Jupiter; Song 14: Hey

If “Wet Sand” is a top 5 song, “Hey” would have to be a top 2 song. I didn’t warm to it upon the first listen; indeed it was Buck who opened my eyes to the beauty of the piece. Another example of terrific track sequencing, this one being a lot less logical and harder to explain than the “Torture Me”/”Strip My Mind” combination. All I can say is that I don’t think I would love “Hey” as much as I do if “Wet Sand” didn’t immediately precede it.

This song is perfection. Unlike “Wet Sand”, this song DOES have a classic arrangement that involves everyone and could only have been born of a jam most heavenly. The playing in “Hey” is probably the tightest the lads have ever been. Even John’s solo, which veers so off course rhythmically that it would appear to be in another time zone, makes absolute musical sense in the context of this piece, and in this band. The guitar sound is sublime, with John’s guitar having just the right amount of reverb to maximise the resonance of the melody with the listener’s tympanic membrane. My favourite solo of the album, and emotionally right up there with other classic John solos like “Californication” and my personal favourite “I Could Have Lied”.

Any time I lament the fact that Red Hot Chili Peppers will never sound like their old Blood Sugar Sex Magik or Californication days, I need only look to songs like these, that could only be written by forty-something year olds; songs that could only be written by people who have truly lived. The only slightly negative aspect of the song is that I would have liked to see it being the last song on their last album, it would have made a lovely final statement on the band. It would also mean that I would be finished reviewing Stadium Arcadium, instead of just hitting the halfway mark. Sigh.