Brendan's Death Song

Following the departure of guitarist John Frusciante in 2009, the Red Hot Chili Peppers recruited longtime associate Josh Klinghoffer to replace him. Klinghoffer began writing and jamming with the band on October 12, 2009, the same day that Brendan Mullen - the LA nightclub owner who gave the band their first break - passed away. This acoustic ballad is a tribute to Mullen. Bassist Flea recalled to Spin magazine: "The first day that we ever played together with Josh after taking two years off, we found out that a very close friend of all of ours had died. We started jamming and came up with a song that's on the record, called 'Brendan's Death Song,' about our friend Brendan Mullen. We improvised and it happened. It was a poignant moment for us. It was an emotional thing."

Frontman Anthony Kiedis told Q magazine about the writing of the song: "Brendan happened to die on the very first day we were going to rehearse with Josh Klinghoffer. I was driving in from home up over the Santa Monica mountains when I got a text saying Brendan had died of a massive stroke - on his birthday. When I got to rehearsal I delivered the news to my band that we had just lost this beautiful person. And then we started playing without talking. Probably the second thing that came out of that jam was the basis for 'Brendan's Death song.'"

He added: "We got a good recording of it with Rick (Rubin). It does have a sort of death march feel to it, but the song is more of a celebration than a bummer. My favorite part of the song came much later - which is the bridge section where it gets quite dark there for a moment and there's this feeling of falling into the unknown abyss, of dying. So yes, we lost a good man, but he had a very full life."

The video was directed by Marc Klasfeld, who was also responsible for the "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" and "Monarchy Of Roses" clips. The first part of the video was shot in New Orleans and sees the band giving Mullen a proper jazz funeral, RHCP-style. The final act was filmed at McDonoghville Cemetery in Louisiana, and finds the Chilli Peppers performing against a backdrop of burning letters that reads "Death Song."