"Desecration Smile" is a song from the

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 was on their 2006 double album, '' Stadium Arcadium''. The song was the fourth single released from the album. The song was first heard by fans when it was played at the Bridge School Benefit in 2004. However, the structure and chorus of the song are different from the version released on ''Stadium Arcadium''. The single contained the album outtakes, "Joe" (which was a tribute to

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...

) and "Save This Lady". Both songs were also on the single for " Hump de Bump". The cover artwork is from Stefanie Schneider.

Composition

Desecration Smile is in the key of E major in the intro, E minor in the verses and D major in the refrain. It has a moderate tempo of 92 BPM.

Formats and track listings

CD single 1 5439 19997-9 # "Desecration Smile" # "Joe" (previously unreleased) – 3:54 CD single 2 9362 49991-9 # "Desecration Smile" # "Funky Monks" (live) – 6:29 # "Save This Lady" (previously unreleased) – 4:17 Promo Single PR016186 # "Desecration Smile" (album version) # "Desecration Smile" (radio edit) 7" picture disc 5439 19997-6 # "Desecration Smile" # "Funky Monks" (live) – 6:29

Personnel

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 ...

- lead vocals *

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante ( ; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician and the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, having been with the band across three iterations. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic gu ...

- acoustic and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

guitars, backing vocals, piano *

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 The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* Chad Smith -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Emily Kokal - chorus vocals

Music video

The music video was shot and released in February 2007 and directed by " Under the Bridge" director

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...

. It was shot entirely in one take with one camera and featured the band huddled together singing all the way through. There is also an alternate version of the band singing and playing their instruments by the ocean cut together with parts of the official video. Although the first one is considered the official, it was the alternative version that was published on the official Warner Bros. YouTube account.

Live performances

"Desecration Smile" has been performed just 14 times with its first performance coming in 2004, two years before the release of the ''Stadium Arcadium'' album. The song has not been performed since 2007.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Red Hot Chili Peppers songs 2007 singles Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Flea (musician) Songs written by John Frusciante Songs written by Anthony Kiedis Songs written by Chad Smith 2005 songs Warner Records singles