Greatest Hits Red Hot Chili Peppers -

“We need two new songs,” Anthony said, turning from the wall. “That’s the deal. A hits collection has to have something fresh, or it’s just a tax write-off.”

“You think we’ll still be doing this at fifty?” he asked.

Flea put an arm around him. “We’ll be lucky to be alive at fifty.” greatest hits red hot chili peppers

When they finished recording, the engineer played back the two songs side by side. Flea started crying. He didn’t know why. John stared at the floor.

“They’re the best we’ve done in years,” Anthony said. “And that’s the problem.” “We need two new songs,” Anthony said, turning

They weren’t making a new album. They were making a monument to themselves, and it felt strange.

They laughed. It was true. It was always true. And they played on. Flea put an arm around him

The second new track came from a darker place. John played a riff that sounded like a siren, and Anthony wrote about a friend who’d just relapsed—a man who called from a payphone, voice wet and shaking, saying he’d lost everything again. Save the Population . The chorus was a desperate prayer: “I want to save the population / But I can’t save myself.”