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.
Untitled #3
John Frusciante Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I wear in my heart
And though I like to dress smart
It doesn't have any part of the world of fashion
And you're there to put me down
And I'm sick off the frowns that follow me around
I would like the sky but there's no reason why
She'd say to this world with the nose of a girl
I've never been here and though you're physically here
You're pushing me away to decay like the day that I loved
There is a girl, blabbing nothing outside my window
What do I have to show
To a world that the only way to destroy
Is to die like a baby boy
I could be happy in infinity
Of the space of my eyelid
But I know I'm somewhere else
Where the words on this page
Are better than the scribling nonsense they are,
And it would be real,
And I eat my last meal
Wish that I could feel
But now I don't even know if I'm real
In John Frusciante's song "Untitled #3," he uses a metaphor in the line "A dove is a glove that I wear in my heart" to represent how he feels about his emotions. Frusciante is telling us that his emotions are something he protects and keeps safe, like a glove. It is clear that he values his emotions, even though they are not considered fashionable or cool. He feels like people around him are constantly criticizing and judging him, putting him down, which is making him feel weak and vulnerable. The line "I would like the sky but there's no reason why she'd say to this world with the nose of a girl turned up so loud that it rings, sings the cloud" is Frusciante expressing how he feels like his dreams are out of reach because he is constantly being criticized and put down. He feels like he is being pushed away from the things he loves and that he is slowly disintegrating.
The second half of the song takes a darker turn, with Frusciante talking about a girl "blabbing nothing" outside his window, and feeling like he has nothing to offer the world. He talks about the only way to destroy this world is to "die like a baby boy." Frusciante then goes on to say that he could be happy in his own mind, but he knows that he is somewhere else, where the words on the page are better than the meaningless scribbling he sees around him. The song ends with Frusciante wishing that he could feel something, questioning if he is even real.
Overall, "Untitled #3" is a song about feeling lost, alone, and disconnected from the world around you. Frusciante uses powerful metaphors and imagery to convey his emotions, and the song is a poignant and haunting reflection on the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
A dove is a glove
Love is a protection that I hold deep within my heart
That I wear in my heart
It's not something I can show through fashion or any external display
And though I like to dress smart
I dress with sophistication
It doesn't have any part of the world of fashion
However, love is above edgy fashion trends
And you're there to put me down
Your presence is always voiceless negativity
And I'm sick off the frowns that follow me around
I am tired of the looks of disappointment
I would like the sky but there's no reason why
I want to dream of the beauty but I do not have a reason to
She'd say to this world with the nose of a girl
The sky would criticize the world like a young woman would
Turned up so loud that it rings sings the cloud
Her message would be so profound that it reflects in the sky
I've never been here and though you're physically here
I feel lost even though you are by my side
You're pushing me away to decay like the day that I loved
You are moving me further apart until I go back to the day I was heartbroken
There is a girl, blabbing nothing outside my window
A person is talking foolishness outside my window
What do I have to show
What can I do to prove myself
To a world that the only way to destroy
The world only recognizes destruction and chaos
Is to die like a baby boy
Only innocent suffering is commended
I could be happy in infinity
Happiness can be achieved in infinite ways
Of the space of my eyelid
Through inner peace and tranquility
But I know I'm somewhere else
Yet I find myself far from there
Where the words on this page
On this page, reality is expressed in words
Are better than the scribling nonsense they are,
Defying what is supposedly right and disregarding nonsense
And it would be real,
And everything would be in its true essence
And I eat my last meal
At the end, everything will go away
Wish that I could feel
Desiring to regain the true essence of a feeling
But now I don't even know if I'm real
At this moment, I am unsure if I am here or if I ever even existed
Contributed by Charlotte D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.