{"id":387,"date":"2026-02-09T14:21:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=387"},"modified":"2026-02-09T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T22:09:20","slug":"how-an-ex-girlfriend-from-his-early-20s-inspired-anthony-kiedis-to-write-this-red-hot-chili-peppers-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-an-ex-girlfriend-from-his-early-20s-inspired-anthony-kiedis-to-write-this-red-hot-chili-peppers-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"How an Ex-Girlfriend From His Early 20s Inspired Anthony Kiedis To Write This Red Hot Chili Peppers Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Art inspires art, and that is most certainly the case for the Red Hot Chili Peppers classic &#8220;Give It Away.&#8221; The band released the song as the lead single from their fifth studio album, <em>Blood Sugar Sex Magik<\/em>. The song reached No.1 on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart in 1991. But the secret behind the lyrics is that lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis based them on his ex-girlfriend, Nina Hagen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cGive It Away\u201d Was Inspired by Anthony Kiedis\u2019 Ex<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away [Official Music Video]\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mr_uHJPUlO8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kiedis and Hagan dated briefly when Kiedis was 20 years old. Hagan is a German singer-songwriter. Kiedis saw Hagan as a musical and personal mentor who According to Kiedis, taught him that giving stuff away brings good energy into your life. This newfound mindset directly inspired Kiedis to write &#8220;Give It Away.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It all started when Kiedis complimented a jacket Hagan was wearing. Hagan insisted Kiedis keep the jacket for himself, and that is when she taught him that giving things away brings good energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I had been thinking about this concept Nina planted in my mind,&#8221; said Kiedis in <em>Fornication: The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story <\/em>by Jeff Apter. &#8220;She believed that the more she gave, the more she received. When I got sober, I realized that sobriety revolved around giving something away to maintain it. So this idea of &#8216;give it away&#8217; was turning in my head for a while.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Kiedis had the lyrics in mind, but it wasn&#8217;t until a summer recording session, when lead bassist Flea started playing a new bassline, that Kiedis had music to go with the words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &#8220;This idea of give it away had been tornado-ing around in my head for a while. When Flea started hitting that bassline, that tornado just came out of my mouth.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, in 1993, that tornado turned into a Grammy Award winner for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards. The song remains a classic for this American rock band. The band continues to play &#8220;Give It Away&#8221; live, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/4-rock-songs-that-were-played-live-once-and-never-again\/\">unlike many other rock songs that have died out. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\">The lyrics still serve as a reminder that, to receive good things, you have to give things in return. &#8220;<em>Greedy little people in a sea of distress\/ Keep your more to receive your less.<\/em>&#8221;  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the case of rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, sometimes young love can inspire some seriously great music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":622652,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":104,"post_id":436}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Gary Gershoff\/Getty Images","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[94,18],"byline":[104],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-red-hot-chili-peppers","tag-rock-music"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Red Hot Chili Peppers","term_id":94,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/red-hot-chili-peppers\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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