Aeroplane (song)

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"Aeroplane"
"Aeroplane" cover
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album One Hot Minute
Released October 13th 1996
Format CD Single
Genre Funk Rock
Label Warner Bros. Records
Producer(s) Rick Rubin
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"My Friends"
(1995)
"Aeroplane"
(1996)
"Coffee Shop"
(1996)
"Aeroplane"
Song by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album One Hot Minute
Genre Rock
Length 4:45
One Hot Minute track listing
Warped
(1)
"Aeroplane"
(2)
Deep Kick
(3)

"Aeroplane" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 1995 album One Hot Minute. It was the third single released from the album and a music video accompanied its release.

On the band's Greatest Hits commentary for the song's video, bassist Flea explains that it was inspired by a gospel song he owned called "Jesus Is My Aeroplane". Although the song was left off the band's Greatest Hits CD, the music video was included on the accompanying DVD.

Despite its dark lyrical themes it is one of the more accessible songs on One Hot Minute, with verses driven by a traditional funk slap bass line and upbeat melodies which are enhanced by child chorus vocals from Clara, Flea's daughter, and her classmates.

[edit] Track listing

Aeroplane Single CD1

  1. "Aeroplane (Clean Edit)"
  2. "Backwoods (Live)"
  3. "Transcending (Live)"
  4. "Me And My Friends (Live)"
  • Live tracks recorded in Rotterdam, Holland 1995

Aeroplane Limited Edition Single CD2

  1. "Aeroplane (Album Version)"
  2. "Suck My Kiss (Live)"
  3. "Suffragette City (Live)"
  • Live tracks recorded in Rotterdam, Holland 1995

[edit] Interpretation

Fans have exhibited differing opinions as to the meaning of the lyrics of "Aeroplane", with some claiming the song refers to music elevating people to a higher place, and others believing the concern of the song is drug use. The latter view seems vindicated by vocalist Anthony Kiedis' autobiography Scar Tissue, in which he says that several songs on One Hot Minute including "Aeroplane" and "Warped", were written about his relapse following five and a half years of being clean from heroin. He kept his drug use a secret, surprised that no one close to him picked up on it as a result of his lyrics. Some of those references include: "Someone better slap me...Before I start to rust... Before I start to decompose". According to Aeroplane, the lyrics: "Sitting in my kitchen...I'm turning into dust again...My melancholy baby...The star of mazzy must...Push her voice inside of me" refer to Kiedis' kitchen, where he did most of his drugs. The original lyrics to the song (supposedly) were "I like pleasure spiked with pain/ and music is my heroin", but the band was forced to change the lyrics as it would not be "radio friendly"

Music sample:

[edit] Other Info

The song features Flea's daughter Clara and the rest of her third grade class singing in the song's outro. They were also featured in the music video dressed as aeroplanes.

Children who sing on Aeroplane (also known as "The Aeroplane Kids")

  • Clara Balzary
  • Bailey Reise
  • Askia Ndegéocello
  • Nadia Wehebe
  • Sarabeth Kelly
  • Matthew Kelly
  • Phillip Greenspan
  • Perry Greenspan
  • Veronica Twigg
  • Remy Greeno
  • Jaclyn Dimaggio
  • Heyley Oakes
  • Nikolai Giefer
  • Taiana Giefer
  • Nina Rothburgh
  • Sheera Ehrig
  • Jade Chacon
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Anthony Kiedis | John Frusciante | Flea | Chad Smith
Hillel Slovak | Dave Navarro | Cliff Martinez | Jack Sherman | Arik Marshall | Jesse Tobias | D. H. Peligro | Jack Irons
Discography
Studio albums: The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984) | Freaky Styley (1985) | The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) | Mother's Milk (1989) | Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) | One Hot Minute (1995) | Californication (1999) | By the Way (2002) | Stadium Arcadium (2006)
EPs, Live albums and compilations: The Abbey Road E.P. (1988) | What Hits!? (1992) | Live Rare Remix Box (1994) | Out in L.A. (1994) | Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers (1998) | The Best of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1998) | Greatest Hits (2003) | Live in Hyde Park (2004)
Singles: 1984: True Men Don't Kill Coyotes, Get Up and Jump | 1985: Jungle Man, American Ghost Dance, Catholic School Girls Rule, Hollywood (Africa) | 1987: Fight Like a Brave, Me & My Friends | 1989: Knock Me Down, Higher Ground, Taste the Pain | 1990: Show Me Your Soul | 1991: Give It Away | 1992: Under the Bridge, Suck My Kiss, Behind the Sun, Breaking the Girl | 1993: If You Have to Ask, Soul to Squeeze | 1995: Warped, My Friends | 1996: Aeroplane, Coffee Shop, Shallow Be Thy Game, Love Rollercoaster | 1999: Scar Tissue, Around the World | 2000: Otherside, Californication, Road Trippin', Parallel Universe | 2002: By the Way, The Zephyr Song | 2003: Can't Stop, Dosed, Universally Speaking, Fortune Faded | 2006: Dani California, Tell Me Baby, Snow ((Hey Oh)) | 2007: Desecration Smile, Hump de Bump
Other pages: Videography | Songs | B-sides Compilation
Related articles
Chain Reaction | What Is This? | Jane's Addiction | Pearl Jam | Fear | The Mars Volta | Rick Rubin | "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
Categories: Red Hot Chili Peppers | Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs
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