Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside

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  My Interpretation:I believe it's about drug addiction. WARNING - This may contain explicit information about drug use, please don't read if it offends you
  
  Once you've been a heroin addict, there is no true going back. You can change your life, you can end your addiction. But the desire to use, the things you've experienced, they will never truly go away. Places remind you of fond memories of using, they trigger you. People trigger you. Photographs, anything that reminds you, it brings back memories and a desire to use.
  
  "I heard your voice through a photograph" - Referring to seeing a photo that reminded him of drugs even if it isn't even particularly related. Maybe the photo was of a person or a place that reminded him of drugs.
  
  "I thought it up and brought up the past" - It reminded him of his past. Maybe he just thought of heroin or the photo reminded him.
  
  "Stranger things could never change my mind
  I’ve got to take it on the otherside" - Once you've been to the "other side", ie, you've tried heroin a few times or you've been addicted, there's no going back. You're on the otherside and you're going to have to live there forever. Once you have that desire to use after being triggered it's extremely hard to throw off.
  
  "The ashtray’s full and I’m spillin’ my guts" - Heroin users smoke a lot because it enhances the high. Spillin my guts could refer to vomiting which happens during withdrawal.
  
  "She wants to know am I still a slut" - People often refer to heroin as "she" because the drug can be like an abusive relationship. You love it, it shows you a wonderful time then give you hell. By slut, he is referring to abusing "her" and allowing her to abuse him... Enjoying her like a slut enjoys sex then feeling dirty afterward.
  
  "I Don't believe it's bad" Can be that heroin addicts don't believe it's bad, they know its bad, but well... its hard to explain unless you've been there.
  
  "I yell and tell it that
  It’s not a friend
  I tear it down I tear it down
  And then it’s born again" - You hate the drug, you know it's wrecked your life. It's not your friend, you defeat it, but it so easily comes back. Someone calls you. You're reminded of it by some little reason... You drive past a place you've used... You see a user and you're tempted to "Befriend" them and get contacts.. the list goes on... So many things out there can give you the urge to bring it back into your life.
  
  ***EXPLICIT CONTENT ABOUT DRUG USE WARNING***
  
  "Scarlet starlet and she’s in my bed
  A candidate for a soul mate bled
  Push the trigger and pull the thread I’ve got to take it on the otherside" - When you inject, if you use a tourniquet, you tie something around your arm to make the vein show. Then you put the needle in and pull the plunger out to register blood. Before you push it in you "pull the thread" (untie the tourniquet) then push in. Then once you've used once after being clean for a while you're back on that "other side", craving, fighting the drug, all over again. SORRY for being so descriptive and explicit but this is what I understand the lyrics to be in relation to.
  
  ***END EXPLICIT CONTENT***
  
  Also the tune of the song is very... reminiscent of the sad and hopeless feeling that haunts your life once you're on that "other side"

  Flag anonduseron March 15, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:I believe that the main theme of this song is about suicide. It's not written from one point of view. I think that each verse puts the listener in different scenarios of suicidal "characters". The line "Take it on the otherside", refers to the narrator taking everything that they are into a better place, similar to a heaven or final resting place at least.

  Flag shalayahonon February 22, 2013   Link

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  Memory:My brother had introduced me to RHCPs music. He passed due to suicide and had problems with drugs and alcohol. I look to them and this song as an escape and a way to help me cope with my feelings about the situation. If anyone feels this way, just know you're not alone.

  Flag cboxmaniacon October 08, 2012   Link

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    My brother recently passed away too from suicide. He had many demons including drugs from a young age, he even enlisted in the military. He had a good cover though, as none of us expected it. This song is helping me too, in some weird way. cboxmaniac, I hope you find some peace. I have not yet, but I hear it happens.

    Flag SADSISTERon October 10, 2012  
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  General Comment:The song is mostly about being and addict and then recovering. Also very similar to depression as I usually go to this song when I was right in the midst of feeling helpless asking myself 'How long, how low will I slide?'

  Flag Aquilaon October 05, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:Jimmy, I think of you when this comes on. Rest easy, in peace.

  Flag Sandraskaon June 13, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:From the horse's mouth: Other Side is a song about living through the dark and bizarre insanity of drug addiction. But even after getting sober, discovering that once you've seen that level of madness, you can never view the world with the same innocent eyes. And accepting and embracing your new perception. As many AA members say "Once a pickle, never again a cucumber".

  Flag jonesieon June 10, 2012   Link

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• +1
  My Interpretation:I believe the term "other side" in this song has a double meaning. The song is primarily about drugs and the band members' (particularly Kiedis) struggles with addiction, but it could also be the "afterlife", a metaphor for death (slit my throat its all I ever had), and I think it focuses on the relation between the two (the line "once you go you can never go back" would then be appropriate for both getting high and death). The music video shows a young man going through a series of trials: the first and most literal is being taken to a hospital and getting relief, after which he is attacked by a monster in a cave, but is given a ladder and climbs out. Once he is "safe", however, his shadow (inner demons?) attacks him and they engage in something like a sword fight. After being disarmed by the shadow, he flies away, only to be attacked by a crow, who pushes him off a cliff where he appears to die. Notice how in every scenario, the protagonist does not kill or vanquish his attacker, but instead flees and runs away. These attackers are the addiction, and the message is that they cannot be killed (I yell and tell it that its not a friend I tear it down I tear it down and then its born again). Ultimately, the only definitive escape from an addiction you could possibly have is death, which is what the protagonist appears to suffer in the end, either by overdose (Hillel Slovak) or by suicide, depending on your interpretation. However, there is some degree of hope that I think is often overlooked; the man allegedly dies in the exact same position that the music video starts off in, where he suddenly opens his eyes before being taken to a hospital. Not only does this show that addiction can be a cycle of sober and relapse, but also gives the idea that it is possible to break out completely, as Kiedis appears to have done since 2000, ironically right in the realm the album Californication and this song was released. Oh, and just as a side note, Frusciante does a breathtaking backing vocal that fits beautifully with Kiedis not only because it just sounds wonderful but also considering both of them have had rough struggles with addiction. This is probably my favorite Chili Peppers song as well. Just outstanding.

  Flagged HammerFloydon May 27, 2012   Link

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  Song Comparison:Listen to a song called 'Otherside' by Macklemore! It's awesome!

  Flagged Dogtooth3030on May 04, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:i think almost everything that can be said has been said, but it like to mention something i noticed. In the book, scar tissue, anthony refers to drug addiction as a "big grey monster", and in the otherside music video, thers also a grey monster. To me that just confirms that its about drug use.

  Flag SammyRHCP9175on April 28, 2012   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:i totally agree with those who thinks this song is about anal sex

  Flagged hafeznon March 03, 2012   Link

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