"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.[3]
Throughout 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.[5] 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.[6]
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."[7]
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 Doepfermodular 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
Shortly 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.[8] Two of the station's talk show hosts, Dan Gaffney and Jared Morris, alleged that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had plagiarizedTom 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."[8]
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.[9]
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."[10]
The music video for "Dani California" premiered on April 4, 2006.[11] 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.[5]
"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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[13] It was a success, with "Dani California" accumulating over 500 weeks collectively on over 20 charts.[13]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 26. týden 2006 in the date selector. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
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