Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers song)

Give It Away is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers released in 1991 on the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. A five-minute ode to selflessness, Give It Away was one of four singles from the album and achieved fame around the world, quickly becoming the defining song of the Chili Peppers' distinct funk sound. It won a Grammy Award in 1992, further solidifying its status as an immortal funk anthem.

Delevopment, inspiration and meanings

The song was born in the usual Chili Peppers style: through an improvised jam session. Flea, (bassist in the Peppers) was trying out some bass lines and struck upon what is nowadays regarded as one of the most distinctive bass riffs in the Chili's work as it required the use of the entire length of the bass neck. Their drummer, Chad Smith, joined in and the lead singer of the Chili's Anthony Kiedis was so taken by Flea's bass part he took to the microphone and belted out 'Give it away, give it away now" over and over.

The line "What I've got you've got to get it put it in you" is believed by some to be a reference to taking drugs, while lines such as "Come and drink it up from my fertility" could be construed as sex metaphors. The verse "There's a River born to be a giver/keep you warm won't let you shiver/his heart is never gonna wither/come on everybody time to deliver' is a reference to the actor River Phoenix, who was friends with members of the band. Bass guitarist Flea was with River on the night he died. The lines 'Greedy little people in a sea of distress... unimpressed by material excess' are about Kiedis' views of materialism and consumerism. And the well known line "Give It Away" was a reference to Kiedis' relationship with Nina Hagen, who Kiedis has said freely gave anything in her possesion.

Frusciante says that the intro riff was inspired by Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf and if you listen closely you can in fact here the intro riff to that song in the background near the end of the song.

Release as a single

Give it Away was released on September 24th 1991, as the first single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik. However, despite the Chili's reputation, many radio stations refused to play the single; one station manager ging so far as telling the band to bring it back to them "when they had a melody." However, L.A station 'k-rock' began to play Give It Away, and quickly received hundreds of requests a day for the song to be given air time.

Another concern surrounding the release was that the recently shot video would be too weird to be played onto MTV. This proved true for some while until it came to the attention of fans of the band. MTV, like 'k-rock', began to receive hundreds of requests a day for the video to be played.

In September 1992, The Red Hot Chili Peppers played the MTV awards show and picked up 2 awards for the Give It Away, one of which was the much sought after 'breakthrough video award.' Infamously, during the acceptance of the award, Flea pretended to masturbate live on TV and was hastily pulled off stage by security.

Popularity

Give It Away is considered by fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to be one of their greatest songs. Thirteen years on, it has become an unmovable part of all Chili Peppers' concerts, and still sees regualar play on radio and music video channels. This song was chosen as the grand finale for the band's shows during their 2004 UK tour.