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Fight Like a Brave

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B-side
  
"Fire"

Format
  
7" vinyl, 12" vinyl

Length
  
3:52

Released
  
September 29, 1987

Genre
  
Funk rock, rap rock

Recorded
  
May 1987 at Capitol Studios and Eldorado Recording Studios in Hollywood, California

"Fight Like a Brave" is the first track from American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. It was released as the lead single for the album. The single also included a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song "Fire" as a b-side, which would later appear on The Abbey Road E.P. and Mother's Milk as a tribute to guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988.

Contents

Composition

Most of the song's lyrics revolve around Anthony Kiedis' addiction to heroin. At the lowest point in Kiedis' addiction, Flea had kicked him out of the Chili Peppers with no intention of letting him back in unless he was proven sober. After getting clean through various rehab programs, he called Flea to tell him of his success, and was accepted back in the band. On the plane ride home, Kiedis wrote this song about his struggles with drugs and his overcoming them.

The song is mostly an attempt to inspire other people like the rehab sessions were motivational for Kiedis to abandon the drugs. Kiedis described "Fight Like a Brave" as "a metaphor for trying to encourage someone who feels as though they don't have a chance [as though] they're grovelling in the gutter of life." He also said the song expressed the band's discontentment with EMI, their label at the time.

The song is featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 as well as the 1986 movie Tough Guys.

A portion of the song's lyrics, "No one can tell you you've got to be afraid" was also used by Bradley Nowell in the Sublime song "All You Need".

Live performances

Despite being a single, the song has only been performed 27 times and has not been performed live since 1989.

Track listing

7" single (1987)
  1. "Fight Like a Brave" (Album)
  2. "Fire"
12" single (1987)
  1. "Fight Like a Brave" (Not Our Mix)
  2. "Fight Like a Brave" (Boner Beats Mix)
  3. "Fight Like a Brave" (Mofo Mix)
  4. "Fire"
12" picture disc/12" promo (1987)
  1. "Fight Like a Brave" (Mofo Mix)
  2. "Fight Like a Brave" (Knucklehead Mix)
  3. "Fire"
12" promo (1987)
  1. "Fight Like a Brave" (album)
  2. "Fight Like a Brave" (album)
12" Japanese split promo/DJ copy (1987)
  1. "Fight Like a Brave" (album) by Red Hot Chili Peppers
  2. "Contradiction" (Heavy Mix) by Lions & Ghosts

References

Fight Like a Brave Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA