Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Can't Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers was released in 2003. The video was directed by Mark Romanek and features the band undertaking completely random actions. The lyrics such as 'this life is more than just a read through' imply that you should lead an energetic life and create oppurtunities for yourself. However, upon first glance of the music video it would appear that the video is entirely random.

The video has a performance and a bizarre concept which overlap each other. The performance aspects are still set in strange and abstract ways to coincide with the rest of the video. The band engages in various activites, such as wearing a giant hippopotamus mask, jumping, playing with rubber balls, buckets, bins, water bottles, pens, plants, playing guitar in a room full of empty chairs and a room full of lamps turning on and off.

The bridge of the song is much calmer than the rest of the song, and the visuals reflect this. During the bridge, the guitarist is set in a smaller room with many lights turning on and off. this sets a warmer mood compared to the rest of the song and is much more relaxing.

At the end of the video, a sign indicates the inspiration of the video, crediting Erwin Wurm and his 'One Minute Sculptures'.

This is an example of the 'One Minute Sculptures' that inspired 'Can't Stop'.

Throughout there are close ups of the band, particularly as they go about their activities, and also long shots of the entire band as they are playing the music together. The opening scene to the video is the camera moving through a yellow tube until it reaches Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer, who the recites the first lines.

The video is filmed in a large room, around the size of a warehouse, but has a very clean, white appearance. The setting is used to reflect the contemporary nature of the video and lyrics.


The video has a mixture of both performance and concept within it, making it relatively normal in genre characteristics. However, the concept presented is baffling. There are almost no relationships between the lyrics and the visuals, apart from when the line 'your image in the dictionary' is sung, and a still image of the guitarists face is shown. The video presents metaphorical links to the lyrics, but these are unclear if you do not understand the ideas behind the lyrics.

Within the first 40 seconds, we establish who plays what instrument but the band as a whole is not seen performing until the chorus. The first drum beat cuts to a medium close up of the drums being played, and occasional, more prominent notes on the guitar force a cut to the lead guitarist.

There are many close ups of the lead singer, firstly in the yellow tube, along with others as he is looking in mirrors or hiding behind plants. This promotes him as the lead singer of the band, and the video as a whole does very well to promote the band and its creativity. The video will stick in the minds of viewers because of its randomness and will cause multiple viewings as people try to understand what is going on. An element of humour also helps the video to be memorable.

Special effects are used throughout the video to put an emphasis on the random and impossible actions the band undertake, for instance, spinning a large yellow bin on his finger as if it were a basketball. Slow motion is also used at the guitar solo. Pink foam peanuts are poured over the guitarist as he plays, and putting this in slow motion creates an emphasis on the sounds he creates and the actions causing the peanuts to spray everywhere.

The lead up to the chorus causes quicker cuts between members of the band, as the cuts are synced to the drum beats.The drum is a key instrument to drive editing, as it is loud and can be played extremely fast.

The entire chorus is performance based, and also includes longshots of the band as a whole. This is the first time we see the band together playing their instruments. Other verses are a mixture of concept and performance, but large portions are not used for performance. Small cuts to show the lead singer or a key note on the guitar is all that is used to take the viewers away from the random scenes in the rest of the verse.

The intertextuality is firmly shown at the end of the video when the sign showing the 'One Minute Sculptures' pops up.