Why I Love Spiritual Music So Much

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of my most favorite bands, and this is because of their great music, as well as the spiritual content of their music and vision, as you will read in the quotes below from a recent interview.


NOTE: This is the first of a semi-regular ongoing series, where I plan to discuss some of my favorite musical artists, and WHY they happen to be my favorites.


WHY I LOVE SPIRITUAL MUSIC SO MUCH #1
by Kentroversy

A few years ago, it occurred to me that every one of my most favorite musicians and bands had a definite spiritual aspect of their music; Jimi Hendrix, YES, Peter Gabriel, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others.

Today, the focus is on the words of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and their recent interview for AOL Sessions and their comments relating to the spiritual content of their new album STADIUM ARCADIUM, a two-disc set containing 28 brand new songs, which is due to hit stores and digital downloads via iTunes on May 9, 2006.



The band's new hit single Dani California is already in the TOP FIVE, and the video for the song is one of the most imaginative I have ever seen in the past thirty years or so.

The one thing that I find interesting is that the band discussing Jupiter as the planet of 'creative intelligence' actually relates to my own recent study of astrology, and the planet ruling over the day of my birth as a Sagittarian just so happened to have been Jupiter, and all of my talents and abilities represent one form or another of creative intelligence!

I absolutely LOVE life's little synchronicities!!

Here are the comments that the band made, as well as the questions they were asked, which elicited the responses below:


The two discs are called 'Jupiter' and 'Mars.' What's the story behind these names?

FLEA (MICHAEL BALZARY): We like the idea of being connected to the cosmos, you know? The reason is that John, who recently has been studying astrology a little bit, pointed out to us that JUPITER was the planet of creative intelligence, and Mars was the planet of war. And we were thinking of the concept of revolution of creative intelligence was a really beautiful thing. Even though war is bad, there can be revolutions of love and beautiful things, too. And that's really where our hearts are at.

JOHN FRUSCIANTE: It's not just like actually having a war, but it's the idea for sticking up for what you think is right, you know? For us devoting ourselves to creativity and joining together as brothers making music, that's what we feel is the righteous thing to be doing. And so, the combination of Jupiter and Mars is just a way of feeling ssomething inside, feeling strongly about it, and putting it out to people, and getting it across to people. And that's a Jupiter-Mars quality.


How are you going to prepare for the upcoming tour to support Stadium Arcadium?

ANTHONY KIEDIS: It's a good question, because going on tour is weird. Because you leave your house, and come back a year later, and if you don't go out of your way to continue to grow as a person while you are away; and however you do that, whether it is reading or journaling or meditating or taking walks or going out and about and discovering new things, you might accidentally come home a year later, and you are the same exact same guy as when you left, because you have been so focused on just being a guy on tour, that you forget to be a person, you forget to grow. And you come home and go "What a second, I am the same guy I was a year ago, and it's not quite right." You should be a new guy, you should be a changed person. So, it is kind of important when you get ready to go on tour to take your ---- and your desire to change with you, whatever that may be.


What do you plan on doing during the down time?

JOHN FRUSCIANTE: I have plans for myself, I definitely have enough books sitting by my bed that I plan on reading where that could be the whole year and a half tour, or whatever it is, you know? For me, I want to keep educating myself, and keep trying to get healthier and expand my understanding of music, study things.


And so, this is the theme that keeps running through the hearts, minds, and spirits of every single one of my favorite musicians. The theme of spirituality, a lifetime of self-education, and high intelligence. For the moment, I am listening to a great deal of the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, and this is because they carry an infectious groove, and they are willing to expand and grow spiritually with their audience.

There is a long tradition of this with The BEATLES, YES, JIMI HENDRIX, PINK FLOYD, and most everything else in my own music library.

And even back in 1984, when their first album debuted, I knew that there were big things in store for the CHILI PEPPERS, and I was laughed at by a lot of people who I knew at the time, who vociferously disagreed with me. But, yet, I knew that there would be huge success just because of the spiritual aspect of the band and their music, which is richly textured, both in words and in the music itself.

© 2006 Kentroversy Papers
All rights reserved. Used with permission.


Sources:

The following sources were used in the creation of this Kentroversy Paper . . .

AOL Sessions - Red Hot Chili Peppers (April 15, 2006)

Astrology - Jupiter

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Official Website

Red Hot Chili Peppers Fan Community

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California video

Creative Intelligence

Dani California

Education

Jupiter

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Spirituality

Stadium Arcadium