In 2006 the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their 9th studio album, Stadium Arcadium. One of the biggest singles off the album and the Chili Peppers career was the song “Dani California” but the band soon found themselves being compared to musician Tom Petty and it wasn’t in a way they had hoped.
“Dani California”
“Dani California” would become the Red Hot Chili Peppers’s 3rd single of their career after “Scar Tissue” and “Under The Bridge” to be a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In addition, “Dani California” became the second song to debut at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Modern Rock charts where it stayed for almost 4 consecutive months. The song would also go on to win 2 Grammy awards for best rock song and best performance by a duo or group with a vocal.
The song tells a story of a woman named Dani who is a poor girl from the south who lived in California, had a child, while also living a fast and dangerous life and eventually dying.
Dani would represent a composite of all of the women frontman Anthony Keidis had relationships with in his life.
Dani first appeared in the 1999 song “Californication” even though her name isn’t explicitly stated which includes the lyrics, “Teenage bride with a baby inside/Gettin’ high on information.” The reference is also made to her in the 2002 single “By the Way” as “Dani the girl”.
“When this funky groove came up it struck me as a perfect place to actually tell a story.” – Anthony Keidis
Kiedis would reveal in an interview, “When this funky groove came up it struck me as a perfect place to actually tell a story. It sort of revealed itself to me that it’s been the same character, just kind of developing. At first I didn’t realize that I was writing about the same girl.”
While the song received much critical praise, it was a morning radio DJ in Delaware named Dan Gaffney who worked for radio station WGMD 92.7 and claimed the Chili Peppers plagiarized the Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers 1993 hit “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”.
Radio DJ Compares “Dani California” to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
Gaffney played the songs side by side and stated that the chord progression, the key and even lyrical themes were very similar and they would ask their audience to decide for themselves. Soon other news outlets picked up on this and it became widely reported.
While the chord progressions do sound similar, they are in fact, different. University of Chicago Musicologist Travis Jackson told Rolling Stone magazine that while the chord progressions were very similar it was a pretty standard groove in music and it didn’t necessarily mean it was evidence of plagiarism.
Other people pointed to the fact that Tom Petty’s song “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” sounds eerily similar to the Jayhawks 1992 song, “Waiting for the Sun”. The Jayhawks, ironically enough, were an opening act for Tom Petty in 1992 and the band’s keyboardist also played on both “Waiting for the Sun” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers Could Face Plagiarism Lawsuit
Also interesting, Rick Rubin produced “Dani California” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”. When the story picked up steam and started being nationally syndicated, news stories reported at the time that The Chili Peppers could be facing a huge plagiarism lawsuit as Tom Petty was made aware of the similarities and was apparently looking into legal ramifications.
Both bands were on the same label, Warner Records and for Stadium Arcadium was the label’s biggest album of the year. If Petty were to file legal action, it was reported the album could’ve been pulled from shelves pending litigation.
Tom Petty’s rep, Heidi Robinson, would say in a statement, “I am well aware of this situation. The two songs certainly do sound similar, don’t they? I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Tom doesn’t have a comment on this at all. I have no idea if he is going to sue the Chili Peppers, and am not prepared to make a comment on that.”
“I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there.” – Tom Petty
Eventually Petty would comment on the matter when he was interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine. He would say the following, “The truth is, I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. A lot of rock & roll songs sound alike.”
When he was asked if he considered a lawsuit, Petty said, “Nah, I don’t believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs.”
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