Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis wrote "Under The Bridge" about his days as a heroin addict and the loneliness that went with it. The bridge mentioned in the song is a place where he sometimes went to buy drugs and get high.
After four albums of unorthodox hardcore funk, Red Hot Chili Peppers landed a huge hit with the ballad "Under The Bridge," which was not at all typical of their sound. The song went all the way to #2 on the Hot 100 (behind "Jump" by Kris Kross) and got on playlists with the likes of Celine Dion and Michael Bolton. It remains their biggest hit.
The song was particularly challenging for Kiedis to sing during the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour, but the Chili Peppers became comfortable with the sound and followed it up with more slower singles like "Soul to Squeeze" and "Breaking the Girl." It didn't feel like a sell-out because these songs were all very heartfelt, just a lot more vulnerable than their previous work.
This song was originally just a poem that Anthony Kiedis wrote. He didn't write it for the Chili Peppers - it was a very personal poem that he thought he might use somewhere else. Their producer Rick Rubin found it in one of his notebooks and told Anthony that it could be a great song. At first, he didn't want to sing it or share it with anyone, but he eventually came around.
Lyrics
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, The City of Angels
Lonely as I am together we cry
I drive on her streets 'cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills 'cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy
Well, I never worry, now that is a lie
I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day
But take me to the place I love, take me all the way
I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day
But take me to the place I love take me all the way
Yeah, yeah yeah
It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe that I'm all alone
At least I have her love
The city, she loves me
Lonely as I am together we cry
I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day
But take me to the place I love take me all the way
I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day
But take me to the place I love take me all the way
Yeah, yeah yeah
Oh, no, no, no, yeah yeah
Love me, I say, yeah yeah
One time
(Under the bridge downtown)
Is where I drew some blood
(Under the bridge downtown)
I could not get enough
(Under the bridge downtown)
Forgot about my love
(Under the bridge downtown)
I gave my life away, yeah
Yeah yeah
Oh, no, no no no, yeah yeah
Oh no, I said oh, yeah yeah
Here I stay
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