Californication

What the Red Hot Chili Peppers mean with 'californication' has little to do with fornication, and everything to do with California. It is the act of California and more specifically, Hollywood taking over your mind. This song is about the deterioration of society, it reflects how the world is becoming very superficial and plastic, much like California.

Throughout the song we can hear Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of the band talk about the negative effects Hollywood has on the world. In the first verse for instance we hear, "Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind elation, little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotations." The first part of the verse is referring to the corruption and communism in China and the way Hollywood portrays the matter through movies. The second part clearly shows the negative yet ever present view that girls around the world are portrayed by their bodies and the only way for them to make it in society is to exploit themselves in Hollywood films. As we look further we read, " Space may be the final frontier but its made in a Hollywood basement..., and Alderon's not far way." This line is a direct reference to the popular theory that the first landing on the moon was staged and the fact that Hollywood shows that paradise, which is Alderaan in the Star Wars series, is not far away, in fact, it's in your television, down your street, and on your radios, it's Californication itself.

Looking at the third and tenth stanza we can see the effects Hollywood has on society, "Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging, celebrity skin is this your chin...sicker then the rest there is no test but this is what you're craving." It is apparent through these words that the peppers as do I believe that Hollywood with the help of actresses such as Courtney Love has corrupted the way people view themselves. They now are brainwashed to believe that unnatural surgeries no matter how disturbing the idea is, that it is the rich, powerful and beautiful who are supposed to look young forever. The cultural idea of plastic surgery is sick but when the people of America look around they too are engulfed in the Hollywood born way of life.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers try to express their views on the deterioration of American society from pregnant teenagers