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.
Far Away
John Frusciante Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the things I say have a way of hurting you
I'm over there
These dreams are all I have left
I've nothing to spare
I can't pretend to be who I'm not
And there are things you need from me
No way but to end
Pick up the pieces of our lives
And maybe love again
There's only one way for things to be
Between you and me
The lyrics to John Frusciante's song "Far Away" reveal a deep sense of conflict within the singer's mind. The singer admits that they cannot hide who they are and the things they say have a tendency to hurt others, particularly their love interest. The singer wishes they could be someone else, but they cannot pretend to be something they are not. Moreover, there are certain things that their love interest is expecting from them, but they are incapable of delivering on those expectations. As a result, the only solution seems to be to walk away and let their love interest pick up the pieces of their life.
The lyrics highlight the immense emotional turmoil that the singer is experiencing. They desperately desire to change who they are but feel helpless in doing so. It is likely that the singer's past has influenced who they are and how they act, and they feel trapped by their circumstances. The final lines of the song suggest that the singer wants things to be better between them and their love interest, but they can only see one way forward. Ultimately, it is a heartbreaking realization that the singer can no longer escape their past and must move on to a future that is uncertain.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't disguise the things I do
I am unable to conceal my actions
And the things I say have a way of hurting you
My words tend to cause you emotional pain
I'm over there
I am physically and emotionally distant
These dreams are all I have left
My aspirations are the only things that remain with me
I've nothing to spare
I have no resources or energy to offer
I can't pretend to be who I'm not
I am incapable of acting differently than my true self
And there are things you need from me
You have certain requirements that I cannot fulfill
I haven't got
I simply do not possess or have access to it
No way but to end
The only resolution is to terminate this relationship
Pick up the pieces of our lives
We must begin to repair the damages that have been done
And maybe love again
Perhaps we can find love again in the future
There's only one way for things to be
There is only one solution to our situation
Between you and me
Regarding the interactions and relationship between us
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: John Anthony Frusciante
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@pofgden22
He's the only person I've ever heard who's music is just incredibly powerful wonderful emotions
@SC86Canuck
I can't believe this only has 30,000 views what a great artist!
@aleexandder
how can this only have 15k views? Honestly one of the best songs i have heard
@johnarundell7951
One of the greatest songs ever :) thanks John.
@OwlChapino
Thank you for this, John. I really need this right now.
@jeanfitzgerald1334
This song brings me to tears,im an addict,and I had the greatest girlfriend ever,but I messed things up and we split up,id do anything for a so called "normal" life,but I gotta play the hand I was dealt....I listen to this song to reminisce, and cry every time
@yamatokawa
I messed things up too. My girl, as undeserving as I am, managed to see past that and forgave my lack of character. I almost end up like you and I can almost imagine what you feel. Peace out.
@eocha24
It takes us a long time to realise we suffer and even longer time to realise it doesnt have to be that way...
Fight, bro, you can beat the addiction and start having a great life! Because LIFE is the ultimate drug. Hope you make it!
@keithguiney5624
I know how u feel
@tylers7048
This album got me though lots of bad times