The song I'm going to write about in my paper is the song "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. What intrigues me most about this song is that I do not know exactly what the Chili Peppers are saying about California, even though the song has hundreds of plays in my iTunes library. I know a little bit about what the song's saying...It talks about how self absorbed and fake California is, but it doesn't have the absolute negative view of this aspect of California that some songs, articles, etc. have about it. It more says, "This is what California is. It's a unique place, but if what you want is the beautiful people, plastic surgery, Hollywood obsession, California is the place to be." It also implies that California is exactly what most people dream about, which might be the Chili Peppers trying to make a blanket statement about Americans in general.
I just talked about several different things about the song that could initiate my paper's thesis, and I'm sure there is much more to the song then I've realized so far. That is why this song is so intriguing to me, and why I chose it for my paper - I don't know what I think about this song, and I don't know what the Chili Peppers are trying to say here. Lines like, "Psychic spies from China/Try to steal your mind elation/Little girls from Sweden/Dream of silver screen quotations" confuse the heck out of me, and I'm hoping that this assignment will help me figure out both what I think about this song, and a deeper level of what the Chili Peppers are trying to say.
This is a confusing song. I agree completely. With so many songs about California out there, not all can make perfect sense, as is evident with this song.The great thing about confusion is that all of the topics you might write about could be true. It should be fascinating to see how you interpret the song. It sounds like you have a solid start! Good luck.
You raise some interesting points about the song's criticism of California and of the confusing lyrics. What do you think of the lines 'And tidal waves couldn't save the world From Californication'? I feel like they're saying the persona of California has now spread out so much that it's no longer contained in just this state. Does that impact the draw of the 'Dream' in your opinion? It's like what Rawls' essay talked about - success can also be one's downfall - and in this case perhaps imitation elsewhere takes away from California's uniqueness.
I would say that this is not a song which praises the California at least. I read over the lyrics first before I listened the song. It can be confusing because the song delivers its message in up tempo major chord. However, I think the lyrics definitely reveals the problematic influence of the California. First, the Hollywood movies portrays sexual scenes without any censor which leads to the pregnancy of young girls without plans for the future. The celebrities' spending to keep their skin like baby is portrayed as a mere compensation to block the flow of time. In addition to the lyrical meanings, I found that the music video more interesting. I felt like I was playing a game which contains full of false image created by Hollywood, from driving crazy with the old mustang to disasters occur in the downtown LA. I think you can pick out much more points from the music videos.
This is a confusing song. I agree completely. With so many songs about California out there, not all can make perfect sense, as is evident with this song.The great thing about confusion is that all of the topics you might write about could be true. It should be fascinating to see how you interpret the song. It sounds like you have a solid start! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteYou raise some interesting points about the song's criticism of California and of the confusing lyrics. What do you think of the lines 'And tidal waves couldn't save the world
ReplyDeleteFrom Californication'? I feel like they're saying the persona of California has now spread out so much that it's no longer contained in just this state. Does that impact the draw of the 'Dream' in your opinion? It's like what Rawls' essay talked about - success can also be one's downfall - and in this case perhaps imitation elsewhere takes away from California's uniqueness.
I would say that this is not a song which praises the California at least. I read over the lyrics first before I listened the song. It can be confusing because the song delivers its message in up tempo major chord. However, I think the lyrics definitely reveals the problematic influence of the California. First, the Hollywood movies portrays sexual scenes without any censor which leads to the pregnancy of young girls without plans for the future. The celebrities' spending to keep their skin like baby is portrayed as a mere compensation to block the flow of time. In addition to the lyrical meanings, I found that the music video more interesting. I felt like I was playing a game which contains full of false image created by Hollywood, from driving crazy with the old mustang to disasters occur in the downtown LA. I think you can pick out much more points from the music videos.
ReplyDelete