blaben reygan beegan
Maureen Quartaro
Now for years, everyone has always questioned the meaning behind 3 ballads off the Californication album: Scar Tissue, Otherside, and Californication. Now my debate is one the meaning behind all three songs, since they are the most popular of fans wanting to know the meaning of. It is rather extensive, so I broke the debate in 3 different parts, one for each song. This one is Californication.
It's not a sexual reference. "Californication" is really just the act of the world being affected and saturated by the art and the culture being born and raised in California. Traveling around the world, no matter how far I go, I see the affect that California has on the world. It's about that good and bad, beautiful and ugly.
Here we already have a contrast between internal and external. The first half of the verse "Psychic Spies..." though "elation" represent a general paranoia people have of something beyond their control attempting to mess with their lives. The crackpot theories generally can be found in California.
Here he's at first talking about how California is the "edge of the world in all of western civilization." Whether or not you find any deeper meaning in or not, it's a powerful enough line. Perhaps, when you link the term "civilization" with a description of the sun rising and setting, you get a metaphor saying that this is where the sun will set; this is the decline of civilization. This theme is again referenced later in the song.
Simple enough. Here it's talking about how some people are consumed in a war against age, devoting so much of their time, energy, and life into combating it as to nullify any victory they have. Ultimate futility revealed in the form of a question at the end.
Phrase Hard Core Soft Porn is obviously a contradictory, and I would guess is meant as a jab for the other major marketing technique/aspect of Californication... They sell as much sex as possible, promote it as much as possible, but are never willing to outright go all the way with it, still attempting to uphold that innocent polished image.
Here he's taking the destructive foreshadowing from before, and saying "Yeah, but if you look at it in a certain way, it can be used as a creative energy. You cannot wipe out this force, even if California was wiped off the map." So then, find a way to transform the destructive earthquake of this force into a good vibration. (Also, there's a touch of irony in talking about earthquakes, seeing how California is rocked by them pretty constantly.) The earthquake to a guitar, as much damage as it may cause, to a guitar, is only another vibration... vibration on a guitat makes music. Creation from destruction. Californication is destructive, as he's shown, but again the hope glimmers through; it can be creative.
He returns to the waste of energy in the battle against the age, saying that perhaps there is something sick about it. The last line would be by far too ambiguous for me to really throw my opinion on. Are you craving Californication, or are you craving to escape it? We strive to be good people but we always fall back to the ways of evil. We come to the point that that is what we're craving.
The song is about everything that is wrong with hollywood.Everything is fake, everyone is made by plastic surgery.And Hollywood is changing the ideals of little girls from "unicorns" to "hardcore softporn"
Psychic spies of china try to steal your minds elation(products made in China that create a synthetic and temporary high)little girls from sweden dream of silver screen flotation(referring to the pornography business in hollywood, and swedish pornstars)If you have these kind of dreams its californication
The end of the world and all of western civilization(looking on a map, california is the most western placed state and place)The sun may rise in the east, but it settles in the final location (the west)if you want these kind of dreams its californication
Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging(plastic surgery reference to stay young)Celelbrity win is this your win or is this war your waging(how much are you willing to put on the line)First born unicorn (you can be unique)Hardcore softcore porn (the reality)
More of the references include, the conspiracy of the first moon landing being staged in a basement, being slaves to the concept of self-fulfillment and more. A great reference for anyone who is looking for more should read Anthony Keidis's book "Scar Tissue"
To clarify, Alderaan is the name of a planet in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Remember the one that got blown up by the Death Star? I think it was where Leia was brought up. And yes, I agree with everyone else on the meaning ofthe song, the Peppers are telling everyone what hollywood is really like, and that despite the expensive special effects, ie.plastic surgery and Space: The Final Frontier, all the fascinating beauty is just cosmetic, covering up the greed, vanity, drug lust and hunger for power.
Nirvana toured with RHCP in their early years, and i think that Kiedis mentions Kurt Cobain and "songs off station to station" to represent how any meaning or emotion or passion or relevence in Nirvana's songs has been bastardized by the way they've kind of been commercialised against their will.Just a thought...
while I'm reading this lyric, there are some commercials like "universal Hollywood studio" and "laser surgery institution" on page !!! maybe "your comments cant save songmeanings from Californication"
I think that this song is telling the effects that california has on people "Little girls from SwedenDream of silver screen quotations" The girls aren't whores or prosts they are little girls that dream of being on the big screen, and what people will do to make as far as they can in california. It also says in the song "Destruction leads to a very rough roadBut it also breeds creation" that it may be bad but good things come out of california
i aslo belives that hes singing that california is a good place to be "The sun may rise in the eastAt least it settles in a final location" saying that the world ends in california wich has to mean that california is a good place to be, im no analysis but thats how i interpet it and i can be wrong and prob are but thats what its tellin me
c01484d022