Dark Necessities is a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers and was released on 5th May 2016 as the first single of their eleventh studio album ‘The Getaway’.
Red Hot Chili Peppers was started in 1982 in Los Angeles and has been active since a very long time. They still release tracks on their YouTube channel.
Dark Necessities is among their best songs ever. It has a unique sound and vibe to it.
Meaning and Explanation
Red Hot Chili Peppers has been among the most notable rock bands ever. They were prominent at a time when rock music was at its peak and they are still prominent today unlike most bands in their time.
The 1980s was characterized by rock bands dominating the music scene. Their lifestyle was stereotypically thought of as those who indulged in rampant dr*g use, partying while touring.
It was natural for rock members to have a dark side. It was only through exploring their dark side, did they come across creative ideas for music.
Anthony Kiedis was known to have quit dr*gs at the time and was known to have been living a sober lifestyle for quite some time when the song was released.
Dark Necessities refers to the dark issues that one has to deal with. It is not only limited to dr*gs although that is a major theme behind the song but also other negative aspects that one may have to deal with.
In the song, the singer is actually embracing his dark side and talking about how accepting it made him the way he is. By accepting his flaws, he feels liberated from it.
It also comes with the realization that everyone has shadow aspects that they need to deal with.
A lot of people feel hindered by their shortcomings but when we realize that we are not perfect and neither is anyone else; we become at ease with the fact that we will always have problems and issues to deal with like everyone else.
Dark Necessities are a part of not only the singer’s design but everyone in the world. The part about Zodiac is a subtle reference to the serial killer Zodiac who about killed 37 people.
In the second verse, Anthony vividly describes the issues that dr*g add*cts face in their life. They might stumble across the parking lot with no sense of self or surroundings. They hardly have time to think about themselves, much less about the image they project on to the world.
The video features notable female long boarders Carmen Shafer, Amanda Caloia, Amanda Powell and Noelle Mulligan skating through Los Angeles.
The injuries they suffer while skateboarding is mainly the dark aspects of skateboarding a metaphor that the band uses to explain its point behind dark necessities in the simplest of things
“We received [her treatment] and it was very simple and it was about this dark and bruised side of these athletes, these female skateboard athletes and it was just easy and simple and we were trying to do simplicity.”
Anthony Kiedis
They sent that to me on a CD because I’m old school like that and I like to go work in my car that has a CD player. And I listened to it and I was pretty immediately stricken with my part in the song, which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn’t. Sometimes you hear a piece of music that you fall in love with but you have no idea, as a vocalist, what you’re supposed to do with it; just doesn’t make sense, the timing is weird, the melodies are weird.
With that song I was like, I know what to do with this song, I think I know what my part is, and I took that and went to Hawaii and wrote lyrics for it. And it just kind of speaks to the beauty of our dark sides and how much creativity and growth and light actually comes out of those difficult struggles that we have on the inside of our heads that no one else can see.
Anthony Kiedis
As far the song is concerned, it was definitely among the best songs they had ever produced.
This song really confirmed to people that Red Hot Chili Peppers still had a lot left in its tank and had not run out of ideas yet.
The video has amassed over 450 millions views on YouTube.
Let me know what you guys think of the song.
