This is about Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died of a heroin overdose in 1988. "My Lovely Man" (On Blood Sugar Sex Magik) is also about Hillel.
Anthony Kiedis wrote this song during his withdraw of drugs. The lyrics, "If you see me getting high, knock me down, I'm not bigger than life" are him telling Hillel, "If I do anything stupid with my life, knock me down, or set me straight." It's his realization that he is not invincible and can die just like Hillel.
There are two versions of the song that exist. The version that is included on the album is edited to sound like John's vocals are dominant over Anthony's. The remastered version of the album has the orginal long version as a bonus track. That version has more lyrics and Anthony's vocals are dominant.
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