"Dark Necessities" is a song by American rock band

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

and is the first single from their eleventh studio album, '' The Getaway''. After announcing the single through their

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page on May 2, 2016, the single was released three days later on May 5, 2016. The music video was released on June 16, 2016. The song was released as a limited edition

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debu ...

that was included in a deluxe package of ''The Getaway'' available only through the band's website. "Dark Necessities" was successful on the ''Billboard'' charts, becoming the band's 13th number-one single and 25th top ten single on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, both of which are records for any artist. The song is also the fourth song ever to reach number one on the Alternative Songs chart, the

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chart, and the

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart. "Dark Necessities" made its live debut on May 22, 2016 at the

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festival in

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. A live version recorded at Canal+ Studios in Paris, is on the '' Live in Paris'' EP.

Background

In a June 7, 2016, video interview for the band's

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channel,

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fa ...

discussed the song saying that many of the songs were created on their own. However, "Dark Necessities" was one of the songs that the band had written with Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse. Kiedis said that he went to

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and worked on the lyrics to the song, which "speaks to the beauty of our dark sides and how much creativity and growth and light actually comes out of those difficult struggles that we have on the inside of our heads that no one else can see." Kiedis also said that the song meant a lot to Burton and it was one of his favorites. He said that Burton fought for "Dark Necessities" to be the first single. However, the band wanted "The Getaway" to be the first single while the label and managers wanted the song "Go Robot" to be the first single.

Critical reception

"Dark Necessities" was placed at number 12 on ''

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''’s "50 Best Songs of 2016" list, writing: “Their big comeback hit collabo with Danger Mouse, with Anthony Kiedis getting personal about his darkest, druggiest memories over a Flea bassline full of blood, sugar, sex and magic.”

Music video

The video, directed by

Olivia Wilde Olivia Jane Cockburn ( ; born March 10, 1984), known professionally as Olivia Wilde, is an American actress and filmmaker. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' ( ...

, was released through the band's

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page on June 16, 2016. Chris Blauvelt served as the

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

. The music video features long boarders (Carmen Shafer, Amanda Caloia, Amanda Powell, and Noelle Mulligan) skating around a grocery store, abandoned streets, and the

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, interspersed with the band playing the song.

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers *

– lead vocals *

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– bass guitar, piano *

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the h ...

– drums, percussion *

Josh Klinghoffer Josh Adam Klinghoffer (born October 3, 1979) is an American musician best known for being the guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, with whom he recorded two studio albums, '' I'm with You'' (2011) and '' The Getaw ...

– guitars, backing vocals Additional musicians *

Daniele Luppi Daniele Luppi is an Italian composer and music producer who has been active since around 1999. He is an Emmy nominated film and television composer and has worked with the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gnarls Barkley, and John Legend. ...

– string arrangement *Peter Kent – violin *Sharon Jackson – violin *Briana Bandy – viola *Armen Ksajikian – cello

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Red Hot Chili Peppers songs Danger Mouse Warner Records singles Songs written by Flea (musician) Songs written by Anthony Kiedis Songs written by Josh Klinghoffer Songs written by Chad Smith Songs written by Danger Mouse (musician)