50 Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs Never Released As Singles That Every Fan Must Hear

5. I Could Have Lied

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi9dIpfWd4c Album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) I Could Have Lied remains one of the Chilis' slowest songs to date, but it does not resign this crown to being sleep-inducing, instead including a beautiful mixture of the Chilis' musical talents. There has been speculation that the song might concern the break down of an alleged relationship between Kiedis and Sinéad O'Connor, which O'Connor has denied but Kiedis included in his autobiography, Scar Tissue. In the book, Kiedis tells of their initial meeting at a festival and then chance re-acquaintance which led to them "regularly hanging out" during which Kiedis wrote and faxed her several poems as they began to fall in love, before "suddenly, it all came to an inexplicable halt." And then she left Los Angeles and that was it. Upon hearing about this, John Frusciante suggested that they write the experience into a song, which became I Could Have Lied, simultaneously inspired by Kiedis and O'Connor's semi-relationship and Hendrix's version of All Along The Watchtower. Again, O'Connor denies this, but her denial could be interpreted as 'too' strong.

4. Pea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SauftQfci28 Album: One Hot Minute (1995) Pea remains the only one-person song released by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, although it is under all of their names, featuring only Flea singing and on bass. The song is written to the boys who used to bully Flea when he was at school with Kiedis and Hillel Slovak. It was the first song to feature Flea singing lead vocals, and remains the only song played live in full from One Hot Minute since Dave Navarro's departure from the band, being a big hit with fans whenever it is, because the band has said that they don't feel connected with the songs from that era anymore, especially since Navarro's influence is no longer present. It has been reported that some lyrics in Pea were not "Wal-Mart friendly" and so the band chose to distribute versions of the album not featuring the song to these stores, rather than censor the song.

3. Don't Forget Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJbhsuJP6gc Album: By The Way (2002) Along with This Is The Place, Don't Forget Me signals By The Way's part-concentration on the prior drug use of band members, mainly Kiedis, referencing his experiences both using drugs and then in rehab ("I'm the bloodstain on your shirt sleeve"/"I'm the rainbow in your jail cell"). As is clear, Kiedis sings as the drugs that have claimed him in the past, making the song a lament to the years lost to drug use. The drugs beg Kiedis "Don't forget me", once again telling the listener how inescapable addiction is, even years after the last relapse. Don't Forget Me demonstrates the Chilis' departure in By The Way from simply using conventional instrumental methods, with Frusciante utilising a wah pedal and mellotron to achieve the atmospheric, echoey background to the main section of the song.