Red Hot Chili Peppers | Through the Shattered Lens

A song about drug abuse that features a children’s chorus?

Not creepy at all!

Aeroplane makes a lot more sense if you know that it’s based on a traditional blues song called Jesus is my Areoplane. In their version of the song, the Chili Peppers are saying that music has saved them and taken them to a higher plane of existence. Whenever Anthony Kiedis struggled with his addictions and was tempted to turn to dust in his kitchen, it was music that kept him from destroying himself. The original song was about people flying away with Jesus. The Chili Peppers are flying away with songs like this one. The Chili Peppers might be going to Hell but at least they got to make some music and shoot his video with a group of smoking hot models and synchronized swimmers.

The children’s chorus, which shows up at the end and changes the entire feel of the video, were reportedly all friends of Flea’s daughter. Flea’s daughter is among the children singing. At the end of the song, when you hear one girl outsinging all the rest with “You’re my areoplane!,” that’s her.

Enjoy!

Cory Webster (a young Josh Brolin, who looks identical to older Josh Brolin) is an amateur skateboarder from the Valley who hopes to win a downhill competition and score some sweet corporate sponsorship. Chrissy (Pamela Gidley) is an innocent blonde from Indiana who is staying with her brother in Venice Beach. Cory and Chrissy are in love but there is only one problem. Chrissy’s brother is Tommy Hook (Robert Rusler), leader of The Daggers, a punk skateboard gang. There’s no way Hook is going to let his sister go out with someone from the Valley.

Thrashin’ has a plot but it’s just an excuse for almost nonstop, kinetic skateboarding action. The film is justly famous for the jousting scene, where Cory and Hook battle in Bronson Canyon, seeing who can knock who off his board. Attentive viewers will be able to spot skateboard greats Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, and Steve Caballero in the cast. Fortunately, Gator Rogowski is nowhere to be found.

Best of all, Thrashin‘ features an early performance from Sherilyn Fenn! She plays Hook’s girlfriend and, though her role may be small, it is easy to see the spark that would make her the breakout star of Twin Peaks. At the time that she made Thrashin’, Fenn was dating a young actor named Johnny Depp. The film’s director, David Winters, hoped to cast Depp in the lead role but the producers insisted on Brolin, who does a good job even if he never looks completely comfortable on a board.

With its minimal plot and threadbare character development, Thrashin‘ is dumb but legendary, a film that embodies an era. It also has a killer soundtrack. Keep an eye out for an early version of Red Hot Chili Peppers, performing Black-Eyed Blonde in a club scene.