Dani California

"Dani California"
Song

"Dani California" is the first single from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and then was officially released on May 2, 2006.

The international radio premiere was April 3, 2006, when Don Jantzen from the Houston radio station KTBZ-FM, played "Dani California" continuously for his entire three hour show.

The single debuted on the The Billboard Hot 100 at number twenty-four and peaked at number six, becoming the band's third single to hit the top-ten on the chart. As well, "Dani California" reached the number one spot on both the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts.. It reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, kept from number one position by Gnarls Barkley's song Crazy.

In the Billboard album review of Stadium Arcadium, which dismissed the album as indulgent and lacking cohesion, "Dani California" was described as "the one thing that truly grabs attention upon first listen and worms its way into your subconscious, where it just won't let go, as much of Anthony Kiedis' catchiest melodies do."

"Dani California" was named the theme song for the Japanese horror film Death Note, based on the manga (Japanese comic).

Music video

File:Danicali.png

A Screenshot from the "Dani California" video showing showing Anthony Kiedis and Michael "Flea" Balzary honoring Funk.

The music video for "Dani California" premiered on MTV on April 4, 2006. Directed by Tony Kaye, acclaimed director of American History X, the video is a quasi-chronology of the evolution of rock music; the band performs the song on a stage, but in a variety of outfits representing important figures and movements in the history of rock music.

There has been much debate on the Internet, about which bands are portrayed. However, in the June 2006 issue of UK Classic Rock magazine, Flea was quoted as saying, "We mainly did eras, not actual people: rockabilly, British Invasion, psychedelia, glam, funk, punk, goth, hair metal, grunge, and ourselves being the sum of all those parts".

Dani's story

Main article: Dani (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

In the song, lyricist Anthony Kiedis laments the early death of Dani California, a poor, young girl from Mississippi who became a bank robber and lived a hard, fast life. A girl by the name of "Dani" also appears in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2002 single "By the Way." Kiedis has explained that the character of Dani California embodies all the women from his past relationships, "When this funky groove came up it struck me as a perfect place to actually tell a story. It sort of revealed itself to me that it's been the same character, just kind of developing. At first I didn't realize that I was writing about the same girl."'

Accusations of plagiarism

Shortly after its release, the originality of the song has been questioned in the Dan Gaffney Morning Show of Delaware based radio station WGMD 92.7. The presenters alleged that "Dani California" was a ripoff of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1993 hit Mary Jane's Last Dance. In order to prove their accusation they presented audio snippets of both songs, playing them simultaneously (i.e. on top of each other) several times. They stated that the chord progression and key, the tempo and even the lyrical theme of the songs (both produced by Rick Rubin) showed "startling similarities" and urged listeners to "decide for themselves". Neither Red Hot Chili Peppers nor Tom Petty has commented the allegation on their web sites as of June 2, 2006.

Some people have dismissed this as a publicity stunt by the DJ's. People on the official Red Hot Chili Peppers message board have pointed out that they sped up Mary Jane's Last Dance to more closely match the tempo of Dani California. It's also been pointed out that while the first 8 bars of both songs sound similar, the chords are not actually the same, with Mary Jane's Last Dance being "Am, G, D, Am" and Dani California being "Am, G, Dm, Am". Both of these chord progressions are very common in rock music, and been used in countless other songs Many have also pointed out that the melody is very similar, too.

Only the verses of the songs appear similar, which may cast doubts on the DJ's claims

Spin Magazine Readers voted in a June 2006 poll on the similarities of the songs: "We asked if you thought the Red Hot Chili Peppers ripped off Tom Petty for their new single. The outcome might surprise you. The votes are in! As of press time, 49 percent of you felt the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" bites "certain musical elements" from Tom Petty's 1993 hit, "Mary Jane's Last Dance," while 46 percent said "Dani" was totally original. An on-the-fence five percent of readers weren't quite sure. Petty, meanwhile, is said to be seeking legal action to prove his case." Spin also posted an audio comparison of the two tracks.

Track listing

CD single #1:

1. "Dani California"
2. "Million Miles Of Water"

CD single #2:

1. "Dani California"
2. "Whatever We Want"
3. "Lately"

7 Picture disc single

1. "Dani California"
2. "Whatever We Want"

Chart performance

Chart (2006)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
French Singles Chart	57
Dutch Top 40	8
UK Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	12
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	8
New Zealand Chart	7
Swiss Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	7
Austrian Singles Chart	7
Belgian Singles Chart	15
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	5
Chilean Airplay Top 100	11
Italian Single Chart	4
Israeli Single Chart	8

"Dani California" - U.K. Top 75 Singles
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06
Position	12	2	6	8	16	20

"Dani California" - Modern Rock Tracks Top 20
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08
Position	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

"Dani California" - Billboard Hot 100
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08
Position	24	9	10	9	8	6	6	11

Australian ARIA Singles Chart Trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	9	9	8	8

World Tracks Top 40 [1]
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
Position	17	13	6	4	3	3	2
Points	108.000	144.000	183.000	253.000	276.000	306.000	310.000

Dutch Top 40 chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	29	18	10	8	11	11

External links

• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Official Site
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - MySpace Page
• Stadium-Arcadium.com Unofficial Fansite - http://www.stadium-arcadium.com
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Street Team
• Video Interview with RHCP talking about Dani California - [2]
• Full Length Streamed Track - [3] or [4]
• Full Length Streamed Video - [5]
• Clip comparing Mary Jane's Last Dance to Dani California - [6]