does not necessarily mean becoming famous, people are still attracted and still try their luck.
The desire of being famous becomes obvious in lines 3-4 where it says: “Little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotations”. People come from all over the world, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But the cruel reality soon catches up. A lot of those trying finally fail and in order to not have to return home without achieving anything, they end up shooting pornographic movies which is alluded in mentioning “girls from Sweden”. This idea is made even more obvious in the chorus where it says “First born unicorn / Hard core soft porn”. The “unicorn” refers to a fairy tale a lot of people dream of. The next line portrays a stark contrast to the fairy tale idea and indicates the two extremes in Hollywood life and the reality people have to face. Since this contrast is being repeated with the chorus, the centrality of this idea is underlined.
The second verse deals with the geographical position of Hollywood as it is located at the western “edge of the world” (l. 7). Also, it symbolizes our western civilization even though
taking it to extremes (l. 8). The next two lines refer to the fact that the sun rises in the East but setting in the West – where Hollywood is located. The play of words “settle” instead of “set” alludes to the shining and glory image of Hollywood.
Nowhere the notion of western culture is as centralized as here. Nowhere being famous seems to be as reachable as in Southern California's Dream Factory. The Red Hot Chili Peppers paraphrase this vision by saying "And buy me a star on the boulevard / It's Californication." (ll. 25-26) referring to the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.
Since this industry is very superficial, success is closely related to appearance. The line “Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging” (ll. 13-14) refers to this plastic and unrealistic image that Hollywood sells to the world. People are obsessed with looking perfect and accomplishing the forever-young-image. It becomes more and more popular to be more than just perfect but to represent some kind of art through plastic surgery.
In the sixth verse the Red Hot Chilli Peppers want to call our attention to the difference between what space really is and what Hollywood made us think space is, whether our imagination of it is real or just fiction evoked by Hollywood. Thus, the first two lines in this verse “Space my be the final frontier / But it's made in a Hollywood basement” might allude to Star Trek's fifth feature called The Final Frontier and, in this relation, that nothing in our minds is really protected from Hollywood's influence, not even our imagination of the universe which is, through Star Trek and others, highly controlled by films and TV series. This hypothesis of influenced and controlled imagination is strengthened in line 31 in which “Alderaan” refers to a planet in the fictional universe of Star Wars which was destroyed by the Empire. Therefore, this might be an allusion to that the world, its values and concepts, are being destroyed by Hollywood. Besides, the hint to Kurt Cobain in lines 29 and 30 might also refer to that “space”, as Cobain's band is called Nirvana which is a word originally from the Buddhists belief, where it stands for something similar to our heaven. And since most of us imagine heaven as kind of space, it fits perfectly into this verse. These hints from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Star Trek and Star Wars as Hollywoods very successful products and the hint to the Nirvana really want us to be aware of the fact that Hollywood with its influence and power is endless and that there are no frontiers for it, not even space, because our imagination of space is also produced in the Dream Factory.
Beginning the last part of the song with “Destruction leads to a very rough road / But it also breeds creation / And earthquakes are to a girl’s guitar / They are just another good vibration / And tidal waves couldn’t save the world / From Californication” (ll. 36 – 41), the composers allude to the ups and downs people have to endure on their “rough road” to being famous. In this business, setbacks are the order of every day. But instead of giving up, downs can be inspirational which is suggested in the second line of this verse. “Earthquakes” as well as “tidal waves” convey an ambiguous meaning. On the one hand, these apply to the setbacks mentioned before, on the other hand, they refer to the geographical circumstances. California is well-known for its natural catastrophes such as those mentioned in the lyrics. In both ways, “earthquakes” and “tidal waves” are seen as possible sources of inspiration. Moreover, as “Californication” is named, the last sentence again alludes to the euphoria, California evokes in people's minds all over the world even though they know that it is prone to natural disasters since the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate collide in this area.
The euphoria which is evoked by many people can also be seen in other contexts and lines of the song. For instance the phrase “Getting high on information” (l. 24) indicates the euphoria of people to watch the celebrity news and gossips in the media. Almost always their prime aim is to see all that misery and sorrow and to watch the rise and fall of the stars. They gloat over others harm and enjoy seeing the rapid descent of famous people. Therefore it can be assumed, that almost everyone knows how fast one can fall back from celebrity to nobody but even though everyone knows it, they still do not give up trying to have luck in the Dream Factory Hollywood. This is exactly the contrast that characterizes California: On the one hand knowing all those tragic failures and stories of broken dreams and on the other side still thinking that YOU are the one who will be able to achieve success because YOU are the one who is better than the rest.
In the end of the song, the Red Hot Chili Peppers repeat the verse concerning plastic surgery adding “Sicker than the rest” (l. 44). This could be a link to medical and especially psychological consequences, such as burn-out, fame can entail. “But this is what you're craving” (l. 46) now examines that people take this risk in order to be in the spotlight.
Throughout the whole text, the writers make use of irony as the main stylistic device. They tell the story of California being the glory of the world in a very sarcastic way. Here, we can see that the song is meant to be subliminally accusing and tries to evoke rethinking of Hollywood's shining image. It is the quick shift from rise to fall what the Red Hot Chilli Peppers want us to be aware of because that kind of thinking is not provoked by California, it is provoked by Californication.
01 Psychic spies from China
Try to steal your mind's elation
Little girls from Sweden
Dream of silver screen quotations
05 And if you want these kind of dreams
It's Californication
It's the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the East
10 At least it settles in the final location
It's understood that Hollywood
sells Californication
Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
15 Celebrity skin is this your chin
Or is that war your waging
[Chorus:]
First born unicorn
Hard core soft porn
Dream of Californication
20 Dream of Californication
Marry me girl be my fairy to the world
Be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside
Getting high on information
25 And buy me a star on the boulevard
It's Californication
Space may be the final frontier
But it's made in a Hollywood basement
Cobain can you hear the spheres
30 Singing songs off station to station
And Alderaan's not far away
It's Californication
Born and raised by those who praise
Control of population
Everybody's been there
35 And I don't mean on vacation
[Chorus]
Destruction leads to a very rough road
But it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar
They're just another good vibration
40 And tidal waves couldn't save the world
From Californication
Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
Sicker than the rest
45 There is no test
But this is what you're craving
[Chorus]
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