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.
Ricky
John Frusciante Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Be anyone you want to be
I don't blame my week
For my not being able to speak
Clearly about things I've said before
And if it's light outside, night will fall, night will fall
And if it's life it resolves, it resolves
Everywhere you are in a maze it's a lie
Anywhere there's no ground below you, you're in the sky
Anytime you afraid it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
I was a flame in the night
I heard what I wanted to hear
And the moment I disappeared
I grew the size of the outside
'cause I became one with the night
And if it's real it's not all there is
There's a lot in what appears not to be there at all
And you can function as someone besides who you are
And you can function as someone besides who you are
John Frusciante's song Ricky can be interpreted as an introspective look at the concept of identity and the various elements that contribute to one's personal sense of self. The first verse expresses a sense of insecurity and fear that can often accompany the process of self-discovery. The lyrics "I was afraid to be me, be anyone you want to be" suggest that Frusciante struggled with accepting his true identity and may have felt pressure to conform to societal expectations.
The following lines, "I don't blame my week for my not being able to speak, clearly about things I've said before" could be interpreted as a reference to the difficulty of communicating one's true self to others. Frusciante may have felt inhibited or silenced by his own internal doubts and insecurities, making it difficult for him to express his thoughts and feelings in a clear and coherent way.
The chorus, "And if it's light outside, night will fall, night will fall, and if it's life it resolves, it resolves" suggests that the process of self-discovery and personal growth is not always linear, and that there will inevitably be obstacles and challenges along the way. Frusciante acknowledges that life, like the changing of the day into the night, is constantly in a state of flux, but ultimately resolves itself.
The second verse explores the idea that our sense of self is not always a fixed entity, but can be influenced by external factors such as the people we interact with and the experiences we have. Frusciante describes himself as "a flame in the night," and notes that he heard "what he wanted to hear," suggesting that his sense of self was shaped by the people and messages around him.
Overall, Ricky can be interpreted as a meditation on the complexity of identity and the challenges inherent in accepting oneself. It is a deeply reflective and introspective piece that invites the listener to consider their own journey towards self-discovery.
Line by Line Meaning
I was afraid to be me
I was scared of being myself
Be anyone you want to be
You can be whoever you want to be
I don't blame my week
I don't blame my lack of confidence
For my not being able to speak
For my inability to express myself
Clearly about things I've said before
Clearly talk about the things I've talked about before
And if it's light outside, night will fall, night will fall
Darkness is inevitable, no matter how bright it is at the moment
And if it's life it resolves, it resolves
Life resolves itself, it finds a way
Everywhere you are in a maze it's a lie
Everywhere you feel lost or confused, it's not the truth
Anywhere you are on a page you still go to the right
No matter where you are in life, you need to keep moving forward
Anywhere there's no ground below you, you're in the sky
When you feel like there's no foundation beneath you, you're in a place of uncertainty
Anytime you afraid it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
Whenever you're scared, things will eventually turn out alright
I was a flame in the night
I burned brightly in the darkness
I heard what I wanted to hear
I chose to listen to what I wanted to hear, even if it wasn't true
And the moment I disappeared
And when I was gone
I grew the size of the outside
I became bigger than just myself
'cause I became one with the night
Because I merged with the darkness
And if it's real it's not all there is
Reality isn't everything
There's a lot in what appears not to be there at all
There's more to things than what appears on the surface
And you can function as someone besides who you are
You can pretend to be someone other than yourself and still function
And you can function as someone besides who you are
You can pretend to be someone other than yourself and still function
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: JOHN FRUSCIANTE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind