Otherside

This article is about the Red Hot Chili Peppers song. For other uses, see The Other Side (disambiguation).

"Otherside"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album Californication
B-side	"How Strong"
Released	January 11, 2000
Format	CD
Recorded	1999
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:15
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Flea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith
Producer	Rick Rubin
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Around the World" (1999) "Otherside" (2000) "Californication" (2000)
Music video "Otherside" on YouTube

"Otherside" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released in 2000. It was the third single from their album Californication, and confronts the battles ex-junkies have with their prior addictions. The single was highly successful peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, the fourth highest ever for the band; and number one on the US Modern Rock Tracks, which was, at the time, the fifth for the band. The song remained at number one on this chart for 13 consecutive weeks, one of the longest runs at the top of that chart. In addition, the song was featured in the 1999 Van Damme film, Universal Soldier: The Return.

Like most of the singles from the album, "Otherside" remains a live staple in the band's setlists.

Music video

The video was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris in a black-and-white/monochrome Gothic style similar to Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, all influenced by German Expressionist art. Elements of Cubism and work by the graphic artist M. C. Escher are also seen in the video.

A cartoonish story line is juxtaposed upon the song; that of a young man's dream sequence. The band members appear dressed in black in unusual locations, with props intended to appear as surreal instruments. Throughout the video Anthony Kiedis with his short, platinum hair is seen in a castle tower. His stage persona is different and quite dark when compared to his more energetic performances in other videos. John Frusciante plays a rope down a long corridor as if a guitar. Flea is hanging on telephone wires and playing them as if they were a bass guitar, and Chad Smith is up on a tower with a rotating medieval clock that serves as his drum kit.

Jonathan Dayton: "We did look at Caligari, and we looked at a lot of German Expressionist film. But it was also very important to avoid 'Caligari.' It was both inspiration and something to work around, because it has such a strong, specific style, and there have been other videos that have completely ripped it off."

Valerie Faris: "We didn't look at 'Calagari' all that much, really. We did, but then we just left it. We did look at a lot of the works of the futurist artists from the '30s, and the illustrations of the surrealists and from cubism. We were inspired more by paintings than by films…"^{[citation needed]}

Remix

In 2009, Seattle producer Ryan Lewis sampled the song as a backdrop for his song of the same name with emcee Macklemore. The song depicted Macklemore's own personal struggles as well as the wider problems that the hip hop community has with drug abuse.

In 2011, rapper Tru-NC released a remix with the same sample. It is a dedication to a student at Holmen High School who was killed by a police officer.

Track listings

CD single (2000)

1. "Otherside" (album) – 4:16
2. "How Strong" – 4:43

CD version 2 (2000)

1. "Otherside" (album) – 4:16
2. "My Lovely Man" (live) – 5:18
3. "Around the World" (music video)

CD version 3 (2000)

1. "Otherside" (album)
2. "How Strong" (previously unreleased)
3. "My Lovely Man" (live)
4. "Road Trippin'" (without strings)
5. "Scar Tissue" (music video)
6. "Around the World" (music video)

CD version 4 (2000)

1. "Otherside" (album)
2. "How Strong" (previously unreleased)
3. "My Lovely Man" (live)
4. "Road Trippin'" (without strings)

CD version 5 (2000)

1. "Otherside" (album)
2. "How Strong" (previously unreleased)
3. "Road Trippin'" (without strings) – 3:25
4. "Otherside" (music video)

7" single (2000)

1. "Otherside" (album)
2. "How Strong" (previously unreleased)

Chart positions

Peak positions

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	31
Canadian RPM Singles Chart	32
Canadian RPM Rock Report	1
Dutch Singles Chart	24
German Singles Chart	44
Italian Singles Chart	17
New Zealand Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	19
Swiss Singles Chart	65
UK Singles Chart	33
US Billboard Adult Top 40	11
US Billboard Hot 100	14
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	1
US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	26
VH1 Top 10 Video Countdown	2

Year-end charts

Chart (2000)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100	59

Preceded by "All the Small Things" by Blink-182	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single February 19, 2000	Succeeded by "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down
Preceded by Load Me Up by Matthew Good Band	Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative 30 number-one single March 10 – April 24, 2000	Succeeded by "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon

See also

• Number one modern rock hits of 2000
• List of RPM Rock/Alternative number-one singles (Canada)