Tell Me Baby

Album: Stadium Arcadium (2006)
Charted: 16 50
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Songfacts®:

  • There are no shortage of songs about going for the gold, but this one is about people who pursue their dreams and realize they aren't good enough or can't achieve their goals:

    They come from every state to find
    Some dreams were meant to be declined


    Los Angeles in particular is filled with people who learned the hard way that not everyone can make it.
  • Lead singer Anthony Kiedis said: "'Tell Me Baby' is kind of about that river of humans that flow into Hollywood." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Erik - Fairfield County, CT
  • The video takes place entirely in a sterile studio, where we meet a series of people in a casting call whose dreams of stardom have been quashed. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who also did the RHCP videos for "Californication" and "By The Way," directed it.
  • This is the second single from the band's ninth studio album. It's also their 10th song to reach #1 on the Modern Rock/Alternative Chart (the first was "Give It Away" from their breakthrough 1991 album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik).
  • Not only was Stadium Arcadium the band's first #1 album in the US, but it also swept the charts across the globe, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, Germany, and the UK.

Comments: 7

  • Shawn Scott from Brick NjWe are in process of adopting a little girl and she has taken this song on as her Mantra. She lights up every time we play it which is like 8 times a day. She has been many places in 4 years, she's been lonely and has no idea where she's come from and we are trying to give her back her innocence.
  • Bay from Arcata, CaEventhough it's a kinda sad song it's very catchy
    I spent about 2 weeks, after the first time I heard it ,singing it out loud.
  • Landon from Winchester, OhTheir best song, I think. Extremely catchy.
  • Luke from Manchester, EnglandHippy Hippy Shake wasn't recorded by the Beatles, it was written and recorded by Chan Romero in 1959.

    The Beatles covered it in July 1963 then The Swinging Blue Jeans covered it in December 1963...



    Onto this video: There were two auditions or this video, one audition for people who wanted to be famous (line a) and one audition for people who genuinely loved music and wanted to audition (line b)... Line A's videos wern't used and line B's people wern't told the Chili's would be in the audition with them until they came into the room.
  • Tomislav from Zagreb, CroatiaBeautiful beggining.
  • Anonymous from Virginia Beach, VaI love this song, and up top, it sums it up simply, tons of people want to become famous, and a fraction of a percent make it.
    "They come from every state to find/somed 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/"
    I'm thinking that that is kinda stating what i said above. Everyone would love to be famous, but sometimes, it will never happen, and how producers want you to get to the point, and they dont need all this flashy stuff, sure you need the image, but you need talent more.

    I love this song, and reccommend it to anyone
  • Mike from Edmonds, WaI understand that the inspiration for this song came from The Beatles' "Hippy Hippy Shake."
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