Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dani California Meaning

Song Released: 2006

Dani California Lyrics

GETTING BORN IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
PAPA WAS A COPPER
AND MAMA WAS A HIPPIE

IN ALABAMA SHE WOULD SWING A HAMMER
PRICE YOU GOT TO PAY WHEN YOU BREAK THE PANORAMA

SHE NEVER KNEW THAT THERE WAS
ANYTHING MORE THAN POOR

WHAT IN THE...

1. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 15th 2010 !⃝

   In relation to the interpretation above, the songs speaks of Indiana and then California, which is the progression that the peoples temple (jonestown) cult went through
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 15th 2010 !⃝

   is there not a theory that she ends up representing a member of the Jonestown mass suicide cult; led by Jim Jones?
   that would seems to make sense when it talks of others dying and also with the priestess and priest idea, I realise that there is not specific person named Dani but a character that developed over a number of sons.
   Any Thoughts?
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 7th 2010 !⃝

   I think the part "it only hurts when i laugh - gone too fast" is actually a reference to anal sex. It is one of the few things that hurt more when you laugh (in the hours after engaging in this activity), along with cracked ribs and maybe chest infections. And, especially, if you have "gone too fast" while doing it. How was "Dani" "saving the best for last"? Some oblique reference to Kurt Cobain? No, she had given up her ass. It's bound to be a controversial interpretation, but I think it makes most sense, and the chilli pepper's lyrics are heavy with sexual connotations and references - "to fingerpaint is not a sin, i put my middle finger in, your monthly blood is what i win...", "what i got you've gotta get it, put it in you", etc.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. zenzenzen

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 3rd 2010 !⃝

   This song is virtually the same in its praise for the same subject that "Last Dance with MaryJane" and "Got to Get You Into My Life" deal with. I will explicate later (N.B., song interpretation difficulty index = 3).
5. zenzenzen

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 2nd 2010 !⃝

   This song is like "Last Dance with Maryjane" (i.e., it's primarily about marijuana).
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 18th 2009 !⃝

   If you want a real interpretation of songs by them read Kiedis's book "scar tissue"
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 4th 2009 !⃝

   Yeah.... I think there was an interview where Dani represented every girl in Anthony's life and she's the "Teenage bride with a baby inside" in Californication and mentioned in By The Way.
8. Klatten

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 18th 2009 !⃝

   The part "California show your teeth" I think it means that people in california should fight the thing they have become

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. dnauge01

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 6th 2009 !⃝

   Dani California does not refer to any one person. There is no girl named Dani, and this was stated by the band during an MTV interview.
   After the releases of their singles "Under the Bridge" and "Californication" the Red Hot Chili Peppers began to take a mellower path. A popular trend amongst songs on the Stadium Arcadium album were that there were alot, lot more to their songs.
   Look past the superficial things you can derive from the lyrics and really dig.
   "Dani California" is a fictional character created by Anthony Kiedis and in this song John F., Flea and AK himself all used this character to express the struggles they all overcame throughout their years as a band. Additionally, the too true to say goodbye to you line refers to Sinead O'Conner.
   In sum, this song is a character representing the collected dramas and troubles experienced by members of the band.
   Great song as well. Enjoy
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Feb 23rd 2009 !⃝

    The son's meaning is pretty obvious, although I'm sure it, like any other song, was meant to be interpreted in many ways. I personally think this song is about a girl, nicknamed Dani California for lyrical purposes, was born poor and thrown into a life filled with unstable enviroments and poverty. Because of her upbringing she developed some bad habits, like robbing banks, conning people, and stealing from houses. As you can imagine because of this she was almost constantly lokking down the barrel of a gun, whether held by the police or a bounty hunter. As she traveled the south getting into trouble she was eventually hunted down by a bounty hunter from North Dakota and she was killed. A man came to know her and realized she was not a terrible person, and that she in fact had poential and was "stunning" and a "lover." Nobody realized this but him, and he is now devastated with her death, and ashamed at the way humanity can be so cuel.
    I LOVE THIS SONG and I think it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Oct 15th 2008 !⃝

    1. Elvis with also pretty much any epitome of 50's rock including a bit of Bill Haley.
    
    2. Any geeky early 60's Brit Pop band, more like the Spinal Tap spoof of "Give Me Some Money". Semi Yardbirds... but the Yardbirds weren't quite Lawrence and His Dorkestra...
    
    3. It's NOT Prince... and it's not necessarily Hendrix, the 60's/70's Psychedelic... but a compilation of bands.
    
    Fusciante is playing a painted SG a la "Fool" guitar.... So paying an homage to Clapton's Cream days.
    
    Flea almost looks like Robbie Krieger from the Doors or Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding.
    
    Can't quite put my finger on Chad's role.
    
    Anthony is certainly playing up a few people. Can be Hendrix... but no guitar. More than likely a bit of Beatles from Sgt. Peppers with a bit of Phil Lynot from Thin Lizzy.
    
    4. Certainly no question that Flea is playing up Bootsy Collins and this is pretty much homage to Parliament/ Funkadelic. Also a bit of MC-5...
    
    5. Bowie/ Stones (Get Your Ya-Yas out era)... Don't forget the NY Dolls and their cross-dressing days!
    
    6. Sex Pistols and Clash
    
    7. Misfits... They probably PLAYED with them in the 80's.
    
    8. Same with Poison. Remember, the RHCP didn't come out a few years ago, they've been around SINCE the Hair Metal Days and played in many of the same LA clubs and have puked in the same corners.
    
    9. Nirvana... no doubt about that.
    
    10... and then themselves
    
    It's a fun vid... and it's a song with hooks. It's not a great song. It's nice to see John Fusciante seemingly to be more awake and aware of what's around him since his rehab.
    
    He's always been a solid player but he was looking very fragile in the subsequent years. His voice is now strong and seems confident in his work and his life.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. dngrsly

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Sep 12th 2008 !⃝

    I really believe there is - or was - a "Dani Cal". She was at least an acquaintance of one band member. This was her story... The song is sheer brilliance as is the video.
13. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Aug 2nd 2008 !⃝

    I believe that this songs has many layers of interpretation:
    at the top layer the song can be interpreted as a song about a woman or women that the songwriter knew and it is sort of a elegy in that sense about these women who have been pretty born into a pretty miserable existence and have to work harder then most of us just to survive. As you go deeper the song can be interpreted as song about the state of Calfornia and how from the outside it looks very glamorous , like a beautiful women, but from the inside the inside the true nature of the beast is revealed ("California show your teeth")
14. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 31st 2008 !⃝

    "Simultaneous release" is not sexual. It refers to the character's manner of death, i.e. a gunfight. The man "gunning for the quota" and Dani shot their guns at the same time, and she died.
    
    If you look at the song lyrics, it's not hard to see that Dani did not commit suicide--just because the narrator says he mourns her doesn't mean she took her own life, guys.
15. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Apr 6th 2008 !⃝

    Most of the song is fairly self explanatory, but some people seem to read way to much into some parts.
    
    The line "California rest in peace" is simply to show the Dani is dead, since her full name is Dani California as one can tell from the line "With a name like Dani California, The day was gonna come when I was gonna mourn ya". Now, of course her name might be a metaphore for the way California is, but that's a seprate debate all together.
    
    The other part of this song I see debated the most is how she is said to die. To me at its very clear... She was killed by a cop in North Dekoda. The line "Never made it up to Minnesota, North Dakota man was a gunning for the quota" is really easy to interpret. "The man" is an often used term to describe cops, and cops often have quotas to fill. Simple enough... and the line "Down in the badlands she was savin' the best for last" also supports that, seeing as the badlands do run through North Dakota.
    
    Beyond that the rest of the song pretty much explains itself... Its a fictional girl who leads a bad life, and ends up getting killed at a young age.

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)