Scar Tissue

"Scar Tissue"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album Californication
B-side
  • "Gong Li"
  • "Instrumental #1"
ReleasedMay 25, 1999 (1999-05-25)
Recorded1999
Genre
Length3:35
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriters
ProducerRick Rubin
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Love Rollercoaster"
(1996)		 "Scar Tissue"
(1999)		 "Around the World"
(1999)
Music video
"Scar Tissue" on YouTube

"Scar Tissue" is the first single from American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' seventh studio album, Californication (1999). Released on May 25, 1999, the song spent a then-record 16 consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart as well as 10 weeks atop the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and it reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. "Scar Tissue" was also successful in Iceland, New Zealand, and Canada, reaching numbers one, three, and four, respectively. In the United Kingdom, it charted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Scar Tissue" is considered to be representative of the new, more melodic rock sound the band experimented with on Californication (in contrast with the psychedelic One Hot Minute, and dry funk of Blood Sugar Sex Magik). The song is notable for its mellow opening guitar riff and for its slide guitar solos throughout. Guitar World placed the song's guitar solo 63rd in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". "Scar Tissue" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 2000. In 2004, lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis published an autobiography titled after the song.

Music video

The music video for "Scar Tissue" was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, who also directed the video for "Give It Away". The opening shot is of guitarist John Frusciante driving down a strip of desert highway, a metaphor for Frusciante's return to the band (he does not drive in real life). The four members are battered, beaten and bandaged. They are traveling in a rusty wreck and playing broken instruments on the comeback trail. The video ends after a melancholic 30-second Frusciante guitar solo at the moment of sunset, with John tossing the broken, stringless guitar from the car. The car Frusciante pretended to drive for the video was a 1967 Pontiac Catalina convertible. A very similar concept was considered, then scrapped, for the earlier "Soul to Squeeze" video. Prior to the video shoot, Kiedis had his hair cut and bleached his brown hair to platinum blond, a look he kept throughout the promotion and tour for Californication. The video was filmed in California's Mojave Desert.

Reception

"Scar Tissue" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. In 2021, Kerrang ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, and in 2022, Rolling Stone ranked the song number two on their list of the 40 greatest Red Hot Chili Peppers songs.

Live performances

"Scar Tissue" has been a live staple in the band's setlists since its first performance in 1998 making it the band's fifth most performed song overall. American band Mr. Bungle performed a mock version of the song in 1999, as part of a Halloween concert parodying Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Track listings

CD single (1999) (Catalogue Number 9 16913–2)

  1. "Scar Tissue" (album) – 3:37
  2. "Gong Li" (previously unreleased) – 3:42
  3. "Instrumental #1" (previously unreleased) – 2:48

CD single (Slipcase) (1999)

  1. "Scar Tissue" (album) – 3:37
  2. "Gong Li" (previously unreleased) – 3:42

Cassette single (1999)

  1. "Scar Tissue" (album)
  2. "Gong Li" (previously unreleased)

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada) 6× Platinum 480,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI) Gold 300,000‡
Italy (FIMI) Platinum 50,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) 7× Platinum 210,000‡
Portugal (AFP) 2× Platinum 20,000‡
Spain (Promusicae) Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA) 6× Platinum 6,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref(s).
United States May 24, 1999 Rock radio Warner Bros.
Europe May 25, 1999 CD
United Kingdom May 31, 1999
  • CD
  • cassette
Japan June 9, 1999 CD
United States June 21, 1999
June 22, 1999 Contemporary hit radio
September 14, 1999
  • CD
  • cassette
Canada October 12, 1999 CD

See also