Question by T: what does “the otherside” mean in otherside song by RHCP?

Best answer:

Answer by Anna
i love that song

some people think its about suicide because Anthony Kiedis keeps threatening to “slit my throat, it’s all I ever” and then stops short until the end of the song, where he finishes the phrase “…it’s all I ever had.” Meaning that his throat, or his singing voice, is all he has

some people think its about drug addiction the line “how long, how long will i slide, seperate my side” might mean he didn’t wanted to be a drug addict, but he’s already addicted by it, so he couldn’t resist.

others think Kiedis references Slovak. The song is about Anthony’s addictions, and he sings “Heard your voice through a photograph, thought it up and brought up the past, once you know you can never go back”. While some suggest this represents Slovak’s death serving as a reminder to Kiedis to “never go back” to heroin, others see it as a more straightforward reference to never being able to go back to the past represented by the image

the lyrics suggest that its about drug use, suicide, and a loved one that died, I’ve always thought the ashtray’s full and im spilling my guts was talking about dumping blunt guts into a full ashtray and spilling them, i imagine hes so depressed and high that even dumping an ashtray seems like to much work

the song could also be about moving on

What do you think? Answer below!