"Dark Necessities" is a song by American rock band

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

and is the first single from their eleventh studio album, '' The Getaway''. After announcing the single through their

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page on May 2, 2016, the single was released three days later on May 5, 2016. The music video was released on June 16, 2016. The song was released as a limited edition

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...

that was included in a deluxe package of ''The Getaway'' available only through the band's website. "Dark Necessities" was successful on the ''Billboard'' charts, becoming the band's 13th number-one single and 25th top ten single on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart, both of which are records for any artist. The song is also the fourth song ever to reach number one on the Alternative Songs chart, the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

chart, and the

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart. "Dark Necessities" made its live debut on May 22, 2016 at the

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festival in

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. A live version recorded at Canal+ Studios in Paris, is on the '' Live in Paris'' EP.

Background

In a June 7, 2016, video interview for the band's

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channel,

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American musician and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Kiedis spent his youth in ...

discussed the song saying that many of the songs were created on their own. However, "Dark Necessities" was one of the songs that the band had written with Brian Burton aka

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse is a British action cartoon which has had two incarnations: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series ...

. Kiedis said that he went to

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and worked on the lyrics to the song, which "speaks to the beauty of our dark sides and how much creativity and growth and light actually comes out of those difficult struggles that we have on the inside of our heads that no one else can see." Kiedis also said that the song meant a lot to Burton and it was one of his favorites. He said that Burton fought for "Dark Necessities" to be the first single. However, the band wanted "The Getaway" to be the first single while the label and managers wanted the song "Go Robot" to be the first single.

Critical reception

"Dark Necessities" was placed at number 12 on ''

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''’s "50 Best Songs of 2016" list, writing: “Their big comeback hit collabo with Danger Mouse, with Anthony Kiedis getting personal about his darkest, druggiest memories over a Flea bassline full of blood, sugar, sex and magic.”

Music video

The video, directed by

Olivia Wilde Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn, , March 10, 1984) is an American actress and director. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' (2007–2012), and appeared ...

, was released through the band's

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page on June 16, 2016. Chris Blauvelt served as the

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

. The music video features long boarders (Carmen Shafer, Amanda Caloia, Amanda Powell, and Noelle Mulligan) skating around a grocery store, abandoned streets, and the

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, interspersed with the band playing the song.

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers *

– lead vocals *

Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

– bass guitar, piano *

Chad Smith Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer of the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith has played with the Chili Peppers since 1988, appearing on ten of the band's studio albums and becoming the band's lo ...

– drums, percussion *

Josh Klinghoffer Josh Adam Klinghoffer (born October 3, 1979) is an American musician best known for being the guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, with whom he recorded two studio albums, '' I'm with You'' (2011) and '' The Geta ...

– guitars, backing vocals Additional musicians *

Daniele Luppi Daniele Luppi (born January 1, 1972, in Padua, Italy) is an Italian film and television composer and music producer. He has received two Emmy nominations and has collaborated with artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gnarls Barkley, Depe ...

– string arrangement *Peter Kent – violin *Sharon Jackson – violin *Briana Bandy – viola *Armen Ksajikian – cello

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Red Hot Chili Peppers songs

Warner Records singles Songs written by Flea (musician) Songs written by Anthony Kiedis Songs written by Josh Klinghoffer Songs written by Chad Smith Songs written by Danger Mouse (musician)