10 Hard Rock Songs That Are Impossible To Understand

The Red Hot Chili Peppers tend to get a bad reputation for writing meaningless lyrics. Despite Anthony Kiedis' occasional forays into the absurd, tracks like Otherside and Scar Tissue are absolutely beautiful for their portrayals of a man making peace with his demons. On the other hand, we will not be seeing such lyrical gems here on Give It Away.

Being one of the Peppers' first major hits, this is one of the songs that gave them the reputation of being incoherent messes behind a lyric sheet. For as phonetically pleasing as Kiedis' rhyme scheme is, it doesn't hold any water when you start trying to decipher what he's actually saying. One minute you'll be trying to find out what he's got and why he has to give it to our mama/papa/and daughter, and the next minute you're wondering how the hell one is able to get down with the pow wow in the process.

You'd think that some of these questions would be answered in the chorus, and yet "give it away now" gives us nothing by not even answering what that "it" is. Aside from the lyrical foul ups, this is still one of the Chilis' greatest songs, with Flea's impressive bass performances and John Frusciante's amazing backwards guitar solo. Then again, you might not want to dwell too hard on the words to this one if you want to save your cranium from snapping.