scar tissue

An outstanding Red Hot Chili Peppers song, the first single from the 1999 album Californication. The song is built around a mellow yet poignant guitar riff courtesy of John Frusciante. Lyrically fluid and beautiful, and instrumentally haunting, Scar Tisuue is probably my favourite Chilis song. The song contains 3 slide guitar solos, building in intensity and length each time, finishing with a passionate 50-second passage that serves as the song's outro. The video for Scar Tissue is often interpreted as a kind of sequel to the earlier Give it Away video. Both are shot in a desert, but in Give it Away the band is young and energetic, wheras in Scar Tissue, nearly a decade later, they are driving a rusty old car and seem to be pretty battered and bruised - perhaps a metaphor for the band, and John in particular, finally conquering addiction - They are better for it, but it has left them scarred. Scar Tissue is also the name of Anthony Kiedis' Autobiography - an excellent read, I'm sure you'll agree.