"Dani California" is a song from American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium (2006). The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and was officially released on April 28, 2006. The international radio premiere was on April 3, 2006, when Don Jantzen, from the Houston radio station KTBZ-FM, played "Dani California" continuously for his entire three-hour program.[2]
"Dani California" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers | ||||
from the album Stadium Arcadium | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | April 28, 2006 | |||
Studio | The Mansion (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:42 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |||
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Dani California" on YouTube |
The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's third and most recent single to enter the top 10. In addition, "Dani California" became the second song (after R.E.M.'s "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" in 1994) to debut at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, staying there for 14 consecutive weeks. It also charted at number one on the Mainstream Rock chart, where it spent 12 straight weeks on top. The song won two Grammy Awards: one for Best Rock Song and the other for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[3] It marked the band's joint-biggest UK hit to date along with "By the Way", peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Altogether, the single reached the top five in 10 countries.
Origins and character
editThroughout the song, lyricist Anthony Kiedis laments the early death of Dani, a poor, young Southern girl who eventually lived in California, became a mother and lived a hard, fast, unsettled life.[4] Kiedis has commented that the character of Dani is a composite of all the women with whom he has had relationships. The song narrates much of Dani's life, starting with her birth in Mississippi and apparently culminating with her death in the badlands, by a North Dakota policeman, while en route to Minnesota.[5]
Dani first appeared in the 1999 song "Californication", which includes the lyrics "Teenage bride with a baby inside/Gettin' high on information" although the girl's name is not specified. She was next mentioned in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2002 single "By the Way" as "Dani the girl". Kiedis commented: "When this funky groove came up it struck me as a perfect place to actually tell a story. It sort of revealed itself to me that it's been the same character, just kind of developing. At first I didn't realize that I was writing about the same girl."[6]
Guitarist John Frusciante used various instruments and effects devices in order to achieve the textures and treatments used throughout the song, including Mellotron, Moog effect pedals, and a Doepfer modular synthesizer, used for the filtering and processing of pre-recorded tracks. The one-minute guitar solo at the end of the song is an adaption of Jimi Hendrix's intro to "Purple Haze", with the effects kept very close to the original.
Reception
editShortly after its release, the originality of the song was questioned on the Dan Gaffney Morning Show on Delaware based news/talk radio station WGMD 92.7 FM.[7] Two of the station's talk show hosts, Dan Gaffney and Jared Morris, alleged that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had plagiarized Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1993 hit "Mary Jane's Last Dance". To demonstrate, they presented audio snippets of both songs, both side by side and simultaneously (i.e. on top of each other) several times. They stated that the chord progression, key, and the lyrical theme of the songs (both produced by Rick Rubin) showed "startling similarities" and urged listeners to "decide for themselves."[7]
Although the chord progressions sound similar, they do in fact differ as "Mary Jane's Last Dance" follows "Am, G, D, Am" (A Dorian mode), while "Dani California" follows "Am, G, Dm, Am" (A minor). University of Chicago musicologist Travis Jackson said the songs' chord progressions were similar, but were a "pretty standard groove" in music and not necessarily evidence of copying.[8]
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Petty denied rumors that he planned to sue the Chili Peppers and said, "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike."[9]
Music video
editThe music video for "Dani California" premiered on April 4, 2006.[10] Directed by Tony Kaye, director of American History X (who was only accepted after initial choice Mark Romanek declined), the video is a quasi-chronology of the evolution of rock music; the band performs the song on a stage, but in a variety of outfits representing important figures and movements in the history of rock, with band members transformed into famous musicians.[4]
Flea affirmed that "[The band] mainly did eras, not actual people: rockabilly, British Invasion, psychedelia, funk, glam, punk, goth, hair metal, grunge, and ourselves being the sum of all those parts."[4] While the band's appearance was intentionally generic in each scene, obvious nods were made to certain specific artists, including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Parliament-Funkadelic (as Flea was dressed like Bootsy Collins), David Bowie (as Flea was dressed like Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust persona), Slade, Sex Pistols, The Misfits' Glenn Danzig, Poison, Mötley Crüe, Nirvana, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers themselves.[11] The video finishes with the Red Hot Chili Peppers as themselves, occasionally flashing back to the imitated transformed artists featured earlier in the film.
The video received ten nominations at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards; it won the award for Best Art Direction, failing to win its six other nominations for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Rock Video, Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography. The video was also nominated for an MMVA for best international video.
Chart performance
edit"Dani California" debuted at number 24 and peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 (remaining for two weeks at that position), becoming their third and last top ten hit. It's the 2nd song to debut at number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart after R.E.M. in 1994 and before Linkin Park in 2007, remaining at the location for 14 weeks.[12] The song also managed to achieve 28,000 units of digital sales in the song's first week of release and debuted at number 16 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.[13] In the UK, the song fared even better, peaking at the number two spot for one week (kept off by Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"), and eventually remaining on that chart for over 15 weeks. It also stayed 12 weeks at number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song also became a cross-over hit to pop and adult contemporary radio peaking number five on the Adult Top 40 chart, their 1st Top 5 and Top 10 single on the chart beating "Scar Tissue" and "Otherside" both at number 11. The song also hit number 25 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.
The song is among the few tracks the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded which have broken the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.[12] It was a success, with "Dani California" accumulating over 500 weeks collectively on over 20 charts.[12]
In popular culture
editThe song is offered as a playable track in Rock Band, and was exportable to Rock Band 2 but not any future versions of the Rock Band series until a patch on November 8, 2011, made the song playable in Rock Band 3.[14] The song is used in the two Japanese live-action films, Death Note and Death Note 2: The Last Name, both directed by Shūsuke Kaneko.[citation needed] In addition, "Dani California" was used in the promo for the fourth season of Sons of Anarchy and as a NASCAR AD for All Star Weekend in 2006.[15]
Track listings
editCD single 1 5439 15759-2
- "Dani California" – 4:44
- "Million Miles of Water" – 4:06
CD single 2 9362 42925-2
- "Dani California" – 4:44
- "Whatever We Want" – 4:48
- "Lately" – 2:55
7-inch picture disc single 5439 15758-7
- "Dani California" – 4:44
- "Whatever We Want" – 4:48
iTunes EP
- "Dani California" – 4:44
- "Whatever We Want" – 4:47
- "Lately" – 2:55
- "Million Miles of Water" – 4:05
Personnel
editRed Hot Chili Peppers
- Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals
- John Frusciante – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, synthesizers
- Flea – bass
- Chad Smith – drums
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit |
Year-end chartsedit
|
Certifications
editRegion | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[64] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada)[65] Ringtone |
Gold | 20,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[66] | 2× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI)[67] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Japan (RIAJ)[68] Full-length ringtone |
Platinum | 250,000* |
Japan (RIAJ)[69] Ringtone |
2× Platinum | 500,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[70] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF)[71] | Gold | 10,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[72] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[73] | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
editRegion | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | April 3, 2006 | Triple A radio | Warner Bros. | [2][74] |
Europe | April 28, 2006 | CD | [27] | |
United Kingdom | May 1, 2006 | [75] | ||
Australia | May 8, 2006 | [76] | ||
Japan | May 10, 2006 | [31] |
References
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- ^ "Song lyrics". Archived from the original on July 25, 2008.
- ^ YouTube – Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California"
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- ^ "Latest News: Petty vs. Chili Peppers, Townshend Explains Song and More". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 4, 2006. Retrieved June 3, 2007.
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- ^ Michaels, Mitch. "The Self-Service Edition: Dani California Video". Ask 411 Music. 411 Mania. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
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- ^ Pietroluongo, Silvio (April 22, 2006). "Peppers Heat Up Hot 100". Billboard. p. 70. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
- ^ "RB 3 Title Update Coming 11/8 – Black Hole Sun & Dani California and Hide Song Option". Archived from the original on January 9, 2012.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "'06 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California NASCAR Commercial". YouTube.
- ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
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- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Dani California". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California". Top Digital Download. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ a b "ダニー・カリフォルニア | レッド・ホット・チリ・ペッパーズ" [Dani California | Red Hot Chili Peppers] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 19, 2006" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
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- ^ "Danish single certifications – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ^ "Italian single certifications – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
- ^ "Japanese ringtone certifications – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 31, 2021. Select 2011年11月 on the drop-down menu
- ^ "Japanese ringtone certifications – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved May 31, 2021. Select 2008年1月 on the drop-down menu
- ^ "Spanish single certifications – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
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External links
edit- WGMD 92.7 podcast Comparison of Dani California to Mary Jane's Last Dance