Origins and Recording
During the production of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, producer Rick Rubin regularly visited singer Anthony Kiedis to review Kiedis's new material. He found a poem titled "Under the Bridge" while flipping through Kiedis' notebook and instantly took an interest in the poignant lyrics. Rubin suggested Kiedis show it to the rest of the band: "I thought it was beautiful. I said 'We've got to do this.'" Kiedis was exceedingly reluctant as he felt the poem was too emotional and did not fit the Chili Peppers' style. After singing the poem to guitarist John Frusciante and bassist Flea, Kiedis recalls that they "got up and walked over to their instruments and started finding the beat and guitar chords to match it". Frusciante chose the chords he played in the introduction to balance out the depressing nature of the lyrics, saying "my brain interpreted it as being a really sad song so I thought if the lyrics are really sad like that I should write some chords that are happier".
For several days Frusciante and Kiedis worked on the song, and it became one of the few tracks written and completed prior to the band moving into The Mansion where they recorded the album. After the song was recorded, Rubin felt the grand and epic outro would benefit from a large group of singers. Frusciante invited his mother, Gail, and her friends, all of whom sang in a choir, to perform.
Read more about this topic: Under The Bridge
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