What does Can't Stop mean?

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Can't Stop Meaning

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Album cover for Can't Stop album cover

Song Released: 2002


Can't Stop Lyrics

Can’t stop addicted to the shin dig
Cop top he says I’m gonna win big
Choose not a life of imitation
Distant cousin to the reservation
Defunkt the pistol that you pay for
This punk the feeling that you stay for
In time I want to be your...

  1. anonymous
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    Jan 2nd 2011 !⃝

    you guys are dumb... the songs meaning is about john frusciante and his addiction to drugs. Its about his struggle to stay clean for his girlfriend. he was clean for about 7 months and then relapsed. His girlfriend left him because she gave him an ultimatum, her or the drugs and he literally couldn't stop. extremely sad but true

  2. anonymous
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    Jul 22nd 2010 !⃝

    Well this song actually has no meaning.
    It's just random lyrics from other songs that he put together to fit the rhythm of JF's guitar riff.
    Still sounds great.
    I think everyone should see the meaning of this song in their own way, thats why it's so great it can be whatever you want it to be.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  3. universecapsule
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    Apr 16th 2009 !⃝

    It's about life's true meaning. Cop top is God/Universe - '...said I will win big' - narrator has been promised his promised destiny. '...life of imitation.." - not living like others which is the easy and straight path, promising no ups and downs since you have not taken any risks. '...defunkt the pistol...stay for' - get rid of your attitude and hatred, that's all you have made your life to be. '...knock down the boy...' - grow up in your ways, ou don't have to be pompous or pretentious and sho others down. '...pavement...bright...' make a mark so strong that it shines like a star and can be seen though everything. '....complete the motion....go ask the dust...' even if you fail, finish the journey, every fall will teach you to be humble (dust) - and that life's turn is the best teacher. '...the world I love...ever wonder if its all for you...' - people may complain the way they live their lives, the joys, journeys, sorrows - have you stopped to see if it was designed that way to make you something, your destiny - the whole universe is shaping you. '...music the great communicator...' music can convey through the energy so much that even words can't - they convey the idea much better, and the one who makes incredible music knows the level of awareness,the power, a completely different world, it can change a person completely. ;...two sticks...' its like a music directors stick...he can play the whole world through music ..it is even capable of bringing a revolution...God himself orchestrated the whole earth and nature just like a big music director with two sticks in his hands. can also refer to chad the drummer. '...penetration..' narrator will help you underatnd the true meaning. '... gender generation...' there will be only one gender -music loving generation, who will be transformed with the narrator's ideas about life.'...wait a minute....win otr lose just like you..shocking...10 more reasons...just life you...' the narrator says that he has also won and lost so many times just like anybody else, but that never stopeed him from tryig. and those failures were bigger and scarier than most people have to face. He also has so many reasons to find a new person in his life, he also needs to be loved and cherished like anybody else.'...kick start...gods from engineering'- read the signs from the universe that shapes you, there is no way you should question God's / universe's ways, be thankful, don't curse your fate, it can get harder...'...interfering...dictionary' you don't have to worry about yoru life and think too much, your job in this universe has been assigned, don't try to change it. '...more than ordinary' - there is more anout life than you may ralised, it hs been very carefully designed by the creator the way it is, and you have your own role to pla....' can I get 2...' ...even though at times life may seem tough and the narrator has seen tough times, he still wants to live more lives, it is so fascinating.'...spirits when they need you'...when you have a job in this world - you will be born, live life the way it was deisgned - you just can't stop it

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 2nd 2009 !⃝

    And I think that what he meant by (for 1 thing) "cant stop" is not that you can't stop life or control life, but that it doesn't stop and you need to flow with life in such a way to make it the most fulfilling for you. example: the wave
    "this life is more than just a read through" same thing. life is not something to stand by and watch as its happening around you. Its something to do, and partake in. Its not a thing to be idol by. Its something to make. let/make your life be more than ordinary.

  5. anonymous
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    Apr 2nd 2009 !⃝

    And as I'm sure you could all guess. "the tears I drop" not only referring to his cries, but the acid -

  6. anonymous
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    Apr 2nd 2009 !⃝

    And I think that what he meant by (for 1 thing) "cant stop" is not that you can't stop life or control life, but that it doesn't stop and you need to flow with life in such a way to make it the most fulfilling for you. example: the wave
    "this life is more than just a read through" same thing. life is not something to stand by and watch as its happening around you. Its something to do, and partake in. Its not a thing to be idol by. Its something to make. let/make your life be more than ordinary.

    "go ask the dust for any answers
    come back strong with 50 belly dancers" a clear refference to his indian heritage. - look for your questions in the sand, smoke and herbs. and and come back inlightened & confident in your answers and perhaps then some.

  7. anonymous
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    Apr 2nd 2009 !⃝

    "complete the motion if you stumble" meaning catch urself if you fuck up. flow with it & turn in into something else. Something healing. To fix what you just did. like in a literal stumble. If you can catch yourself before you hit the ground, use the motion to bring yourself back up. even use the momentum to swing yourself back up in a dance like motion (for interest). much like a drumb circle. If you hit a beat you didn't want it to hit, just use that to turn it into something else. use that mistake as an initiation into your new beat your creating.

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 2nd 2009 !⃝

    or since it does say "burning so bright, wonder what the wave meant" i think it was a refferance to the social wave that he was in. and along the way the initiation and guide was lost. and through the drugs and whatnot. so burnt you dont quite know what happened.
    so by the end of it, u wonder what the wave meant. looking back at it. aspecialy with all the drugs. you cant quite say what it was. but u know it was .. (referring to the wave itself)
    or maybe that they as a band were shining so bright they missed things with the wave. kinda wondering.
    but again, so keep in mind that they could have multipile meanings. (not just double too)

  9. anonymous
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    Apr 2nd 2009 !⃝

    I see "go write your message in the pavement" as telling you to leave your mark. His message to you. Say what you have to say, speak your mind, don't be afraid yes. but also, more importantly, meanwhile leave an impact. leave your mark on society. like AK. and it has shocked be a bit that no one else has mentioned that.

    "come and tell me when its
    time to" may be saying let me know when this wave has ended. Tell me when its time stop feeling this. and time to go back to what was.

    "ever wonder if its
    all for you" I think means that's how he felt during so. Some times it would get to the point that hed wonder if its all for him. or wonder if its all for everyone. The point of it is for you to experiance it.

    or maybe he's trying to say that that wave was for you. It was done to teach you something. (referring to the third wave.) the high school teacher who gave his students a set of nazi like rules. was highly uniforminitory and grew as a blind mass amongst the school, harming those refusing to conform. The one boy lived by it. believed in it so bad he stayed in that frame of mind when his teacher revealed that in was Hitlers plan & concepts he was seting for them. In the gym revealing the TV with Hitlers face on it when the students dispersed, he the only one remaining. with the teacher trying to explain to him to get him out of that mind frame. (I read the book when I was a kid)
    perhaps it was a reference to that. Saying that I was all done for you. In order to teach you something. but at the same time the teachie could also fall into his lesson .. (as did the teacher. or start to. I think ..)

    keep in mind people that lyrics may have multiple meanings, please ..
    and may I just add - I am from NY and I have recantly moved out to California. and I am a very LOVE-connect to everything - person. my friends are left back on the eastcoast but the love that radiates from within me stays with them and spreads around the air here. Eastcoast Love is Living on the Westend
    (cant wait to go see them in a few XD)

  10. anonymous
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    Mar 31st 2009 !⃝

    well i think it describes his life as a rockstar but the chorus can be interpreted differently. i think that the lyrics are about someone in his life that is helping him keep going. and if all that hes done is for her.

    p.s. my best friend told me that this sone reminds him of me :)

  11. anonymous
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    Nov 11th 2008 !⃝

    this song HAS no meaning. The lyrics are WRITTEN arround the main guitar riff developed by frusciante. It's just a collection of random thoughts, and AK has said this.

  12. anonymous
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    Nov 4th 2008 !⃝

    The words have no meaning. They just sound good.

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 5th 2008 !⃝

    I think it is about enjoying life as much as possible since Zecharia Sitchin claims aliens from Nibiru are coming in 2012. He also talks a lot about mining for gold and genetic experiments which I believe are mentioned in the song.

  14. anonymous
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    Jun 16th 2008 !⃝

    I heard somewhere this was bout anal sex.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  15. anonymous
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    Mar 6th 2008 !⃝

    Somehow I wonder why everyone is missing out the couple "spirit" references.

    Could these have to do with John's "ability" to hear some kind of ghosts (or as he calls them: spirits).

    "Cant stop the spirits when they need you
    This life is more than just a read through"

    For eg. (only my opinion), this refers directly to the spirits and the recovery from drugs (I guess they helped Frusciante in the rehab, and John helped Anthony kick the habit). I guess it's that you have to listen to the spirits and respect life.

    And for the record Anthony and Flea really believe that John hears the spirits, I'm not sure about Chad. Or at least they seem like it in interviews where people ask John about this stuff. Or maybe they're just polite.




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