Californication (album) - Writing and Composition

Writing and Composition

Much of the album was written in the band members' homes in the summer of 1998. Kiedis and Frusciante often spent days together discussing song creation, guitar riffs and lyrical content. Bass and percussion aspects of the record were constructed through jam sessions and the individual work of Flea and Smith.

Californication's lyrics were derived from Anthony Kiedis' ideas, outlooks, and perceptions of life and its meaning. "Porcelain" resulted from Kiedis's meeting with a young mother at the YMCA, who was attempting to battle her alcohol addiction while living with her infant daughter. Sarcasm was a concept that Kiedis had dealt with in the past, and he ultimately crafted a song around it. He was inspired by former band-mate Dave Navarro, whom he considered to be the "King of Sarcasm". Frusciante approached the guitar line present in "Scar Tissue" as an attempt to use two notes that are played far apart, but produce a "cool rhythm". He had explored this technique on his first solo album, 1994's Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt. Frusciante considers "Scar Tissue" to be a "very simple example of the technique, but I think it's a style that sounds like me". The guitarist made use of slide guitar-playing for the solos in the song. The song Emit Remmus, which is summer time spelled backwards, was inspired by Anthony's brief relationship with Melanie C of the Spice Girls.

"Get On Top", a song which contains significant use of a wah pedal, was formed after a jam session conducted shortly after Frusciante had listened to Public Enemy: "I came up with on the way to rehearsal—just tapping it out with my foot." The understated guitar solo played in the middle of the song was originally intended to be more noticeable, according to Frusciante, who was playing screaming guitar solos. He changed his thought process after listening to Steve Howe's guitar solo on Yes' "Siberian Khatru": "the band sounded really big—and they're playing really fast—and then this clean guitar solo comes out over on top. It's really beautiful, like it's on its own sort of shelf. For 'Get On Top' I wanted to play something that contrasted between the solo and the background." "Savior", a song found towards the end of the album, features heavy effects, most notably an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth with 16-second delay. Frusciante notes that the sound is "directly inspired by Eric Clapton's playing in Cream. If you listen to the actual notes, they're like a Clapton solo—they just don't sound like it because of the effects."

The hit "Around the World", which harkens back to the Chili Peppers' funk-influenced sound, was constructed by Frusciante at his home. The rhythm and beat, however, are intricate; this required him to play the song with the rest of the band rather than alone for them to understand it. The bass lick was composed in "maybe 15 minutes," according to Frusciante: "Flea is the best bass player in the world. His sense of timing and the way he thinks is so crazy." The title track of the album was among the most difficult for the band to complete. Frusciante felt compelled to write an appropriate guitar ensemble that would appropriately complement the poignant lyrical content, but encountered difficulty. The song was barely making progress, and would have been scrapped had it not been for Kiedis' urgency to include it on the album. Frusciante completed the final riff two days before recording, after drawing inspiration from The Cure's soundtrack song to "Carnage Visors". The title track was intended to represent Californian lifestyles and, more specifically, the "fake" nature which is associated with much of Hollywood. It references Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and uses considerable imagery to capture the evocative nature of California.

The record was a change of style for the Chili Peppers, especially compared to their previous album, One Hot Minute, which combined various elements of heavy metal and psychedelic rock. Although Californication still contains some funk rock songs (such as "Around the World", "Get on Top", "I Like Dirt", "Purple Stain" and "Right on Time"), it leaned towards more melodic riffs (for example, "Scar Tissue" and "Otherside") and focused on songs with implemented structure rather than jams.