Actors - Give It Away

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	Actors - Give It Away

"Give It Away" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers released in 1991 on the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. A five-minute ode to selflessness, "Give It Away" was one of five singles from the album and achieved fame around the world, quickly becoming the defining song of the Chili Peppers' distinct funk sound. It won a Grammy Award in 1992, further solidifying its status as a funk anthem.

Development, inspiration, and interpretations

The song was born in the usual Chili Peppers style: through an improvised jam session. Flea, the band's bassist, was trying out some bass lines when he struck upon what is nowadays regarded as one of the most distinctive bass riffs in the Chili's work as it required the use of the entire length of the bass neck. Their drummer, Chad Smith, joined in. The lead singer Anthony Kiedis was so taken by Flea's bass part, he took to the microphone and belted out "Give it away, give it away now" over and over.

The line "What I've got you've got to get it put it in you" is believed by some to be a reference to taking drugs, while lines such as "Come and drink it up from my fertility" could be construed as sexual metaphors.

The verse "There's a River born to be a giver/keep you warm won't let you shiver/his heart is never gonna wither/come on everybody time to deliver" is a reference to the actor River Phoenix, who was friends with members of the band; Flea was with River on the night he died.

The lines "Greedy little people in a sea of distress... unimpressed by material excess" are about Kiedis' views of materialism and consumerism. And the well known line "Give It Away" was a reference to Kiedis' relationship with Nina Hagen, who Kiedis has said freely gave away anything in her possession.

Frusciante says that the intro riff was inspired by Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf". A careful listen will reveal the intro riff to that song in the background near the end of "Give It Away".

Music video

The music video for the song is one of the strangest. It features them all painted silver and dancing in a desert, shot in black-and-white. The haircuts and costumes are strange, too.

Anthony Kiedis has braids, and is dressed in a chainmail skirt.
Flea has a spiral haircut.
Chad Smith has a short ponytail and horns, which is occasionally covered with a German WWI helmet.
John Frusciante has a short mohawk.

Release as a single

"Give it Away" was released on September 24, 1991, as the first single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik. However, despite the Chili's reputation, many radio stations refused to play the single; one station manager went so far as telling the band to bring it back to them "when they had a melody." However, L.A station KROQ began to play the song, and it quickly received hundreds of requests a day for the song.

Another concern surrounding the release was that the recently shot music video would be too weird to be played onto MTV. This proved true for some while until it came to the attention of fans of the band. MTV, like KROQ, began to receive hundreds of requests a day for the video.

In September 1992, The Red Hot Chili Peppers played the MTV Awards show and received two awards for "Give It Away", one of which was the much sought after Breakthrough Video Award. Infamously, during the acceptance of the award on live TV, Flea pretended to masturbate and was hastily pulled off stage by security.

Popularity

"Give It Away" is considered by fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to be one of their greatest songs. It has become an unmovable part of all Chili Peppers' concerts, and still sees regular if occasional play on radio and music video channels. This song was chosen as the grand finale for the band's shows during their 2004 UK tour.

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