This article: Kiedis was lyrically influenced by love, his girlfriend, and the emotions expressed when one fell in love. Songs written for the album such as "By the Way," "I Could Die for You," "Dosed," "Warm Tape" and non-album tracks "Someone" and "Body of Water" all digressed into the many sides of love. Drugs also played an integral part in Kiedis' writings, as he'd only been sober since December 2000. Tracks like "This Is the Place" and "Don't Forget Me" expressed his intense relationship with narcotics, the harmful physical and emotional effects they caused him and the ever-present danger of relapse (as Kiedis has suffered chronic relapse into drug-dependency). He referenced early Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak in "This Is the Place" and describes how drug use forced him to miss the funeral: "On the day my best friend died/I could not get my copper clean." "Venice Queen" was composed lyrically as an ode to Kiedis' drug rehabilitation therapist, Gloria Scott, who died shortly after he purchased her a home on California's Venice Beach. It mourned her death as a painful loss: "We all want to tell her/Tell her that we love her/Venice gets a queen/Best I've ever seen."
By the Way diverged from the band's previous styles, containing few funk-driven songs. "Can't Stop" and the title track were the only songs which revisited the Chili Peppers' once trademark style of short, rapped verses. "Throw Away Your Television," while not having any rapidly sung lyrics, also contained a funk-oriented bass line, though hinted at experimental rock due to the heavy use of distortion throughout the verse and chorus. Other "experimental" tracks include the melodica-based "On Mercury." "Cabron," the only track to be played entirely on acoustic guitar, has distinctive Latin influences. "Tear" and "Warm Tape" were keyboard based more so than guitar or bass, the latter being completely written on the instrument. Technically, By the Way saw the Chili Peppers employing several devices to distort and alter guitar and vocal sequences. "Don't... contains an answer for the question: What is the last name of the person who was in ever-present danger of relapse on drugs?, what is it ?


Kiedis