Mingle With The Gods Mingle With Divinity: Blood Sugar Sex Magik

I remember thinking that nothing could be any better than the 1989 Chili Pepper's Album Mother's Milk. I could not have been more wrong. While George Clinton's funk was still prevalent, Blood Sugar Sex Magik brought us heavier sounds and some pretty heavy topics. The album also debuted at the height of MTV and actual videos. The silvery desert debut of Give It Away thrust us into a powerful era and gave us potentially the best album The Red Hot Chili Peppers will ever produce.

Recorded in Houdini's reportedly haunted Hollywood mansion, the non-studio produced album was full of originality and chances taken by the band. Hillel Slovak had passed not even five years earlier and John Frusciante would leave soon after this album hit full popularity. For those looking for songs like Higher Ground or Knock Me Down, there would be disappointment.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik is full of sex and drugs. Make no mistake, this album is a purge valve of hedonism, lust, drugs, regret, loss, and more sex. In the era of PMRC stickers, I was not able to get this one in at National Record Mart ... but go it a a yard sale! Way to circumvent the system. 

I quickly understood why it got the Parental Advisory sticker as there were more references than Darling Nikki that made me blush and run to turn down the cd player. 
This became my album (along with the Metallica Black album). Well not just mine. Mine and my best friend's album. So much so that we bought the shirts and also taped RHCP's on Pirate Radio - and listened to it over and over and so on. Anthony and Flea were like gods to us ... and Anthony seemingly knew his looks and fame were powerful. So much of this is evident in the album and it was also another reason why Frusciante would leave the band.


The Power Of Equality
The first few seconds are deceiving. It sounds like Anthoy is singing into a pillow and then boom ... Swing. It's quick and gets you really moving and ready for the album. It was hit hard politically as the song is very motivated by the discussion of race, bigotry, sexism, and hatred. 

If You Have To Ask
Very poetic and sing songy and with some Clockwork Orange language worked in. New vibe in the one for the Chili's and it worked. 

Breaking The Girl
Slowing it done and showing us what they are  really made of  in terms on content. It's the quintessential "our relationship was really rocky. This video though -- full of color and Anthony's Princess Leah manbuns. Low in Flea's bass but high on percussion.

Funky Monks
They're in a band. There are no monks in their band. There are no saints in the land ... no woman is able to escape their lure...because every man has certain needs.  Moving right along.  

Suck My Kiss
Fleas bass is heavy in this one ... like a big hug wrapping those strings around you. Anthony and those ladies. 

I Could Have Lied
Rumored to be about Anthony's very brief fling with Sinead O'Connor. It's a gorgeous acoutic guitar driven question about love and loss. 
Mellowship Slinky In B Major
Lots of B Major chords mixed throughout ... and a favorite of funk and James Brown. Lots of references to famous people ... including Anthony himself (Yo Swan).

The Righteous & The Wicked
Still such a relevant song about war, peace, and the state of the world. Lots of complexity in this song and has the build of Higher Ground.
Marvin Gaye my love, where did we go wrong?

Give It Away
Seriously crank this song. It's magic and alive and inspired by materialism. 
This video is the 1990's. 

Greedy little people in a sea of distress
Keep your more to receive your less
Unimpressed by material excess
Love is free love me say hell yes

Blood Sugar Sex Magik
A personal favorite. This song is lust about every aspect of a woman. The lyrics are like spoken word. I always wanted Anthony to sing this to me.  

Under The Bridge
The song that everyone knows as soon as you hear the first few notes. Such a therapeutic song for Anthony as it tells about his trials with drug addiction. 

Naked In The Rain
A fun song about loving life. 

Apache Rose Peacock
New Orleans. Women. Drag queens. Funk. Stop.

The Greeting Song
Driving song - pun intended. More women. More sex. And fun. Driving bass but not overpowering. 

My Lovely Man
Written for their guitarist Hilel Slovak. It's a letter of loss, respect, and love. 

Well I'm cryin' 

Now my lovely man 

Yes I'm cryin' 

Now and no one can 

Ever fill the 

The hole you left my man 

I'll see you later 

My lovely man if I can

In my room 

I'm all alone 

Waiting for you 

To get home

Sir Psycho Sexy
You have to love that Anthony makes fun of himself so much. Don't listen to this outloud if you've never listened to it before. Prepared to be shocked if you have delicate ears.

They're Red Hot
Ending of a completely different note. 
Fast, jazzy, and hot. Take with caffeine. 

Here We Are Now Entertain Us: Nevermind

If my eyes could show my soul,everyone would cry when they saw me smile ~ Kurt Cobain

The album that would  revolutionize the grunge movement was released on September 24, 1991. Not many of us rushed out to buy it ... until we say THAT video. 

While their first album Bleach was popular in the UK, in the US, the new grunge sound was just beginning to permeate the airwaves already thick with LA's hairbands. The previous week, Guns N Roses double albums Use Your Illusion I & II were released to phenomenal sales. Who was Nirvana? Flannel, heavy guitar sounds, and angst was ushered in by Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl: Nirvana. MTV and VH1 played music videos and Smells Like Teen Spirit propelled the band into the mainstream. Ironic when you set out to be against it. 

But why has the album been classified as the one to push grunge across the mainstream boundary? What about Pearl Jam's Ten or the Alice in Chain's Facelift? What about Soundgarden? To most, it sounded like noise. To a music lover, it was filled with layers of varying music styles, perfect pitch, and poetic lyrics. Nirvana's Nevermind was the gateway album to all of grunge and to those bands who inspired the grunge movement as well. (See Mother Love Bone, and Green River)

Aside from the music, this shift from LA glam to Seattle grunge was also how many of our generation felt. GENERATION. This album represents a generation and a shift in music trends.  We were in that middle and high school funk. We didn't want high bangs, we wanted docs and flannel and we were tired of everything having to be perfect. We wanted new music. Nevermind was like nothing we'd heard before. 
 

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Kurt Cobain's attempt at sounding like the Pixies and making fun of a 90's teen deodorant was the tipping point for grunge's birth into the mainstream. The video alone was novel, gone were the bikini clad models and welcomed were anarchist cheerleaders in black and dancing custodians at a dingy high school band assembly. The song is filled with chord progressions and nods to power chords of the 70's and 80's. Grohl's drumming and Novoselic's steady bass combine with Cobain's unique yet perfectly tuned voice.

 Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello, hello, hello, how low?

 
In Bloom
If this song didn't convince you of the gifted mind of Kurt Cobain, nothing ever will.  The song is a message to the fans who have no clue what Nirvana were about. This song is driven by the progression of the harder chorus and softer vocals that would be a signature model for many of the band's songs.

The video is the first of many of the 90's to use the old is new again approach, making a parody of 60's music variety shows. 

 
Come As You Are
An eerie song and music video that drew inspiration from the Nevermind cover.It's lyrics are contradictory (take your time, hurry up, choice is yours, don't be late) and it is more subdued than the first two tracks.
 
Breed 
Grohl's machine gun drumming ten second into the song cement a hypnotizing beat along with Krist's bass and Kurt's repetitive lyrics. Repetitive to represent the mundane and ground hog day suburban life.

Lithium
Subdued and poetic, angry and desperate. The song is a telling look into Kurt's mind. 
 
I'm so happy 'cause today
I've found my friends ...
They're in my head
I'm so ugly, but that's okay, 'cause so are you ...
We've broken our mirrors [Alt: We broke our mirrors]
Sunday morning is everyday for all I care ...
And I'm not scared
Light my candles in a daze ...
'Cause I've found god

 The thoughts of a suicidal person and finding god to get you through it.

 
Polly 
A disturbing song that champions a woman who overcame her captor. Poetic again and not fitting fully into the grunge sound, however the soft and pop sound ironically detailed into the thoughts of the captor himself. 
 
Territorial Pissings
Talk about the perfect mosh pit song. While the lyrics seem nonsensical there is this...
Never met a wise man, if so it's a woman

Drain You
Again, gifted lyrics even though lyrics were usually second in the production for Nirvana. 

 
Lounge Act
This song builds: spoken, shouting, yelling. It's also inspired by the bass line, which Kurt felt sounded like something from a cheesy lounge act. The song is also about a messy break up.

Stay Away
The irony is painful: I'd rather be dead than cool. The stardom that this album propelled them into was the exact opposite of what Kurt wanted. 

On A Plain 
I can totally hear early Foo in the "ohh ohh" ... which is fine since Kurt was okay with Dave's side project. It's a band staple and has every one of their signature sounds. It also offers a great transition into the final song of the album.

Something In The Way
 This song is magic. It is simple. It mellows out the anger and angst. There is nothing but Kurts guitar and voice until the drums, bass, and cello are softly mixed in. 

We may never have a moment like this again in our lives. We witnessed a musical transition in our generation. A musical revolution that happened at the same time when we transitioned from cassettes to CDs. A time when we used to go buy physical copies of music and play it from start to finish. Personally, I can remember who I was with and where I was when we first played this album. It was bold, different, and emotional. Music up to this point had been pop, sap, and a pancake make-up false facade. 

Kurt, Krist, and Dave gave us a platform and a soundtrack for our generation. We could be ourselves, angry, frustrated, and confused. Nevermind gave us an outlet. Nirvana also opened a world of music to many that never would have heard of. Nirvana was put into our lexicon before the word grunge, so the two have become synonymous. 

September 10th, 2001

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate?

Did you feel guilty
'Cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother
And tell her you loved her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street?

Alan Jackson - Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning

Twenty-two years ago today, life was simple for us. Terrorism was in Israel, Northern Ireland and Colombia. Twenty-two years ago today, we could look at an azure sky and enjoy it for what it was – pure, deep and inviting. People rode the subways, planes and buses without cause for concern. Washington D.C., Shanksville PA and New York City would never be mentioned in the same sentence on September 10, 2001.

Twenty-two years ago today, we saw and spoke to friends and family members for the final time. We watched as firefighters parked their cars at the firehouse for the night tour, hoping to watch the Giants-Broncos game between runs. Police officers stood at roll call for a quiet September night patrolling the city. Husbands, wives and flight attendants packed for their flights the next morning.

Twenty-two years ago today, we said goodbye to our innocence as we woke to a new world. In 102 Minutes, our lives would be forever changed.

Now, blue skies remind us of that day when they were blackened by smoke, when we heard the skies become silent and saw many act courageously in their final moments. Statements like, Let’s Roll and We're Three Truck and We’re Still Heading Up exemplify moments of bravery and final acts of humanity in a day filled with so much fear. Stories of the fire safety director who wouldn’t leave the Trade Center until he accounted for all of his employees, the equities trader with the red bandanna who saved 12 people, the final fight for their lives on board a hurdling plane, the firefighter running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in full gear to do his job, the police officer last seen as she helped victims to safety -- each one of these heroes gave their lives for others...this is what September 11th should be remembered as...selfless acts of courage. Our September 10th heroes looked up to our September 11th heroes in the following days. 

Twenty-two years ago on September 11th, our world changed, and it will never go back to the way it was. Something always reminds you of that day – a song, a fire truck, a plane, dust on the sidewalk. Although we must move on – never forget the sacrifices, the unspoken hurt that still remains, the friend’s phone number still on the cell phone after ten years or the want of a memorial for those never recovered.

Future generations won't know what life was like before this day. They will hear about it in reminisced stories by survivors, witnesses, victims' families, songs and TV. It is our job to keep the memories alive of the almost 3,000 victims who perished that day, the first responders who are dying now as a result of their rescue and recovery work and our soldiers who fight to defend our country. Our future generations need to know more than we were attacked by terrorists. They need to know that we were attacked by terrorists and brave human beings from 90 countries - civilian and military and even a bomb sniffing dog, died and many survived through brave acts by fellow human beings. They also need to know that day was hell -- it was terrifying to not know what was next, to watch humans perish in front of our eyes on live satellite television.  Life was extinguished and disappeared in an instant and we all experienced or watched it first-hand.

Twenty-two years on -- we have grieved, we are remembering, we are moving along, but we will never forget.