Then, when on my Stairmaster one day listening to the song, I heard a phrase that could have been written by the Capitalist philosopher, Joseph Schumpeter. I replayed the song and then also picked up the same spiritual sense I got from the Robert’s novel. Now, when the endorphins get going in exercise, many strange thoughts come to mind. But I needed to take a closer look at the song.

Given my belief that the economic and political philosophy of the real California is responsible, not only for its own bankrupt and corrupt condition, but for a good percentage of America’s current condition, I wondered what RHCP lead singer and lyricist Anthony Kiedis saw about California back in 1999—right at the height of its power and wealth during the technology boom. Upon reading the lyrics, (really, listening to the song) one is brought into a dark world. The escape hatch is hard to see, but it is there. While its diagnosis is damning, it also provides a spiritual message of hope. And yes, it can relate to everyday decisions about many things, including even politics. Thus, I decided the best way to work it into a blog was simply to “interpret” it and see what happens. In doing so, I also get to have fun with it like the other, uh, geeks on SongMeanings.

The “portmanteau” word, Californication, could be replaced with “Californification” (or Californization). This would be the equivalent of saying “beautification” in discussing “beautifying” the world. But the coincidence of California’s spelling produces the delightful extra feature of putting the word “fornication” inside this blend word. In other words, the “Californification” of the world can equally be re-written as the “Californication” of the world. Pretty clever by Kiedis. “Californication,” for RHCP, represents the false “premise” and false “promise” offered by a decadent and amoral culture. It is not just California, but it definitely is also California.

Interpretation of poetry or song lyrics is of necessity subjective. Great lyrics have such a clean structure, they permit great interpretive latitude. Not that “anything goes,” because it doesn’t. However, a well structured and dense “metaphorical” lyric provides room for the reader/listener to fill in some of their own content. While I do not know what Anthony Kiedis exactly had in mind, I believe my “interpretation” is consistent with the song’s prose and structure. So here goes my full exposition.

First, here’s a link to a recording of the song with lyrics embedded in the YouTube video:

–

The following are the lyrics in full.

Psychic spies from China
Try to steal your mind’s elation
Little girls from Sweden
Dream of silver screen quotations
And if you want these kind of dreams
It’s Californication

It’s the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the East
At least it settles in the final location
It’s understood that Hollywood
sells Californication

Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin is this your chin
Or is that war your waging

[Chorus]:

First born unicorn
Hard core soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication

Marry me girl be my fairy to the world
Be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside
Getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard
It’s Californication

Space may be the final frontier
But it’s made in a Hollywood basement
Cobain can you hear the spheres
Singing songs off station to station
And Alderon’s not far away
It’s Californication

Born and raised by those who praise
Control of population everybody’s been there
and
I don’t mean on vacation

[Chorus]:

Destruction leads to a very rough road
But it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl’s guitar
They’re just another good vibration
And tidal waves couldn’t save the world
From Californication

Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
Sicker than the rest
There is no test
But this is what you’re craving  

I will approach this interpretation by verse by verse initially, then conclude with a summary.

Psychic spies from China
Try to steal your mind’s elation
Little girls from Sweden
Dream of silver screen quotations
And if you want these kind of dreams
It’s Californication

We are introduced to our Californication world without too much fanfare. One can imagine walking down the streets of any big city and seeing the various tarot card readers, “Eastern” mystics, and fortune tellers. These “psychic spies” prey on the naive who willingly give up their freedom, for cash of course, to find out their fake destiny. There is also the classic fantasy going back 90 years of heading for Hollywood to become a “big star.” But these “little girls” from Sweden (or Detroit, Des Moines, New York) will likely get a dose of Californication for their trouble instead.

It’s the edge of the world
And all of western civilization
The sun may rise in the East
At least it settles in the final location
It’s understood that Hollywood
sells Californication

Dual meanings here as Kiedis starts increasing his complexity. The literal meaning is simple. The “West” is generally considered to be Europe and North America (although to be accurate it culturally includes New Zealand and Australia). The (almost) most western part of “Western Civilization” is California. The “East” is Asia. In our world of time, the first morning sunlight happens just west of the international date line in the Pacific Ocean. More metaphorically, however, it is understood that Civilization began in China 5000 years ago. He now introduces his first hint—more to come– that Civilization’s final location “in time” may occur in “California.” The “edge” of the world is also the edge of time, not just a physical location.

Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin is this your chin
Or is that war your waging [Chorus:]
First born unicorn
Hard core soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication

He now begins to personalize and it is clear that the initial tone of sadness has now changed to mockery. He taunts the purveyors of Californication as desperate beings try to deny time in a vain and futile attempt for immortality (”Celebrity Skin” was a Grammy-winning hit on the same topic of plastic surgery released in 1998 by Courtney Love’s group, Hole. Her late husband Kurt Cobain is referenced later in the song). The “chorus” is, I think, pretty clear. The “unicorn” is an ancient fictional beast and appears throughout literary history. The one that seems to fit here is as a symbol of purity. The unicorn was often represented as being tameable only by a virgin maiden. In Catholic mythology, from late Antiquity (300-600 AD), it represented Christ being incarnated. It was depicted in art having its head on the Virgin Mary’s lap. Later, in a non-religious framework, it represented chaste love and faithful marriage. So we are born to have love in a relationship, monogamous love—but our culture drives us to Californication’s “hard core/soft porn.”

Marry me girl be my fairy to the world
Be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside
Getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard
It’s Californication 

This verse, which at first does reveal an island of hope in a world of despair, also describes the fatal attraction of Californication. It is impossible to know whether this verse is really “first person” or just a representation of two people. I chose the latter. He depicts a presumably young couple. The man/boy promises devotion as his teenage bride discovers all she can about pregnancy, “getting high on the information”. But Kiedis describes the groom getting distracted and will do anything—what could be more despairing than “buying” recognition?— to get his “star on the boulevard”. That’s Californication.

Space may be the final frontier
But it’s made in a Hollywood basement
Cobain can you hear the spheres
Singing songs off station to station
And Alderon’s not far away
It’s Californication

This verse’s overall meaning is clear, although the specifics have multiple interpretations (maybe by design) and have too many “degrees of separation” to go into all the details. The overall meaning is that Californication threatens the existence (spiritually, if not physically) of our civilization. The first two lines refer to the media’s ability to create illusions and distort reality. Cobain is Kurt Cobain, Kiedis’ friend. “Spheres singing songs off Station to Station” is difficult to get precise. David Bowie had a hit album in 1976 called “Station to Station.”Nirvana (and their spin-off band “Foo Fighters” after Cobain’s death) often appeared together with Bowie. Nirvana covered a Bowie song The Man Who Sold The World. But that song was not on the Station to Station album, but an earlier album. Who and what are the “spheres”? Pythagoras was the first to link music, math and the universe into a “mystical” image called the “music of the spheres”. This is the most plausible meaning as the next line, “Alderon’s not far away” clearly refers to the home planet of “Princess Leia” in Star Wars which was destroyed by a “Death Star”—(its “Californication”).

In World War II, Allied pilots would often see strange fiery sphere like objects in the sky which they could not shoot down. This happened throughout 1944. This, by the way, is a phenomenon that has never been explained. Pilots and their command originally thought these were new German weapons so they called them “kraut-fireballs”. When they realized the UFOs were unlikely to be of German origin they were then called “foo-fighters.” So are “the spheres” the Foo Fighters? Maybe, but they never sang songs “from Station to Station.” In any event, the main character in “The Man Who Sold The World” is a timeless demonic figure “who sold the world”. The main character in the song “Station to Station” is the “Thin White Duke”, a character who “makes “white” stain”. These “characters” were dark, mysterious and seemingly demonic—of the Californication world.

So where do we stand? The lyricist seems to be missing his deceased friend. Cobain is likely one who shared his vision of the world, as did, presumably, Bowie. But the bottom line of this verse is “Alderon’s not far away” i.e., the “destruction” of the earth. (The original sheet music apparently uses the spelling “Alderon.” But the planet in Star Wars is spelled “Alderaan”).

Born and raised by those who praise
Control of population everybody’s been there
and I don’t mean on vacation

Kiedis is unambiguously criticizing our culture’s obsession with  birth control and/or abortion. It could also mean a critique of those in power. But “those who praise” are all of us to some extent. “Those who praise” are also the the purveyors of the values of Californication. We have all been to “California” and “I don’t mean on vacation.” We cannot just point fingers at others but we need to look in the mirror.

Destruction leads to a very rough road
But it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl’s guitar
They’re just another good vibration
And tidal waves couldn’t save the world
From Californication 

This verse lead me to this insane attempt to “interpret” this song. The first two lines make the point made by many philosophers and artists, but made most famous by Joseph Schumpeter’s phrase “creative destruction”. The term, in economics, means progress happens through the destruction of old industries/businesses/technologies to make way for better use of man’s creative talents. (There are no more buggy whip makers, as they say). What is the author getting at? The second two lines are a representation in specifics what is meant by the first two lines. It also is an image of “infinity,” “perspective,” and “relativity.” The “single fact” of a plucked guitar string (or any “fact” or “set of observations” of life) should be viewed from many different angles. At the level of the infinitesmally small, in this case, the vibration of the guitar, we have catastrophe. At the level of the Universe (”music of the spheres”) it is just another “good vibration”–ha. This is not related at all to the concept that all values are “relative.” Quite the opposite. Its just that “things” are more complex than they may at first appear. One constantly is required to step back and view life from different “relative” angles to see the full truth. These first four lines are timeless and represent one of the two strands of “hope” in the song.

The last two lines of the verse are a biblical reminder and warning. Even Noah’s Flood (which cleansed the world to start anew), or “tidal waves” cannot save the world from Californication. Now that is harsh.

Pay your surgeon very well
To break the spell of aging
Sicker than the rest
There is no test
But this is what you’re craving 

We close out with a final sarcastic burst. You better pay up a lot to stop time (already known to be impossible). He seems to be goading the “Californicators” to just do it, “this is what you’re craving.” But why, he asks, “There is no test” and you cannot break the “spell of aging.”

Lets put it all together. We know this “Californication” thing is “bad” but what is it? Californication is libertinism, crass materialism, solipsistic interactions and spiritual emptiness. It is our modern secular world, in short. Who knew RHCP shared something in common with cultural conservatives? What is the “better way”? The “unicorn” and “teenage girl with the baby inside” point the way. This is the first strand of the message. It is natural and beautiful to have a loving monogamous relationship between a man and a woman. Not exactly new “news” but in a Californication world it almost seems radical. The second strand of the message, the “earthquake in the girl’s guitar”, provides clues on how we should view the world. It is mysterious and beautiful and we have lost sight of the “wonder” that is really omnipresent. The song is trying to reintroduce a sense of wonder, awe, humility, “simple” complexity and mystery into our world. It is all around us—-but we do not see it at all. We may as well be Alderaan. It’s Californication.

Witness Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s cavalcade of shiny, happy situational patriots appearing in a derivative public servitude announcement: A “Presidential Pledge” to President Barack Obama.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Forgive and forget? Right.

President Bush was not holding back Moore from “free[ing] one million people from slavery in the next five years.” Nor was he holding back the Obama-biquitous Will.I.Am from “chang[ing] how [he] live[s].” Ditto: Aaron Ekhart (”To be a better person,”) Marisa Tomei (”To integrate into my heart what I already know in my head which is that we are all in this together,”) Kutcher (”To the abolition to 21st century slavery,”) Anthony Kiedis (”To be of service to Barack Obama,”) P. Diddy (” pledge to turn the lights off, cause I used to leave the lights on but we want to conserve energy so I’ma turn the lights off, you turn the lights off,) and all-in-unison (”Because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we seek.”)

Missing are pledges not to kiss the ring of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and other pledged enemies of America. Nor are there pledges not to make movies that glorify these tyrants. Nor are there pledges to take seriously that we are at war, will continue to be at war under President Obama and that our precious and under-appreciated military is fighting an avowed and evil enemy — so that, among other things, Hollywood can continue to make decadent crap that actually motivates our enemy to fight us harder!

Unfortunately, what happens in Hollywood does not stay in Hollywood.

For more mind-numbing background read Kutcher’s companion piece at the… you got it… the Huffington Post .

The conservatives, Republicans and sundry non-lefties I know in show business have had nothing to say but positive and helpful things about the coming Obama presidency.

“We wish him well.” “He is our president now and he needs our help.”

These are the types of things I keep hearing.

And this is exactly the right attitude and exactly the right message.

God bless, President Obama. Even though I didn’t vote for him, and disagree with much of his agenda, he has my best wishes and all of my best efforts.

But that doesn’t mean I will forgive and forget an era of narcissism, petty complaining and conspiracy theory peddling from the majority celebrity class that began well before Iraq. [See "Hollywood, Interrupted " -- my book co-written with Mark Ebner -- which was written before and during the build-up to the Iraq war and before the WMDs weren't found. The public behavior from Hollywood even then was almost uniformly deplorable.]

Conspiracy theories of America’s complicity in 9/11 dominated cocktail party discussions for eight tedious years. They couldn’t simply disagree with Bush. They had to ascribe evil to his motivations and make sure the whole world agreed on that flawed premise.

Yet, hating the president doesn’t mean one can’t still help out the country in a great time of need. But many went to foreign countries and demeaned it instead. Called those that disagreed with them rubes and hicks. The elitism of the celebrities against flyover country America could not have been more pronounced. They made a boat-load of movies that affirmed this narrow and patronizing world view.

And now they want us back.

We’re all Americans — NOW.

It’s a convenient lie the celebrity left peddles that they were with us during the initial Afghanistan phase of the war, and even after 9/11.

No syrupy revisionism will change this fact.

[As I was writing this piece, I received the following unsolicited email from a Big Hollywood reader: "Reminder to liberal celebrities: It's time to set your Fluctuating Patriotism Clock from "Hate America" to "Love America" on Jan. 20th. Remember, it's "Springsteen Ahead - Falwell Behind." Funny.]

Featured in Moore’s goofy, derivative and pretty-in-a-grotesque-way video is none other than Cameron Diaz who had this to say before the 2004 election:

We have a voice now, and we’re not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies…if you think that rape should be legal , then don’t vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote…

Such mental insanity posing as erudition usually earns ostracism. But Diaz and her self-serious cohorts have no moral compass, no sense of proportion, no decency and, certainly, no shame.

This video illustrates that the current celebrity class are not citizens but serfs. They need a leader to put their minds in the right place to do the right thing. They are not heroic individualists seeking to extend America’s promise but conformists who chose to sit out and complain during the tough years in order to ensure their guy got in the next go-around.

The celebrity decadence during the “oppressive” Bush years was world class. The clubs raged. The boutique hotels rocked. The private jet industry at Van Nuys airport flourished. The party never stopped. And only a precious few (Thank you, dearly!!!) stepped up to support the American troops who have been valiantly fighting for Hollywood’s right to do lines off of each others’ buttocks at $10 million Hollywood Hills mansions.

They never spoke up against the movies that demonized our military.

They never made movies to counter the libel.

They took the easy route. And blamed Bush for everything.

Moore’s nauseating video — which, like Steven Soderbergh’s “Oceans” franchise, grants a pristine look into the modern celebrity’s sense of self-importance — is not a sign of desire to serve the country under Obama. Watch, by March this pledge like New Year’s resolutions will fall by the wayside. It is a sign that the Democrat is in the White House now. It is a sign that they get to sleep again in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Twenty years ago AIDS was the number one cause for the Hollywood left. Remember the trendy red ribbons at all the self-aggrandizing awards shows? Hollywood has moved on (dot org) to better blame-your-fellow-American causes. But President Bush didn’t. And aside from Bob Geldof and Bono , they ignore this president’s demonstrable goodness .

Amazing that Geldof and Bono could valiantly fight their battles and serve humanity without being paralyzed by the Leader of the Free World 2000-2008’s all-encompassing awfulness.

Remember this video: It is a instructive relic of the era of celebrity decadence and boutique anti-Republican activism under President Bush. It is a sickening display that they want fast and easy absolution for having comported themselves like ill-behaved children for eight difficult and war-torn years.

Good luck, President Obama. The rest of you can go to hell.