“Californication” is written and performed by the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band hails from Los Angeles, which also happens to be the where “Californication” is about. “Californication” is the fourth single and sixth track from their 1999 seventh studio album of the same name, “Californication”. The band writes this song to talk about how Hollywood is affecting people around the world. They use different poetic devices to convey what they want to express. It is obvious that the lyrics in the song are descriptions of Hollywood, but what do they actually mean?
First and foremost, the songwriters write he lyrics in a metaphoric way. These metaphoric lyrics are the songwriters’ way of illustrating what they think of Hollywood. When looking past the facade, Hollywood is nothing like it seems on the surface. Some of these metaphoric lyrics seem to mean something good but when looking at the bigger picture, it is otherwise. Take for example, “Pay your surgeon very well / To break the spell of aging” (Kiedis et al. 13-14, 48-49). Although the phrase “break the spell of aging” might seem like a good thing, it actually is trying to tell the listeners about a problem caused by
Hollywood that affects people around the world. These two lines are trying to say that people around the world are influenced by Hollywood’s unrealistic beauty standards, which causes women and men around the world to wage a war against age. Humans are mortals, we age and therefore it is impossible to stay young and beautiful forever, therefore people around the world resort to plastic surgery in their wars against age. Another great example of the metaphoric style of songwriting would have to be: It’s the edge of the world And all of western civilization The sun may rise in the East
At least it settles in the final location. (Kiedis et al. line 7-10) Here, when looking past the literal meaning, all it seems to be about is how the sun sets in California. What the band is actually trying to say is that Hollywood is causing the decline of western civilization. Another characteristic of the song that is important to what the songwriters are trying to express is the constant repetitions of phrases or words throughout the song. In the song, the word “dream” is repeated a total of 12 times (Kiedis et al. line 4, 5, 19, 20, 38, 39, 40, 4, 55, 56, 57, 58).
Clearly, the songwriters are trying to emphasize how people around the world have dreams of making it big in Hollywood. The phrase “dream of Californication” has also been repeated many times in the song (Kiedis et al. line 19-20, 38-41, 55-58). The word “Californication” is a product of the songwriters combining two words: California and fornication. The constant repetition of the word Californication from the phrase might be trying to imply that Hollywood sells sex, which promotes fornication. Furthermore, the line that comes before the phrase “dream of Californication” s “hardcore soft porn”.
This phrase is also repeated multiple times throughout the song. Since “hardcore soft porn” is in reference to the porn industry in San Fernando Valley, it supports the argument that Hollywood promotes fornication. Various common threads are identified throughout the song. In the first 4 lines of the song, it is said that people from China and Sweden are affected by Californication (Kiedis et al. lines 1-4). Then, in line 46 and 47, it mentions that “tidal waves couldn’t save the world / From Californication” (Kiedis et al. line 46-47).
There is a connection between these two parts of the song. These two parts of the song together shows that Hollywood has affected people from all around the world. Another common thread would be in the second line of the chorus, the writers mentioned the phrase “hardcore soft porn” (Kiedis et al. line 3, 37, 54). This phrase could be in reference to the pornography industry in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. The title of the song “Californication”, which is also repeated many times throughout the song, is related to the phrase “hardcore soft porn”.
There is a clear connection etween the songwriters mentioning fornication and pornography. In most parts of the song, the point-of-view of the lyrics is written in third person point-of-view. For instance: Psychic spies from China, Try to steal your mind’s elation, Little girls from Sweden, Dream of silver screen quotations. (Kiedis et al. line 1-4) and: 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. (Kiedis et al. ine 42-45)
But in the pre-choruses of the song, the point-of-view suddenly witches to second person point of view. For example: Pay your surgeon very well, To break the spell of aging, Sicker than the rest, There is no test, But this is what you’re craving. (Kiedis et al. line 48-52) Notice how the pronoun “you” is being used here. The sudden switch to second person point-of-view is because the band wants listeners to be aware that they are also part of the problem and that they are also affected by it. In the song, symbols can be found in the lyrics.
One of the symbols that is very important to the meaning of the song is “unicorn” (Kiedis et al. line 17, 36, 53). This symbol can be found in the phrase “first born unicorn” which comes before “hardcore soft porn” in the chorus (Kiedis et al. line 17-18, 36-37, 53-54). From the lyrics, it is clear that “unicorn” is a symbol of innocence and purity. The reason the songwriters insert this symbol is to illustrate how when young and aspiring talent enter the entertainment industry, they are still innocent and naive. There is also another symbol that is very important to the song: Hollywood Boulevard.
Although the songwriters do not mention the exact words Hollywood Boulevard, it is clear that the line And buy me a star on the boulevard” is referring to the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Kiedis et al. line 25). This line shows people who enter Hollywood has the ultimate goal of getting their very own star on the Walk of Fame. The phrase “buy me a star on the boulevard” seems to imply that people would do anything just for the star on the boulevard, or in other words, to get famous. According to this song, Hollywood is very beautiful and perfect on the surface, just like the lyrics.
But when we look at the bigger picture, it is different from what it looks like on the urface. Kiedis sings “Born and raised by those who praise, control of population” (Kiedis et al. lines 33-34). So many of us in the world have dreams of being a part of Hollywood and idolize the people who are part of it. Celebrities have reached a very high status in our society and have the ability to influence us all. For instance, celebrities set the fashion trends, people around the world learn from and try to imitate celebrities whether they are good or bad. These are just some of the many negative influences Hollywood has on people around the world.
