Song: “Can’t Stop”
With lyrics written to fit a rhythm, this 2002 classic inspires us to give life our all
From the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ eighth studio album, By the Way, “Can’t Stop” was the third single and the most punk/funk song on the album. It was released on February 3, 2003, where it became the band’s eighth #1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It retained that position for for three weeks.
It is widely regarded as one of the band’s best songs.
With lyrics written by lead singer Anthony Keidis to fit an instrumental the band came up with, the words sometimes stray into strange territories, as in, “Can I get two maybe even three of these, come from space to teach you of the pleiades.”) But the take-home message is to live with passion and individuality, expressed in the hallmark line of the song: “This life is more than just a read-through.”
The video was directed by Mark Romanek, drawing inspiration from Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, which is acknowledged with a sign at the end of the video. Overall, the video was an attempt to capture the spirit of Wurm’s abstract “One Minute Sculptures” by having the band perform random scenes as an homage.
The music for the video was remixed for televisions and phones, making some elements louder (bass, hand claps, backing vocals). The remixed version was later released as well.
Enjoy!
