Police Helicopter is a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
There are at least two versions of it:
- the fourth track on the band's 1983 Demo
- the ninth track from the band's debut album, The Red Hot Chili Peppers
The song was written with the original band members Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons, and a demo version was recorded in 1983 and released in the Out in L.A. compilation album and once again in the 2003 remastered edition of the debut album,
The version that appears on the demo was recorded with Hillel Slovak on guitar and Jack Irons on drums.
The version that appears on the debut album was recorded with Jack Sherman on guitar and Cliff Martinez on drums due to Slovak and Irons leaving the band before recording the album.
In Anthony Kiedis' book Scar Tissue, it talks about when he wrote this song, which was about the road he lived on in a bad part of town where a lot of drugs were being sold by the mexican mafia, and there were constantly LAPD helicopters circling the block.
In Scar Tissue, Kiedis recalled, "One day, I got a glimpse of Gill's notebook (Andy Gill from Gang of Four, who produced their album), and next to the song 'Police Helicopter', he'd written 'Shit.' I was demolished that he had dismissed that as shit. Police Helicopter was a jewel in our crown. It embodied the spirit of who we were, which was this kinetic, stabbing, angular, shocking assault force of sound and energy. Reading his notes probably sealed the deal in our minds that 'Okay, now we're working with the enemy', It became very much him against us, especially Flea and me. It became a real battle to make the record."
Lyrics[]
Aw!
Police helicopter shot the sky
Police helicopter landin' on my eye
Yeah!
Police helicopter takes a nose-dive
Police helicopter, he ain't shy
Yeah!
Police helicopter shot the sky
Police helicopter landin' on my eye
Yeah!
Police helicopter takes a nose-dive
Police helicopter, he ain't shy
Aaw!