10 Rock Songs That Were Written By Accident

Once the Peppers went into cut Blood Sugar Sex Magik, you could tell that things were definitely starting to shift a little bit. Even with the addition of John Frusciante being integrated into the band on the album before this, Rick Rubin had a much greater presence than just a producer, looking to simplify the songs and have the band hook into something a bit more groove-based. He had a close relationship with them, but he knew that this one idea from Anthony Kiedis could go even further.

Inviting him into the creative process, Rick spent some time at Anthony’s place in between sessions, combing through different lyrics that he had worked through at home to see if he could find something to work with. Out of his sleuthing, he found the basis for Under the Bridge, which Anthony never meant to be seen by the rest of the band. This was always meant to be a fairly private poem for Anthony, describing what it was like when he was living in the gutter and using it to work through the pain that comes with being a recovering addict.

After a little bit of prying though, Rubin eventually got Anthony to introduce the song to the rest of the guys, which turned into a much different beast. Unlike the usual funky stuff that we were used to, this was a straight up ballad built around the poem, as Anthony wears his heart on his sleeve while the rest of the band hang back and come in at just the right time. For all of the pain that may have been in those lyrics, the creation of this song feels like another part of the healing process for Anthony.