Do You Know Dani California?

I started listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers because my crush liked them. He was a drummer. Occasionally we held hands. We sat beside each other from time to time. Many side glances. An abundance of awkward smiles. Even a slow dance or two.

He asked me to be his girlfriend on a Toronto Maple Leafs Valentine's card, but I said '"no". Actually, I said something far more silly and dramatic than "no". What I said was, "I would if I could". What a strange thing to say. I was scared. I was young. What could have been?

I kept listening to them because of the funky rhythmic guitar. I barely played acoustic guitar at the time, but man, I would close my eyes and just imagine my fingers expertly plucking away on an electric... Alas, my three competent chords would not quite do the trick, so I became even more invested in the daydreams they conjured.

Junior high was truly soundtracked by the Chili Peppers. I slept with earphones in. I bopped my head along, I didn't care who saw. I sang along, but I rarely understood the lyrics.

Possibly, that is the most accurate description of my preteen years. She sang, but she didn't know why.

One summer day I was sitting in the car with my friend listening to the radio. We were waiting for her dad to come out of the grocery store. She decided we would wait in the car because, as this friend would famously say, "I love the radio". I wasn't sure that I loved the radio, but I passively agreed with her on this, and on most things. I remember a remix of "By The Way" came on the radio and I got so angry. How disrespectful that some silly electronic artist thought they could improve on something that was already perfect, and that radio station would waste airtime on it! I decisively declared that I was no longer a fan of the radio.

This is especially funny since ten years later I would be having the time of my life at EDM festivals, probably listening to that same remix and calling it a classic.

I rarely listen to the radio these days, but it has nothing to do with remixes and everything to do with my Spotify Premium subscription.

I listened to "Otherside" on repeat in the back of the van driving to and from basketball tournaments. I liked basketball. I loved the ride home. I would pretend to sleep, eyes closed, letting my young imagination run wild to the tune of their greatest hits album.

Now I drive around with my partner listening to the same song, eyes open, a mental to-do list where my daydreams once were.

I got the album, Stadium Arcadium as a Christmas gift from my parents. I transferred the CD to iTunes, and then to my iPod shuffle. "Tell Me Baby" and "Snow (Hey Oh)" kept me up at night going back and forth, pressing replay.

To this day, the opening chords fill me with a temporary sense of juvenile hope. Like, love in the classroom, placing top three in cross country, summer on the soccer field. A youthful, energy long since depleted. Sure, I was humming along to a song about coke, but hey oh I didn't realize that. It was pure bliss.

I loved everything about "Dani California" from the lyrics to the invigorating guitar solo at the end. Before I needed my coffee fix, I needed this song. I would hear it in my head constantly. I knew exactly what was coming. It never let me down. I didn't know much, but I knew this song inside and out. Every word. Every reverb.

I met my partner doing karaoke. He said "what should we sing" and I said, "do you know Dani California?"

Twelve years later and I still knew every word.