Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s a band name known by many. Young. Old. Teenagers. You’ve likely been familiarized with its name on the radio, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or an online article.
Now, stick with me for this next part. I warn you that it may come as a bit of a shock.
Red Hot Chili Peppers have been on our radios and phones for close to 40 years. No, the math isn’t wrong. You can double-check me if you’d like, but you’re only going to get the same answer.
I’m sure you’re still in disbelief. It’s hard to digest. But, those songs (Give It Away, Californication and Dani California) that you sing along with on the radio or jam to when no one’s watching came out a while ago.
1991: fast-paced beats, expressive vocals, unique guitar solos.
1999: mixed beats, strategic lyrics, heavily expressed guitar solos.
2006: steady beats, drawn out vocals, heavy emphasis on guitars.
You get the idea. It’s hard to think of Red Hot Chili Peppers and not let your mind get caught up in all the elements that make them the band you know and love.
So, for all of you keeping track, it’s as simple as this: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitars go with the expressive vocals just as peanut butter goes with jelly.
It’s clear now that our reliance on consistent music has been key for this band’s life span.
But, now it’s 2022. A new Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song is out. It’s been on the radio a couple of times, and it’s called Tippa My Tongue.
It’s easy to dance to.
It’s easy to sway back and forth to — even if you’re driving.
It's easy to let your mind get hooked on the lyrics.
It’s all easy.
Well, it’s all easy except that you can’t convince yourself that it’s the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But, it’s their song. There’s no other answer for this equation. “Tippa My Tongue” equals, and always will equal, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
It took me a while to accept this, as I’m sure is happening for you. Believe me, I still can’t digest that the old “Dani California” Chili Peppers have turned into the new “Tippa My Tongue” Chili Peppers.
Of course, we have to realize that this change in our normal peanut butter and jelly music sandwich happened for a reason, and it’s a reason that’s easily explained by reflecting back on the old life of our beloved band.
The old Red Hot Chili Peppers had somber instrumentals.
The guitars felt more like violins pushed to their highest potential rather than electric guitars yelling out to an audience. The vocals sounded like someone attempting to rationalize with the world rather than someone with a solid outlook on life. Sure, the subdued beats got your feet tapping, but they didn’t make you want to run to the dance floor and start dancing.
Most of the time, the old instrumentals pushed your mind to start thinking back over everything that happened or could have happened.
That experience is crucial. It makes you connect with the song on a deeper level than you thought possible.
Sometimes that’s not entirely welcome.
Sometimes we all need a song that’s catchy. That’s upbeat. That’s buoyant.
Now, you’re probably wondering how Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new song breaks the mold of somberness?
Well, for an answer, I present to you the opening of that song:
“Ya, ya-ya-ya,
Ya-ya-ya,
Ya-ya-ya, ya.”
It’s simple. It's catchy. If you’re not aware, it’ll be the next thing that pops into your head at an unexpected time.
It’s also a complete switch from the band’s normal openings like this one from “Californication”:
“Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation,
And little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotation,
And if you want these kind of dreams it's Californication.”
It’s clear from the two openings that “Tippa My Tongue” doesn’t sound like the old Chili Peppers. I’ll be brief on why, but the song presents us with a shorter opening that packs a great deal of beat from the first second we hear it.
Essentially, instead of regifting the same somber present, they are now giving us a new, uplifting gift to consume our lives.
It’s a 40-year-old gift in the making.
Some of us may be ecstatic while others may be a little unsure or upset. Whether you’re on one side or the other, or even just mixed on what to think, we need to consider what Red Hot Chili Peppers wanted: a new style.
You can’t ask someone to do the same thing for years, and you certainly can’t ask a band to stay the same until it’s no longer a band.
Otherwise, would we really keep getting the songs we all know and grow to love?
If that wasn’t the case, what would the music world be like without Red Hot Chili Peppers?
Red Hot Chili Peppers have more new music on the way. Be on the lookout for their new album, Return of the Dream Canteen, which will join the music world in October of this year.
It’s a surprise, but like Red Hot Chili Peppers have said: “We’ve only just begun. Funky monks are on the run.”