Songful Style | “Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up On the Edge #635

January 13, 2023 / 34 Comments

Y’all, I am still trying to catch up on things after the holidays and the all the flu bugs that we hosted for longer than anyone likes to host a flu bug. So I apologize that I have been kind of absent from visiting and commenting on the blogs of all of my favorite blogging buddies. I haven’t even been joining your wonderful link parties over the past two weeks because by the time all of the other life things are completed, I am downright pooped. Too pooped to do much of anything except melt into my couch and stare at Netflix. Please bear with me while I get my act together! And now let’s get on with a new song choice for some style inspiration.

About Songful Style

Songful Style is an ageless style challenge series hosted by Suzy of The Grey Brunette, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, and Michelle of Funky Fashion Style. 

Each month we will share a song with the lyrics and video and we invite you to use whatever aspect of the song that inspires you to create an outfit. 

It is similar to Style Imitating Art where we use artwork to inspire our outfit creations. Except Songful Style gives you lyrics, music, video, and album artwork to inspire your fashion creativity. You may even find inspiration in a memory triggered by the selected song. It is all open to your own personal interpretation and just a fun way to discover new music and get a little bit more creative with your wardrobe.

Anyone is welcome to join us on a permanent basis or you can just play along without any obligation to do anything other than feel inspired. We are flexible and fun and just want to find more ways to play dress up because it’s what we enjoy doing! 

We will be posting on the last Monday of each month and will announce our song choice for the following month at the end of each post.

For January’s songful style prompt Michelle chose “Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Video Inspiration
Official Video

I can’t find very many covers of this song on YouTube, but the official music video has tons of sartorial inspiration, so I think this video is enough standing alone. Check out some of these screen shots.

Screen Shot at 1:57
Screen Shot at 3:07
Screen Shot at 3:19
Screen Shot at 2:47
Screen Shot at 3:18
Screen Shot at 4:26
The Lyrics
“Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
They come from every state to find
Some dreams were meant to be declined
Tell the man what did you have in mind
What have you come to do?

No turning water into wine
No learning while you're in the line
I'll take you to the broken sign
You see these lights are blue

Come and get it
Lost it at the city limit
Say goodbye
'Cause they will find a way to trim it
Everybody
Lookin' for a silly gimmick
Gotta get away
Can't take it for another minute

This town is made of many things
Just look at what the current brings
So high, it's only promising
This place was made on you

Tell me, baby, what's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time?
Tell me, lover, are you lonely?
The thing we need is
Never all that hard to find
Tell me, baby, what's your story
Where do you come from
And where you wanna go this time?
You're so lovely, are you lonely?
Giving up on the innocence you left behind

Some claim to have the fortitude
Too shrewd to blow the interlude
Sustaining pain to set a mood
Step out to be renewed

I'll move you like a baritone
Jungle brothers on the microphone
Getting over with an undertone
It's time to turn to stone

Chitty chitty, baby
When your nose is in the nitty gritty
Life could be a little sweet
But life could be a little shitty
What a pity
Boston and a Kansas city
Looking for a hundred
But you only ever found a fitty

Three fingers in the honeycomb
You ring just like a xylophone
Devoted to the chromosome
The day that you left home

Tell me, baby, what's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time?
Tell me, lover, are you lonely?
The thing we need is
Never all that hard to find
Tell me, baby, what's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time?
You're so lovely, are you lonely?
Giving up on the innocence you left behind

Tell me, baby, what's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time?
Tell me, lover, are you lonely?
The thing we need is
Never all that hard to find
Tell me, baby, what's your story
Where you come from
And where you wanna go this time?
You're so lovely, are you lonely?
Giving up on the innocence you left behind
About the Artist and the Song

Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band composed of vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. They were formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, California, with their self-titled debut album being released on August 10, 1984, by EMI America and Enigma Records. While their inaugural album failed to chart on Billboard 200, it did receive significant college airplay as well as steady MTV rotation which helped to build a strong fan base for the band. The album only sold 300,000 copies but it is credited as the first ever release in the funk metal genre of music.

The band didn’t start garnering real fame until the success of their fourth studio album, Mother’s Milk, which was released on August 16, 1989, and peaked at number 52 on Billboard 200. In March 1990, the album was certified gold and was the first Red Hot Chili Peppers album to ship in excess of 500,000 units. The following year in September 1991, after entering a major-label bidding war, they released their fifth studio album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which featured one of the band’s best known songs to date, “Give It Away”, as the first single which went on to win the 1992 Grammy Award for “Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal”. The album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and the song became the band’s first number one single on the Modern Rock Chart. And then fame was achieved and Red Hot Chili Peppers became one of the most iconic bands of the 1990s, eventually being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012.

Our song pick this month, “Tell Me Baby”, was released on July 17, 2006, as the second single on Red Hot Chili Pepper’s ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium (released on May 6, 2006). “Tell Me Baby” was not as successful on the charts as their prior single, “Dani California”, or their subsequent single, “Snow (Hey Oh)”, but it reached and remained at number 1 for four consecutive weeks on Billboard’s Modern Rock Chart, making it the band’s tenth number one song.

I have never been a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I don’t hate their music. I find their songs often have catchy tunes that make me feel like dancing, but I never really understood them lyrically. Or perhaps I never paid enough attention to understand. This song is much like all their songs to me, the chorus is catchy and I feel my body starting to groove a bit, but I don’t understand this song lyrically even after I paid attention. Apparently, it is a song about the dreams of fame and fortune that brought droves of pilgrims to Los Angeles. Dreams that I do not relate to which is probably exactly the reason I don’t get the song. But I love the styles from the 1990s and early 2000s so I am all over the extraordinary fashion sense of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Expect some sort of funk, grunge, rock and roll style from me inspired by the decade of fashion that happened between 1996 and 2006.

If you want a good chuckle, read this short article, The Story Behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers Logo. I don’t want to give any spoilers so I will just say that I laughed really hard at this story.

Album Covers and Other Images
Image Source
Image Source
Red Hot Chili Peppers Current Tour Poster
Image Source
Image Source

That is all the inspiration I have for you for this song. I don’t know quite where to begin myself but I think I am going to rely heavily on the outfits featured in the video. And if all else fails, you might see me wearing a simple color blocked outfit in black, white, and red.

If you want to join us in styling your own look inspired by “Tell Me Baby” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, we will have a link party on Monday, January 30, 2023, where you can share your post. We would love to see your Songful Styles!

Featured Favorites
Reader Favorite: Joanne of Slices of Life
December’s Daily Highlights
Fashion Favorite: Amy of Amy’s Creative Pursuits
Amy’s Creative Pursuits
How To Style A Flawed Thrifted Dress
Other Favorite: Pamela of Style Yourself Confident
Style Yourself Confident
Forget New Year Resolutions Celebrate what you’ve achieved!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.

I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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34 Comments

  • Michelle

    January 13, 2023 at 11:38 am Reply

    Maybe it’s an LA thing. I just felt an affinity to this band. But they do seem to be rooted in the LA vibe, and since I grew up there, it feels a bit like home. When I went back to LA, when I moved in with Dan, I was amazed at how much the city felt like home to me, despite being gone for 35 years. Dan and I both feel that way. Neither of us want to live there though. Cost of living is high and the traffic is insane. (Ah well, that was a tangent.)

    • shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com

      January 14, 2023 at 8:21 am Reply

      Michelle, I love that you feel that connection to the band because of your shared roots. That makes a lot of sense. I really enjoyed LA when I visited there, but I would never want to live there either. I also really like San Francisco, but don’t think I would enjoy paying the cost of living there either. This music series is so fun. It really illustrates the power of song and its ability to form strong bonds and connections and communities. Now I need to start planning some outfits!

      xoxo
      Shelbee

  • Lizzie

    January 13, 2023 at 2:27 pm Reply

    Oh no! I hope you are starting to feel better!! I was sick pretty much all of December with twi flu strains and laryngitis 🙁 I finally got over it but then my hubby got sick AGAIN less than two weeks later with strep throat. I feel like our life has been on pause for the past month. Ugh! Anyway, I loveeee the Red Hot CHili Peppers! One of my all-time favorite bands! I feel like we have very similar musical tastes 🙂

    Lizzie
    http://www.lizzieinlace.com

    • shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com

      January 14, 2023 at 8:15 am Reply

      Thanks so much, Lizzie! The flu and cold germs are brutal this year. I have 4 people in the house who keep passing the gunk back and forth to each other! I definitely feel like I have been on pause since school started. I am just trying to stay afloat until spring when I can get a big ole dose of vitamin D directly from the sun. I feel like the sun has gone to sleep for the past month which does not help matters. I hope you guys get back to 100% health soon as well!

      xoxo
      Shelbee

  • Mica - Away From The Blue

    January 13, 2023 at 4:42 pm Reply

    I hadn’t heard this song before this challenge theme so thank you for sharing it! I think you could get a lot of fun inspiration from it.

    Sorry to hear you’ve been so sick over winter – hope you all feel better soon, and thank you as always for the link up 🙂

    • shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com

      January 14, 2023 at 8:11 am Reply

      Thanks so much, Mica! I didn’t know this song either when Michelle first chose it. But after I listened to it, I realized that I did know it. Well, I recognized it, at least. Coming of age in the 90s and remembering how iconic RHCP were during my college years, I really enjoyed researching the history of this band. I didn’t realize their rise to fame was as slow as it was. I always assumed they were formed in the 90s and immediately became famous! I hope you are well and enjoying some beautiful weather. It is cold and gray and snowy here which does not help the winter blues!

      xoxo
      Shelbee

  • Nancy

    January 14, 2023 at 3:36 am Reply

    Oh and here you are all there for me and I didn’t even ask how you are doing. I’m sorry to read you are not up to your level. I hope you feel well soon.

  • Anne M Bray

    January 14, 2023 at 8:47 am Reply

    Aren’t they the band famous for performing with just socks on their penii?
    Or at least a Rolling Stone cover of that?
    OK, now that you have LOL sprayed coffee all over your screen…

    Yes, a quintessional LA band and Flea has done some great community/educational work in his Silverlake/East Hollywood neighborhood.

    The most memorable song of theirs for me is “Under the Bridge” (91)
    It’s more melodic than the above offering (which I could only tolerate for about 1 minute, between the quick flashing visuals and annoying sonics, heh).

    Have a great weekend!
    xo

    • shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com

      January 14, 2023 at 9:07 am Reply

      Thankfully, I have moved from coffee to hot lemon water at this point! Thanks for sharing these bits of interesting information about RHCP. Did you read the linked article about their logo? I was laughing so hard! Apparently, it’s just a crude drawing of a butthole, which is not surprising for a band who wore socks on their c*cks for a Rolling Stone cover! I am much more into mellower jams like Grateful Dead at this stage of life, but I do appreciate great talent and musicianship even if I don’t love the music. I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well, my friend!

      xoxo
      Shelbee

    • shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com

      January 15, 2023 at 12:50 pm Reply

      Thanks so much, Jess! I am feeling much better. Now I think it’s just bad case of winter blues. It’s all cold and snowy or rainy and I never see the sunlight it seems. I need to get through the next 5 weeks and then I am off for my annual road trip to North Carolina! That always rejuvenates me!

      xoxo
      Shelbee

  • Suzy Turner

    January 16, 2023 at 6:42 am Reply

    I’m so sorry that you guys have had the lurgy for such a long time. It’s horrible, isn’t it?! I hope you’re all feeling much better now.
    Thanks for the full details on this song, Shelbee. I hadn’t given it a second’s thought until I spotted your post!! And I really need to think this one through because I have no idea where to start. There are lots of potential ideas in the music video, but none that really appeals…yet. I shall watch it again and see if I missed something I can use!
    Huge hugs
    Suzy xx

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