Warped (song)

"Warped" is a song by American alternative rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 1995 album, ''One Hot Minute''. It was released as the first single from the album in August 1995 by Warner Bros. It is the first track on ''One Hot Minute'', beginning with an unusually quiet intro, before suddenly kicking into a very heavy, crunching riff, and ends with a mellow, melodic outro. Anthony Kiedis' vocals are distorted and echoed throughout, and contrast dramatically with the rapping present on the band's previous material, especially on their more fast-paced songs such as this; short lines are stretched to fill an entire measure. The musical style is of an unpredictable and unsettling nature, which is generally maintained throughout the entire album. The lyrics describe Kiedis' confused feelings about drugs, starting already in the first lines with: "my tendency/for dependency/is offending me".

Despite being the album's first single, neither the song nor the accompanying video was included on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ''Greatest Hits'' compilation. The B-side "Melancholy Mechanics" also appears on the soundtrack to the 1996 movie ''Twister'' as well as on the Japanese pressing of ''One Hot Minute''.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''Music & Media'' described 'Warped' as "powerful" and "a smart move as leadoff single". The reviewer added, "Watch out Rage Against the Machine and Dog Eat Dog, as the inventors of the funk-rap-metal crossover are no longer recluses. Loud and proud they reclaim their position as leaders."

Music video

While piecing together the final components of the album, the band recorded a video for "Warped", which was released on August 9, 1995. They asked Flea's brother-in-law, Gavin Bowden, to direct it. The video featured members of the band scantily clad and posing in rather sexual manners and it involved Kiedis and Navarro kissing towards the end as a way of breaking the monotony of cumbersome video recording. Thinking nothing of it, they continued to shoot and finished several days later.Kiedis, Sloman, 2004. pp. 347–349 Warner Bros., however, saw the video and instantly wanted it thrown away, considering it to be unmarketable and that the kiss and homoerotic imagery would alienate a large portion of the band's fan base. The band came to a consensus to let the kiss remain on the final cut, prompting a backlash from the more conservative segments of their audience, who took offense at the action. Kiedis said of the situation: "If they couldn't accept what we were doing, we didn't need them anymore."

Live performances

"Warped" made it's live debut on May 31, 1994 at a surprise show in Los Angeles which was over a year before the song and album were released. Another notable performance of the song was during their co-headling set at Woodstock 1994 however this and other earlier live versions featured slighly different lyrics as the song had yet to be completed in the studio. The band would also perfom the song at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. "Warped" became one of the band's most performed songs from ''One Hot Minute'' during the One Hot Minute tour however like a majority of the songs from that album, it hasnt been peformed live since that tour with it's last performance coming on July 9, 1996 in France.

During live performances of "Warped", the band sometimes played a sample of the song " Three Days" by Jane's Addiction (former band of then-guitarist Dave Navarro) at the end of the song.

Track listing

* CD single (1995)
# "Warped" (edit)
# "Pea" (album)
# "Melancholy Mechanics" (previously unreleased)

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers
* Anthony Kiedis – vocals
* Dave Navarro – guitar
* Flea – bass
* Chad Smith – drums

Additional musicians
* Stephen Perkins – percussion

Charts

Release history

References

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Red Hot Chili Peppers songs
1995 singles
1995 songs
Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin
Songs written by Anthony Kiedis
Songs written by Chad Smith
Songs written by Dave Navarro
Songs written by Flea (musician)