Video hit Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the brigde

Under the Bridge is a song by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on March 10, 1992 as the second single from the group's fifth studio album, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”.
Vocalist, Anthony Kiedis, wrote the lyrics to express a feeling of loneliness and despondency, and to reflect on narcotics and their impact on his life.

Kiedis initially did not feel "Under the Bridge" would fit into the Chili Peppers' repertoire and was reluctant to show it to his band mates until producer Rick Rubin implored him to do so. The rest of the band was receptive to the lyrics and wrote the music.

The song became a critical and commercial success, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The single's success was widened with the release of its accompanying video, which was frequently played on music television channels. It won the "Viewer's Choice Award" and "Breakthrough Video" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

"Under the Bridge" allowed the Red Hot Chili Peppers to enter the mainstream. David Fricke of Rolling Stone said the song "unexpectedly drop-kicked the band into the Top 10", while Philip Booth of The Tampa Tribune commented that it was a "pretty, undulating, [and] by-now omnipresent single."

Its success led in part to the departure of guitarist John Frusciante, who preferred the band to remain underground. The song has become an inspiration to other artists, and remains a seminal component of the alternative rock movement of the early- and mid-1990s.

One of the most notable verses in the song discuss the harsh effects of drugs, their role in destroying many of Kiedis' past relationships, and impact on his happiness.

Based on one of Kiedis's experiences, the verse of "Under the Bridge" illustrates his efforts to enter a gang territory under a bridge to purchase drugs. Kiedis was forced to pretend that a sister of one of the gang members was his fiancée to be permitted inside. Although he successfully acquired the drugs, Kiedis considers this moment to be one of the worst of his life as it demonstrated the level to which he was willing to sink in order to feed his addiction. Because of this, the singer refuses to acknowledge the location of the bridge, though he notes that it is in downtown Los Angeles.

About this video:

The music video for "Under the Bridge" was directed by Gus Van Sant, who photographed the band during their stay at The Mansion and provided the art direction for Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Van Sant knew Flea due to the bassist's role in his 1991 film My Own Private Idaho.

The members of the band respected Van Sant both as a person and an artist and were elated when he agreed to direct the video for "Under the Bridge".

Flea credits the video as "the thing that really made us break through the mainstream of American and worldwide pop culture".

The video was shot on the streets of Los Angeles and in a studio soundstage. It begins with Frusciante standing alone on a pedestal wearing a red-and-white-striped collared shirt, brown khaki pants, brown shoes, and a purple, green and multicolored chullo, with white stitched wolves in the middle. He plays a 1966 Ocean Turquoise Fender Jaguar behind the backdrop of a desert and an inverted cloudy sky. His shadow is projected on the left and right of where he stands. Frusciante's girlfriend of the time, Toni Oswald, selected his clothes that day. Frusciante remembers Van Sant's surprised, though favorable, reaction: "when I got [to the studio] Gus Van Sant was just looking at me and going 'God I'm so glad you wore that hat. I'm so glad you wore that shirt. Oh! Those pants are so great I'm so glad you wore those'".

The video marks a significant shift in Frusciante's on-camera behavior; he no longer wished to jump around fervently as he had done in the band's prior music videos.

As Kiedis begins to sing he appears on camera bathed in purple light with blue fluorescent stars as a backdrop, surrounded by clouds. As the camera pans closer, an image of the skyline of Van Sant's home city, Portland, is superimposed from his chin downwards. Flea and drummer Chad Smith are then placed into the image while playing their instruments. Van Sant wanted superimposing to be a notable component in the overall theme of the video; the idea came from a project he worked on with novelist William S. Burroughs.

The scenes in the studio are coupled with scenes of Kiedis walking the streets of LA, wearing a white T-shirt with "To Hell And Back" printed on the front; as he walks, the camera focuses on various people. This, according to Kiedis, was vital; he felt the studio portion alone would not convey enough emotion: "the first time we shot [the video] it was all in a studio and that didn't seem to capture everything we needed to capture. It needed more; it needed to be combined with an outdoor, streets-of-Los-Angeles thing".

Towards the end, Kiedis is seen running down the Los Angeles River in slow motion; the background is a shot of an atomic bomb exploding. The video ends with various superimposed images of the band, followed by Frusciante playing alone on a pedestal—this time with an inverted shot of the ocean as the sky.

The lyrics:

Sometimes I feel

Like I don't have a partner

Sometimes I feel

Like my only friend

Is the city I live in

The city of Angels

Lonely as I am

Together we cry

I drive on her streets

'Cause she's my companion

I walk through her hills

'Cause she knows who I am

She sees my good deeds and

She kisses me windy and

I never worry

Now that is a lie

I don't ever wanna feel

Like I did that day

Take me to the place I love

Take me all the way

I don't ever want to feel

Like I did that day

Take me to the place I love

Take me all that way (yeah yeah yeah)

It's hard to believe

That there's nobody out there

It's hard to believe

That I'm all alone

At least I have her love

The city she loves me

Lonely as I am

Together we cry

I don't ever wanna feel

Like I did that day

Take me to the place I love

Take me all the way

I don't ever want to feel

Like I did that day

Take me to the place I love

Take me all the way (yeah yeah yeah)

Ooh no (no no yeah yeah)

Love me I say yeah yeah

Under the bridge downtown

Is where I drew some blood

Under the bridge "

I could not get enough

Under the bridge "

Forgot about my love

Under the bridge "

I gave my life away (yeah yeah yeah)

Ooh no (no no yeah yeah)

Here I stay yeah yeah

Here I stay...