Music and Composition
"Under the Bridge" is performed in 4/4 time in the key of D major, shifting to the key of E major after the introduction of the first verse. The song marks an important shift in style for Kiedis, who had spent most of his career singing rapidly due to his limited ability to reach high notes. The song begins with Frusciante playing a moderately slow intro that the guitarist said drew heavily on the 1971 David Bowie song "Andy Warhol". As Kiedis begins to sing, the guitar playing becomes more rapid until it reaches an E major seventh chord that halts the song; the silence is broken by Chad Smith's closed hi-hat and wood block struck at a moderately fast tempo. Frusciante borrowed the E major seventh chord technique from British guitarist Marc Bolan of the glam rock band T. Rex, who initially wrote it in the song "Rip Off" from the group's 1971 album Electric Warrior; Frusciante lightheartedly noted that "I ripped off a song called 'Rip Off'. I thought that was interesting."
The song continues with another verse and subsequent chorus, when the bass finally enters. After the next verse an E major seven chord again marks a break before the start of the chorus. The second chorus transitions into a different verse, where Chad Smith begins to play the drums, and Kiedis sings "Take me all the way/Yeah/Yeah-e-yeah/Oh no, no". A choir, whose presence was added to make the ending sound more epic, sings "Under the bridge downtown", in which Kiedis sings "Is where I drew some blood/I could not get enough/Forgot about my love/I gave my life away" in between. As the choir, Kiedis and drums stop, Frusciante and Flea play the outro until the song ends.
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