Fight Like a Brave

"Fight Like a Brave"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
B-side	"Fire"
Released	September 29, 1987
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded	May 1987 at Capitol Studios and Eldorado Recording Studios in Hollywood, California
Genre	Funk metal, rap rock
Length	3:52
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	Flea, Irons, Kiedis, Slovak
Producer(s)	Michael Beinhorn
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Hollywood (Africa)" (1985) "Fight Like a Brave" (1987) "Higher Ground" (1989)

Promotional poster for the single featuring the band's infamous "socks on cocks" look

"Fight Like a Brave" is the first track from American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. It was released as the lead single for the album. Despite being a single, the song has not been performed live since 1989 though according to a magazine it was played once in 1991 though the setlist info remains missing and unconfirmed.^[1] The single also included a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, "Fire" as a b-side, which would later appear on The Abbey Road E.P. and Mother's Milk as a tribute to guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988.

Composition

Most of the song's lyrics revolve around Anthony Kiedis' addiction to heroin. At the lowest point in Kiedis' addiction, Flea had kicked him out of the Chili Peppers with no intention of letting him back in unless he was proven sober. After getting clean through various rehab programs, he called Flea to tell him of his success, and was accepted back in the band. On the plane ride home, Kiedis wrote this song about his struggles with drugs and his overcoming them.^[2]

The song is mostly an attempt to inspire other people like the rehab sessions were motivational for Kiedis to abandon the drugs.^[2] Kiedis described "Fight Like a Brave" as "a metaphor for trying to encourage someone who feels as though they don't have a chance [as though] they're grovelling in the gutter of life." He also said the song expressed the band's discontentment with EMI, their label at the time.^[3]

"Fight Like a Brave" is featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

"Fight Like a Brave" is featured in the 1986 movie Tough Guys.

A portion of the song's lyrics, "No one can tell you you've got to be afraid" was also used by Bradley Nowell in the Sublime song "All You Need".

Track listing

7" single (1987)^[4]

1. "Fight Like a Brave (Album)"
2. "Fire"

12" single (1987)

1. "Fight Like a Brave (Not Our Mix)"
2. "Fight Like a Brave (Boner Beats Mix)"
3. "Fight Like a Brave (Mofo Mix)"
4. "Fire"

12" Picture Disc/12" Promo (1987)

1. "Fight Like a Brave (Mofo Mix)"
2. "Fight Like a Brave (Knucklehead Mix)"
3. "Fire"

12" Promo (1987)

1. "Fight Like a Brave (Album)"
2. "Fight Like a Brave (Album)"

12" Japanese Split-Promo/D.J. copy (1987)

1. "Fight Like a Brave (Album)" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
2. "Contradiction (Heavy Mix)" by Lions & Ghosts

References