Flea names the 1991 song that defines the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Only a select few can claim to have enjoyed a career as impressive as the one Flea can boast. No one else can say that they did it all while wearing multiple hats at once.
As the beloved bassist of funk-rock masters Red Hot Chili Peppers, not only is he universally hailed as one of the greatest to have ever picked up the four-string thanks to his unique style of slapping, but he’s also played with a variety of eminent outfits, including Jane’s Addiction and The Mars Volta.
On top of all that, Flea has also moonlighted as an actor, featuring in classics such as My Own Private Idaho, The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. All of these define his, well, flea-like creative output, hopping around from one nectar pool of inspiration to the next… which makes it all the more difficult to define the true core of his main group.
While there are many moments of note in Flea’s story, his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers garners the most praise. A founding member alongside frontman Anthony Kiedis, the bassist has been an ever-present fixture throughout their often oscillating history and has always been counted upon.
From their eponymous 1984 debut album to their most recent offerings, Flea has been the band’s secret weapon, imbuing the music with genuine dynamism and even elements of the classical music he adores. Most of all, though, he’s the engine for their spirit. As he put it, “The hurt and pain in my heart is my ticket to fly, I surrender all earthly desires in the moment, when it’s time to rock and tap the source.”
Adding in his memoir, Acid for the Children, “I gotta be the groove and nothing else, fuck the world so I can uplift the world. To all you kids out there hurting like I hurt, I’m gonna be with you there in the magic place.”
Given that he hurtles his whole being into every passing jam, and that he has played on virtually all of the band’s tracks, including the mainstream hit and niche fan favourite, the question of what his favourite number by them has long been a source of wonder for fans. Then, during a 2019 interview with alternative rock radio station ALT 92.3, Flea finally answered the question.
He was asked what Red Hot Chili Peppers song encapsulates the group best to him, given that the masses might say hits like ‘Under the Bridge’ or ‘Californication’. Despite maintaining that answering the question is “impossible”, he chose ‘Give It Away’ from 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Flea said: “Man, it’s so hard for me to answer. No matter what we do…we can do anything, we can be the most poignant, poetic band on earth, and people are always going to be like, ‘Oh, the guys with socks on their cocks’. But, I don’t know, I guess, in terms of sentiment and in terms of rhythm and feeling” ‘Give It Away’.”
He emotionally continued, “[It] has always been a song for me that no matter how many millions of times we play it, every time we get to the end of it, and we’re closing out a show, and me and Anthony (Kiedis) are all like vibrating and jumping up and down and everything is alive, the idea of giving it away is such a beautiful thing.”
In many ways, it ties back to the sentiment of relinquishing pain that Flea sees as the central mission statement for the Chili’s, shrouded by cocksocks and freak-outs, but central all the same.
Yet, that obfuscation is part of their magik, too, as Flea clarified: “So, for the sake of trying to make this a good interview, I’ll say that one. But every song is a different facet of who we are, and it’s such a hard question for me to do, and kind of impossible.”
