10 Classic Rock Songs You Didn't Realize Were Incredibly Dark

At the end of the '90s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers had finally started to pull themselves out of the darkness. In the few years where they were continuing on without John Frusciante, every member had started to severely relapse on drugs, only to welcome John back into the band and Anthony Kiedis finally starting to clean up his act. Those lost years never go away though, and Anthony channeled some of that energy into Scar Tissue.

Even though Californication as a whole has a much more relaxed tone to it, a song like this understands that the only way to find that kind of peace is to go through some real heaviness first. Going through every other line of this song, there are always subtle hints of what Anthony was dealing with during his years as a junkie, from turning tricks on the streets of LA back when he was a kid to the chorus talking about the lonely view that you can have when all you're worried about is your addiction.

As soon as John's slide guitar kicks in, the melody itself sounds sad as well, almost like John is weeping through his instrument and trying to let out all the emotion that he can. The old version of the Peppers may have been back in full force this time around, but this song is more than just a traditional Peppers song. The only way to play a song like Scar Tissue is actually to have some scars yourself.