Frusciante joined the Chili Peppers at the age of 18 after the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak, and first appeared on their album Mother's Milk (1989). His second album with the band, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), was their breakthrough success. Overwhelmed by the band's newfound popularity, he quit in 1992. He became a recluse and entered a period of heroin addiction, during which he released his first solo recordings: Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997). In 1998, he completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the Chili Peppers, taking them to major success with their albums Californication (1999), By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006). He left the Red Hot Chili Peppers again in 2009 to focus on solo work, and rejoined in 2019.
Frusciante's solo work encompasses genres including experimental rock, ambient music and electronica. He released six albums in 2004, each exploring different genres and recording techniques. In 2009, Frusciante released The Empyrean, which features Chili Peppers bassist Flea and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. Frusciante also releases acid house under the alias Trickfinger. With Klinghoffer and Joe Lally, he has released two albums as Ataxia.
Frusciante was named one of the greatest guitarists by Rolling Stone and Gibson, and in a BBC poll. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2012.
Frusciante's musical style has evolved over the course of his career. Although he received moderate recognition for his early guitar work, it was not until later in his career that music critics and guitarists alike began to fully recognize it: in October 2003, he was ranked eighteenth in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Frusciante attributes this recent recognition to his shift in focus, stating that he chose an approach based on rhythmic patterns inspired by the complexity of material Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen produced. On earlier records, however, much of his output was influenced by various underground punk and new wave musicians.
In general, his sound is also defined by an affinity for vintage guitars. All the guitars that he owns, records, and tours with were made before 1970. Frusciante uses the specific guitar that he finds appropriate for a certain song. All of the guitars he owned before quitting the band were destroyed when his house burned down in 1996. The first guitar he bought after rejoining the Chili Peppers was a 1962 red Fender Jaguar. His most-often used guitar, however, is a 1961 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster that was given to him as a gift from Anthony Kiedis after Frusciante rejoined the Chili Peppers in 1998. He has played this guitar on every album since rejoining the Chili Peppers, and their ensuing tours. He also owns a 1955 Fender Stratocaster, his only Strat with a maple fretboard. Frusciante's most highly appraised instrument is a 1955 Gretsch White Falcon, which he used twice per show for the songs Californication and Otherside. Since 2006, he only uses it for the latter song, saying there was "no room for it", preferring multiple Stratocasters for the Stadium Arcadium tour. Virtually all of Frusciante's acoustic work is played with a 1950s Martin 0–15.
After leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he switched to using a Yamaha SG as his primary guitar for his solo work. "With the Yamaha SG, I could play along with guitar players who were playing, say, Les Pauls, and feel like the sound matched what I was hearing on the record. ... People like Robert Fripp, Mick Ronson, Tony Iommi, and particularly John McGeoch from Siouxsie and the Banshees, who played a Yamaha SG, which is why I bought one in the first place". Frusciante has also noted his increased use of the Roland MC-202 for his electronic music, saying that he was at the point "where I thought as much like a 202ist as I did a guitarist ..." The MC-202 has been his primary melodic instrument in his electronic music.
With the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante provided backing vocals in a falsetto tenor, a style he started on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He thoroughly enjoyed his role in the Chili Peppers as backing vocalist, and said that backing vocals are a "real art form". Despite his commitment to the Chili Peppers, he felt that his work with the band should remain separate from his solo projects. When he returned to the Chili Peppers in 1998, Kiedis wanted the band to record "Living in Hell", a song Frusciante had written several years before. Frusciante refused, feeling that the creative freedom he needed for his solo projects would have conflicted with his role in the band.
Fanfare
John Frusciante Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It'll ease your mind
Set you fine, my baby
Stay with me every night
It'll make you come to where life is never ever done
Forest green. it'll say no
You know my heart is in my head
Cobalt blue, it goes through you
Miss you
Stay in tune with the station
You boarded from
It's the only thing we hang on to
Time is the train that never stops
On its rhythm your walk's unrelated and of no consequence
Fire engine red gets into your head
And will seize opportunities to oppose and defend
Constant light, it'll burn you
Destroy the avenue that you stroll happily confused
All my life I've waited for the sun to rise
All this time
All this time
Waiting for the sun and air and shade
Waiting for the sun and air and shade
waiting for the sun to shine
waiting for the sun to shine
And it's you
In "Fanfare," John Frusciante invites his audience to follow him through his fanfare, assuring them that it'll ease their minds and set them fine. He implores them to stay with him every night, and promises that it'll make them come to where life is never ever done. Though the lyrics are ethereal and ambiguous, Frusciante effectively draws his listener into his world.
Frusciante uses colors to describe his fanfare, with forest green saying no, and his heart being in his head, cobalt blue goes through you, and cleans the eye of misuse. He admits to missing someone in the midst of his fanfare, but the focus of the song is on staying in tune with the station and the only thing we hang on to. Time is the train that never stops, but that doesn't matter as it doesn't affect our walk. Fire engine red gets into our heads and will oppose and defend opportunities, and constant light will burn and destroy the avenue we stroll happily confused.
Throughout the lyrics, Frusciante seems to urge his listeners to find their own fanfare, whatever that may look like. Stay in tune with what grounds you and don't let time dictate everything you do. As with many of his songs, Frusciante leaves interpretation up to the listener, but the message seems clear: create your own world and find peace within it.
Line by Line Meaning
Walk with me through my fanfare
Join me on this journey through my unusual and overwhelming world
It'll ease your mind
Being a part of my fanfare will help you find peace
Set you fine, my baby
It will make you feel okay, my dear
Stay with me every night
Be by my side through every moment of darkness
It'll make you come to where life is never ever done
My fanfare will show you a place where life never ends
Forest green. it'll say no
The color forest green is a symbol of refusal
You know my heart is in my head
My thoughts and emotions are closely connected
Cobalt blue, it goes through you
The color cobalt blue affects and transforms you
And cleans the eye of misuse
It purifies your perspective from any misunderstanding or abuse
Miss you
I yearn for your presence
Stay in tune with the station you boarded from
Remember where you come from and what shaped you
It's the only thing we hang on to
Our memories are the only constant in a ever-changing world
Time is the train that never stops
Time is a vehicle that never halts its journey
On its rhythm your walk's unrelated and of no consequence
Regardless of our steps, time will continue to move forward unaffected
Fire engine red gets into your head
The color fire engine red provokes strong emotions and ideas in you
And will seize opportunities to oppose and defend
It will encourage you to fight for your beliefs and resist opposing forces
Constant light, it'll burn you
The consistent brightness can be overwhelming and harmful
Destroy the avenue that you stroll happily confused
The light can destroy the path you naively walked before, leaving you lost and uncertain
All my life I've waited for the sun to rise
I have been waiting for a new day and a fresh start for my entire life
All this time
The duration of my long wait
Waiting for the sun and air and shade
I have been anticipating the beauty and balance of nature
Waiting for the sun to shine
I yearn for warmth and illumination
And it's you
I finally found what I have been searching for in you
Writer(s): John Frusciante Copyright: Niandra La Des Music
Contributed by Olivia M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@5sevenPictures
This track was an actual medicine for me. It wiped away some fucked-up feelings I've never experienced before. These things were torturing me for a period time.
I'll never forget Fanfare, thank you John!
@arieldiaz3105
Man, this track is so healing for me too, john's music is a warm hug for my heart and soul.
@entschnabler
Same here too atm
Peace
@indisugartaufik
Listening this song on my headphone with full volume = tears of joy :))
@Yadin1234
very good sound quality!
@bobbybowring4499
Goosebumps
@drgrasshopper9924
Rip ears
@Somiten
Nothing can make melancholy vibe like John's voice, such a beautiful song
@annedworak7855
I love this song very much.
"All my life I've waited for the sun to rise."
@AL-bg8hs
and it´s you <3