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Barry Kingston

Professor Crystal Echols

English Composition 11

28 September 2021

Rhetorical Analysis: Otherside

The song “Otherside” written and performed by alternative-rock band, the Red Hot Chili

Peppers, and then remixed by DJ, and music producer Ryan Lewis and rapper Macklemore,

displays the struggle of addicts, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers singing about the cycle of

addiction, and how easy it is to fall back into patterns of addiction, and Lewis and Macklemore

rapping about ending the glorification of drugs in the entertainment industry. The original music

video for the Chili Peppers version of “Otherside” is done in an artistic, German-Expressionist

style, with dark and moody dream-like sequences mirroring a drug-induced state. The Lewis and

Macklemore remix, features Macklemore as a drug addict, and as his rap grows more intense, so

does the imagery of his addiction. Both renditions share language depicting a decline. The Chili

Peppers opening line, “How long, how long will I slide?” and Macklemore/Lewis’ repetitious

use of the line “...down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down...” are used throughout

the songs to delineate an addict’s course of life. In both versions of the song “Otherside,” the

original by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the remix by Ryan Lewis and Macklemore, music

videos are used to juxtapose the use of addiction in the music industry, and to tell the story of a

drug addict’s depreciation, and dance with death.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers song and music video is done with the intention of showing

the viewer how addicts justify their actions, and how hard it is for them to break free from

addiction. Released in 2000, “Otherside” became number-one on the alternative-songs, billboard

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chart list (billboard.com). The music video is highly stylized, with cubist, Gothic props and

colors that highlight the dark tone/subject matter. Flea, a member of the band, balances on cables

high in the air, showing the risks addicts knowingly take with their life. A revolving clock is

used to draw attention to time passing, or potentially ending. The imagery of ladders and

characters falling represents the addict succumbing to the cycle of old addictions, forming new

addictions, or worse... falling to their death/overdosing. The imagery throughout the music video

is used to expose the fragile nature of addicts, the entrapment they feel, and how close to the

“otherside” they are.

The Lewis/Macklemore remix and music video focuses on how the entertainment

industry uses drug addiction for profit rather than to raise awareness. The remix, released in

2009, is done in a hip-hop/rap style. There is a reoccurring motif of water and boats, which is

used to pay homage to the line “A cemetery where I marry the sea...” in the original version of

"Otherside," and to draw the parallels of water to death and being an addict to drowning.

Macklemore throws shade at the Chili Peppers with the lyrics, “Follow the formula, violence,

drugs, and sex sells, so we try to sound like someone else, this is not Californiacation, there is no

way to glorify this pavement....” “Californiacation” is the name of the album that “Otherside” is

on, making a direct reference to the band, and questioning their true motives when they sing

about drug addiction...is it to raise awareness, or to make money? This line also highlights

Macklemore/Lewis’s main claim that musicians need to stop the glorification of drugs in their

music, because it perpetuates drug use/abuse.

Both renditions and their creators use appeals to target a certain audience and sell their

songs. The Red Hot Chili Peppers audience are people who enjoy the alternative-rock genre,

especially those who were young adults in the 2000’s. Addicts may be particularly drawn to this
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song, because it is about a struggle/cycle they personally identify with. They use the emotional

appeal of pathos, through the lyrical and visual display of an addict’s struggle, and denial that

their addiction is a problem. Macklemore and Lewis have a bit of a wider audience. By covering

a Chili Peppers’ song, they are tapping into their fan-base, as well as the audience of people who

like rap, R&B, and DJ remixes, which correlates to a wider age range of viewers. Also, because

of the nature of the rap genre, and the lyrics Macklemore uses, he is calling out the entertainment

industry for negligence, so influential musicians would view the song to address the claims

against them. The remix appeals to pathos through the emotional imagery/lyrics of a drug

overdose. They use logos through direct references to musicians who use drugs to sell music

like, “Lil Wayne.” Finally, they use ethos through the credible voice-over dialogue of the rapper

Pimp C, stating during an interview that he took drugs out of his music video “hoping to change

the influence of drugs in the industry” (YouTube.com).

Although the immediate purpose for each song is different, their shared subject matter is

what keeps the audience's attention and pulls on their heartstrings. Macklemore/Lewis use only

the melody of the original to create a more somber-toned background for their testimonial about

drugs, and why they should be extracted from music. The Chili Peppers take a more hard-rock

approach, not glamorizing addiction, but still giving it wind. In their version they make

statements about the addict's decline, then state, “I don’t believe it’s bad...” which sheds light on

the addict’s mindset, but it does not denounce actual drug usage like Macklemore did in the

remix. Whatever the direct motive, both versions emphasize the epidemic, that is addiction. The

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Macklemore, and Ryan Lewis use their music videos to highlight the

diverse ways addiction is used in the music industry, and to show the demise of addicts, and just

how close they are to a cemetery that marries the sea.

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Works Cited

Billboard Media, LLC. https://www.billboard.com/music/red-hot-chili-peppers/chart-

history/MRT/song/67341. Accessed 21 September 2021.

Lewis, Ryan. Macklemore. “Otherside Remix.” YouTube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=fvDQy53eldY. Accessed September 2021.

Red Hot Chili Peppers. “Otherside.” YouTube.com. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside [Official

Music Video]. Accessed 18 September 2021.