"Brendan's Death Song" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 2011 album I'm with You and was released as the album's fifth and final single on June 11, 2012 through digital download. A two-track CD single was released in Germany on August 24, 2012.
The song is about Brendan Mullen, founder of The Masque, a small punk rock club which was an important part of the early Los Angeles punk scene. Mullen was also a longtime friend of the Chili Peppers and one of the first music promoters to give the band their start. In 1983, Anthony and Flea had a demo tape and took it to a popular L.A. club, Club Lingerie. There they had their first encounter with Mullen, who was the booker for the club. They played Mullen their tape while they danced around to the song for an opening spot for the Bad Brains, who were an influence to the band and kings of the punk rock scene at the time. Many years later Mullen was working with Blackie Dammett on the Chili Peppers biography, Red Hot Chili Peppers: An Oral/Visual History when he died suddenly after suffering a stroke in 2009 and was unable to complete work on the book though it eventually was finished by Mullen's long-time companion Kateri Butler and designer/musician John Curry, who had been friends with Brendan since the Masque days and was a member of The Flyboys. The book was released in 2010. Flea responded to Mullen's passing by writing a two-page article in the Los Angeles Times.[1]
According to a July 2011 interview with singer Anthony Kiedis, Mullen died on the first day of rehearsals for the album. Kiedis said he received a text message about the death and he informed the band when he got to rehearsals. Without talking, the band quickly started to play music and the jam, which was the basis for the song, came right away. Kiedis stated that the song has the feel of a death march but ultimately "the song is more of a celebration than a bummer." Kiedis describes his favorite part of the song being the bridge, which is much darker and there is a feeling of falling into the unknown abyss of dying.[2] The guitarist Josh Klinghoffer described the song as being part acoustic mourning, part galloping hard-rock send-off.[3]
Despite getting no radio airplay, fans voted the song tenth best of the year in the Rolling Stone Top 10 Reader's Poll of 2011. In an interview with Billboard, published March 6, 2012, Chad Smith announced the song would be the band's next single.[4]
Structureedit
The song is written in 4/4, beginning with an acoustic guitar introduction, which is then sung over by vocalist Anthony Kiedis. The song gradually builds, introducing electric guitars, drums, and bass, reaching full instrumentation in the first chorus. The drumbeat makes heavy use of tom-tom drums. In the chorus following the bridge, bassist Flea plays an improvised melodic bassline. The song ends with the chorus structure being repeated several times, while Flea and Chad Smith solo over it.
Music videoedit
The video was directed by Marc Klasfeld, who also directed the music videos for "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" and "Monarchy of Roses". The band shot scenes for the video in New Orleans on May 21, 2012 and through their website, invited fans to be part of the video by sending in their photo and info. If selected they would appear in the video.[5][6]
The main concept for the video was to shoot it in a Jazz Funeral style, which involved musicians playing in a marching band formation throughout the funeral procession. In the first part of the video the funeral band plays as the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform while being driven along on a black Ford Pickup Truck Hearse. The final act of the video sees the band performing at McDonoghville Cemetery in Louisiana, where they perform against a backdrop of burning letters that reads “Death Song”.[7]
The video made its premiere on June 28, 2012 at rollingstone.com. The length of the song in the video version is edited by over 2 minutes compared to the album version. On August 16, 2012, the full-length music video was released.[8][9]
Live performances and promotionedit
Despite being a single, the song has only been performed four times live with Kiedis often struggling on some of the lyrics.
Portions of the song can be heard on Top Gear's India Special.
Referencesedit
^"Brendan's Death Song is about the following: - Red Hot Chili Peppers RHCP Fansite Forum News Source". Stadium-arcadium.com. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
^"Photographic image : Anatomy of a song" (PNG). Anthonykiedis.net. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
^(PDF). Download.wbr.com. p. Cover. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2022-03-17. The Radical Rebirth of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
^. Stadium-arcadium.com. 2012-03-06. Archived from the original on 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
^. Redhotchilipeppers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
^. Redhotchilipeppers.com.br. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
^Stadium-Arcadium.com on May 22, 2012 (2012-05-23). "Brendan's Death Song Music Video Shoot Red Hot Chili Peppers New Orleans May 21st 2012". Stadium-arcadium.com. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
^. Redhotchilipeppers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
^"Twitter / RHCPchad: @StraussFox ..keep an eye". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
^"Red Hot Chili Peppers - Brendan's Death Song". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
^"Red Hot Chili Peppers Brendan's Death Song Promo CD RARE Chilli I'M with You". eBay. 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
^"Brendan'S Death Song (2track) [Single]". amazon.de. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
October 27, 2023
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Brendan s Death Song is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 2011 album I m with You and was released as the album s fifth and final single on June 11 2012 through digital download A two track CD single was released in Germany on August 24 2012 Brendan s Death Song Single by Red Hot Chili Peppersfrom the album I m with YouReleasedJune 11 2012 2012 06 11 Recorded2010 2011GenreAlternative rock acoustic rockLength5 38 album version 3 29 radio video edit LabelWarner Bros Songwriter s Anthony Kiedis Flea Chad Smith Josh KlinghofferProducer s Rick RubinRed Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology Look Around 2012 Brendan s Death Song 2012 Dark Necessities 2016 Music video Brendan s Death Song on YouTube Contents 1 Song background 2 Structure 3 Music video 4 Live performances and promotion 5 Formats and track listings 6 Personnel 7 Use in media 8 ReferencesSong background editThe song is about Brendan Mullen founder of The Masque a small punk rock club which was an important part of the early Los Angeles punk scene Mullen was also a longtime friend of the Chili Peppers and one of the first music promoters to give the band their start In 1983 Anthony and Flea had a demo tape and took it to a popular L A club Club Lingerie There they had their first encounter with Mullen who was the booker for the club They played Mullen their tape while they danced around to the song for an opening spot for the Bad Brains who were an influence to the band and kings of the punk rock scene at the time Many years later Mullen was working with Blackie Dammett on the Chili Peppers biography Red Hot Chili Peppers An Oral Visual History when he died suddenly after suffering a stroke in 2009 and was unable to complete work on the book though it eventually was finished by Mullen s long time companion Kateri Butler and designer musician John Curry who had been friends with Brendan since the Masque days and was a member of The Flyboys The book was released in 2010 Flea responded to Mullen s passing by writing a two page article in the Los Angeles Times 1 According to a July 2011 interview with singer Anthony Kiedis Mullen died on the first day of rehearsals for the album Kiedis said he received a text message about the death and he informed the band when he got to rehearsals Without talking the band quickly started to play music and the jam which was the basis for the song came right away Kiedis stated that the song has the feel of a death march but ultimately the song is more of a celebration than a bummer Kiedis describes his favorite part of the song being the bridge which is much darker and there is a feeling of falling into the unknown abyss of dying 2 The guitarist Josh Klinghoffer described the song as being part acoustic mourning part galloping hard rock send off 3 Despite getting no radio airplay fans voted the song tenth best of the year in the Rolling Stone Top 10 Reader s Poll of 2011 In an interview with Billboard published March 6 2012 Chad Smith announced the song would be the band s next single 4 Structure editThe song is written in 4 4 beginning with an acoustic guitar introduction which is then sung over by vocalist Anthony Kiedis The song gradually builds introducing electric guitars drums and bass reaching full instrumentation in the first chorus The drumbeat makes heavy use of tom tom drums In the chorus following the bridge bassist Flea plays an improvised melodic bassline The song ends with the chorus structure being repeated several times while Flea and Chad Smith solo over it Music video editThe video was directed by Marc Klasfeld who also directed the music videos for The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie and Monarchy of Roses The band shot scenes for the video in New Orleans on May 21 2012 and through their website invited fans to be part of the video by sending in their photo and info If selected they would appear in the video 5 6 The main concept for the video was to shoot it in a Jazz Funeral style which involved musicians playing in a marching band formation throughout the funeral procession In the first part of the video the funeral band plays as the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform while being driven along on a black Ford Pickup Truck Hearse The final act of the video sees the band performing at McDonoghville Cemetery in Louisiana where they perform against a backdrop of burning letters that reads Death Song 7 The video made its premiere on June 28 2012 at rollingstone com The length of the song in the video version is edited by over 2 minutes compared to the album version On August 16 2012 the full length music video was released 8 9 Live performances and promotion editDespite being a single the song has only been performed four times live with Kiedis often struggling on some of the lyrics Formats and track listings editRadio promo single 10 Brendan s Death Song radio edit Promo single 11 Brendan s Death Song album version Brendan s Death Song radio edit Brendan s Death Song instrumental German single 12 Brendan s Death Song Goodbye Hooray live recorded on May 2 2012 in Bell Centre Montreal Personnel editRed Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis lead vocals Josh Klinghoffer guitar backing vocals Flea bass Chad Smith drumsAdditional musicians Lenny Castro percussionUse in media editPortions of the song can be heard on Top Gear s India Special References edit Brendan s Death Song is about the following Red Hot Chili Peppers RHCP Fansite Forum News Source Stadium arcadium com Retrieved 2011 06 21 Photographic image Anatomy of a song PNG Anthonykiedis net Retrieved 2022 03 17 Rock amp Roll PDF Download wbr com p Cover Archived from the original PDF on 2013 07 25 Retrieved 2022 03 17 The Radical Rebirth of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Chad Smith Billboard Interview March 6th 2012 John Frusciante not attending Hall of Fame Stadium arcadium com 2012 03 06 Archived from the original on 2012 04 10 Retrieved 2012 07 17 New Orleans Music Video Shoot RHCP News Redhotchilipeppers com Archived from the original on 2012 06 30 Retrieved 2012 07 17 Diretor do novo video para Brendan s Death Song e Marc Klasfeld RHCP BRASIL Redhotchilipeppers com br Archived from the original on 2012 06 22 Retrieved 2012 07 17 Stadium Arcadium com on May 22 2012 2012 05 23 Brendan s Death Song Music Video Shoot Red Hot Chili Peppers New Orleans May 21st 2012 Stadium arcadium com Retrieved 2012 07 17 Brendan s Death Song RHCP News Redhotchilipeppers com Archived from the original on 2012 07 12 Retrieved 2012 07 17 Twitter RHCPchad StraussFox keep an eye Twitter com Retrieved 2012 07 17 Red Hot Chili Peppers Brendan s Death Song ultratop be Retrieved 2012 11 01 Red Hot Chili Peppers Brendan s Death Song Promo CD RARE Chilli I M with You eBay 2012 08 08 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Brendan S Death Song 2track Single amazon de Retrieved 2012 07 12 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Brendan 27s Death Song amp oldid 1181788487, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
