THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

977-Red Hot Chilli Peppers-Dani California.

2006-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 4.25. The ‘Dani’ in the song is a recurring character in the songs of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. She first appeared (although unnamed) as the ‘Teenage bride with the baby inside,’ on their 1999 song ‘Californication,’ and she was then name checked in 2002 as ‘Dani the girl,’ in their song ‘By the Way.’ Anthony Kiedis has stated that ‘Dani’ is not one particular person, but a composite of all the women with whom he has had a relationship. Kiedis has said,’When this funky groove came up it struck me as a perfect place to actually tell a story. It sort of revealed itself to me that it’s been the same character, just kind of developing. At first I didn’t realise that I was writing about the same girl.’

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1982, and at the time of writing they remain active. They took their stage name from the American Jazz artist Louis Armstrong’s first recording band ‘The Hot Five.’ Anthony Keidis has said,’There was Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) (see also best songs 1039-767-286-231 and 100) with his ‘Hot Five’, and also other bands that had ‘Red Hot,’ this, or ‘Chili’ that, but no one had ever been the ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers.” In total there have been 14 different members come and go, with two of the founding members, Anthony Kiedis, (vocals) and Flea, (Michael Balzary) (bass) being the groups only two constants. The other two current band members, who also played on this track are John Frusciante, (guitars, and keyboards) and Chad Smith (drums.)

Over the years the Red Hot Chili Peppers have incorporated elements of Alternative Rock, Funk, Punk Rock, Hard Rock, Hip Hop, and Psychedelic Rock into their sound, and are considered forerunners and innovators in the genres of Funk Metal, Rap Metal, Rap rock, and Nu Metal. The discography of The Red Hot Chili Peppers includes 13 studio Albums released between 1984-2022, and 71 singles issued between 1987-2022. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, eight of their songs have charted within the top 40, with ‘Under the Bridge’ from 1991 charting the highest at Number 2, while in the UK they have had 21 top 40 hits, with both this song and ‘By the Way’ (2002) both peaking at Number 2. In total to date the Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold in excess of 120 million records worldwide.

‘Dani California’ was the first of five singles released from the Red Hot Chili Peppers ninth studio Album ‘Stadium Arcadium’ from May 2006, the song was written by all four band members at that time, and was produced by Rick Rubin (see also best songs 610 and 305.) As you will read on many other occasions in this countdown, nothing in ‘Pop Music’ is totally original.’Dani California’ is influenced by two other songs, one of which is the intro to the ‘Psychedelic Rock’ track ‘Purple Haze,’ by Jimi Hendrix, (1942-1970) (see also best songs 983 and 492) and the other, and more controversially is the song ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’ from Tom Petty (1950-2017) (see also best songs 769.) Many thought that Tom Petty would go ahead and sue the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but he told ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine,’I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of Rock and Roll songs sound alike. Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took ‘American Girl’ for their song ‘Last Nite’, (see also best songs 450) and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, ‘OK, good for you.’ It doesn’t bother me. If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe, but I don’t believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs.’ As I say nothing in ‘Pop Music’ is totally original, and if you take a listen to ‘The Jayhawks,’ with their 1992 song ‘Waiting for the Sun,’ you will hear similarities to ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance,’ which was perhaps one of the reasons why Tom Petty had no wish to sue, incidentally ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’ had also like ‘Dani California’ been produced by Rick Ruben.

‘Dani California’ tells of the short life of ‘Dani,’ a poor young southern girl who eventually ends up in California, She becomes a mother, and lives a hard, and unsettled life, and then finally she is killed by a policeman in North Dakota, while committing a robbery.

‘Getting born in the state of Mississippi, Papa was a copper, and her mama was a hippy. In Alabama she would swing a hammer, price you got to pay when you break the panorama.’