Jupiter; Song 3: Charlie

Alright, back to work. This track is the first song on Stadium Arcadium to have strong funk elements, and in fact the Chili Peppers haven’t been THIS funky (in the traditional sense, if we’re talking about bass being in the forefront and tight, syncopated guitar rhythms etc) since "Right on Time" on Californication all the way back in 1999. Lyrically a tribute to the imagination, “Charlie” is made up of three main parts, a verse, chorus and a bridge. The verse and chorus are nice counter-sections in that they explore different aspects of funk, the verse coming from a dark place whereas the chorus is somewhat sunny and joyful. I guess another way to put it is the verse is to rhythm as the chorus is to melody, and as such this song best encapsulates the far and recent pasts of Red Hot Chili Peppers, which to me is one of the major themes of the album.

In guitar magazines, much has been said of the influence of Brandy (the American RMB singer slash star of “Moesha”) on John Frusicante’s song-writing, with regards to rhythm styles and rhythmic interactions with melody, and this can be heard in this song, particularly in the verse where the guitar can be heard filling the spaces left by the vocal melody.

Also of note are the back up vocals, which wisely have been wrestled from being a purely John domain as they were in By The Way. I myself like John Frusciante’s trademark falsetto harmonies but Anthony’s rhythmic blasts, particularly in this piece and “Storm in a Teacup” (coming up in a few months) make for a more diverse vocal soundscape, and I imagine will let Flea go nuts with back up vocals when the Chili Peppers play live.

So that’s Charlie. I should probably comment on the new Red Hot Chili Peppers video clip for Tell Me Baby, which according to Flea is "the best video of our career" (http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com/news/journal.php?uid=241). The clip for “Tell Me Baby” is once again directed by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris who have a long association with Red Hot Chili Peppers, and is one of the few clips to have any direct association with the lyrical content of the piece (for example "Californication", also by Dayton & Faris), as we see in the intro several young Americans voicing their hopes and dreams to “make it” in Los Angeles, like the girl in the song “giving up all the innocence you left behind.” When you take this into account, as well as the fact that it’s a party song and the cast of the clip are clearly having fun, I feel that the video is a good visual interpretation of what makes the song special. And shit, I’d do anything to have partied with the band in the last shot of the clip.