Tell Me Baby

"Tell Me Baby"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album Stadium Arcadium
B-side	"A Certain Someone" "Mercy Mercy"
Released	July 17, 2006
Format	CD single, 7" vinyl
Recorded	March - December 2005 at The Mansion in Los Angeles
Genre	Funk rock,[1] alternative rock[2]
Length	4:07
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, Smith
Producer(s)	Rick Rubin
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Dani California" (2006) "Tell Me Baby" (2006) "Snow (Hey Oh)" (2006)
Music video "Tell Me Baby" on YouTube

"Tell Me Baby" is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album Stadium Arcadium. The song was released as the follow-up to the hit single "Dani California" on July 17, 2006.^[3] The single was not as successful as their prior single "Dani California" nor their next single "Snow (Hey Oh)" as far as chart success, but did reach number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and remained there for four weeks making it the band's second straight number one on that chart from Stadium Arcadium and tenth number one overall.

Composition

"Tell Me Baby" incorporates both the old funk rock sound from their Blood Sugar Sex Magik days in the verses of the song, and the chorus focuses on the more melodic sound found on more recent Chili Peppers albums. The song is about the dreams of pilgrims in Los Angeles who wants to obtain fame and fortune.^[3]

Reception

Nick Mitchell at The Skinny gave the song three out of five stars, stating "Neither particularly complex nor memorable, "Tell Me Baby" is nevertheless an upbeat little number that may well ingratiate itself on your eardrums."^[4]

Music video

The music video for "Tell Me Baby" was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, a directing duo that has worked on many other Chili Peppers videos. Flea said, "It's the best [video] we ever did."^[5] For the video, Dayton and Faris interviewed and auditioned people who originally came to California to achieve some sort of fame and people who play music just for the sake of playing music. During the callback for the auditioned people, their second audition was filmed and the members of the Chili Peppers surprisingly entered the room during auditions to join in playing along. The music video for "Tell Me Baby" is to represent how awkward auditions are and how hard it is to make it in the music business.

Censorship

The album version of the song contains the line "life can be a little shitty"; the radio and video version of the song replaces "shitty" with "kitty". It was uncensored in Rock Band.

Formats and track listings

CD version 1 5439 15673-2

1. "Tell Me Baby" – 4:07
2. "A Certain Someone" – 2:25

CD version 2 9362 42956-2

1. "Tell Me Baby" – 4:07
2. "Mercy Mercy" – 4:01
3. "Lyon 06.06.06" (Live) – 3:53

7" Picture Disc 5439 15973-2

1. "Tell Me Baby" – 4:07
2. "Mercy Mercy" – 4:01

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[6]	20
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7]	39
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8]	44
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[9]	10
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[10]	17
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[11]	7
Denmark (Tracklisten)[12]	13
Germany (Official German Charts)[13]	37
Ireland (IRMA)[14]	12
Italy (FIMI)[15]	87
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16]	27
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17]	16
Norway (VG-lista)[18]	20
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[19]	5
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[20]	17
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[21]	57
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22]	43
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[23]	16
US Billboard Hot 100[24]	50
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	1
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	8
US Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	22
Venezuela Pop Rock (Record Report)[25]	1

References

1. "Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby (4:07)". Billboard. Vol. 118 no. 30. July 29, 2006. p. 51. ISSN 0006-2510.
2. mgallucci (9 April 2014). "Top 10 Alt-Rock Videos From 2006". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
3. "The 15 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs". PopMatters. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
4. "Red Hot Chili Peppers - Tell Me Baby". Retrieved March 23, 2015.
5. Michael Balzary (2006-06-05). "Fleamail June 4, 2006". Redhotchilipeppers.com. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
6. "Australian-charts.com – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
7. "Austriancharts.at – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
8. "Ultratop.be – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
9. "Ultratop.be – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby" (in French). Ultratip.
10. "Red Hot Chili Peppers – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Red Hot Chili Peppers. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
11. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200624 into search. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
12. "Danishcharts.com – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". Tracklisten.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". GfK Entertainment Charts.
14. "Chart Track: Week 23, 2006". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
15. "Italiancharts.com – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
17. "Charts.org.nz – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". Top 40 Singles.
18. "Norwegiancharts.com – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". VG-lista.
19. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
20. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200616 into search. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". Singles Top 100.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Tell Me Baby". Swiss Singles Chart.
23. "Archive Chart: 2006-07-29" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
24. "Red Hot Chili Peppers – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Red Hot Chili Peppers. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
25. "Pop Rock" (in Spanish). Record Report. 2006-08-19. Archived from the original on 2006-07-16.