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Cover of Mother’s Milk by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cover: Mother’s Milk

Song · Red Hot Chili Peppers

“Knock Me Down” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

From the album Mother’s Milk (1989)

“Knock Me Down” by Red Hot Chili Peppers appears on 26 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1989 and 2023. It was first released in 1989 on the album Mother’s Milk. Its best result is #66 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1989. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #175 alternative song of 1989 and #756 alternative song of all time.

26countdowns
9stations
#66best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1989–2023years charted

Watch

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Knock Me Down [Official Music Video]

Video from YouTube (RHCP Archive). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Knock Me Down" came out on August 22, 1989, the second single from Red Hot Chili Peppers' Mother's Milk, and it's the sound of a party band stopping mid-bash to take a hard look in the mirror. The song sneers at the preening, self-adoring rock-star life and turns its back on drugs, and Anthony Kiedis sings it straight, with Vicki Calhoun's voice wound around his.

It grew out of jams during the band's March and April 1989 sessions at Hully Gully in Silver Lake, worked up by Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith before returning producer Michael Beinhorn had any say in it. Frusciante's guitar rides high and bright, Flea's bass bounces underneath, and Smith hits like a man with something to prove. Dave Jerden mixed it, and it climbed to number six on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 66 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1989 90

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1991 739 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 233 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 177 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1999 171 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 918 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 384 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 957 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 968 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1019 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1023 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1023 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 749 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1008 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 894 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 472 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 1008 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1008 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 622 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 576 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 551 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 545 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 550 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 551 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 565 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2023 744 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850

Also listed as: Knock Me down.

Charting alongside it in 1989

Best songs of 1989 →
  1. 1Love SongThe Cure
  2. 2StandR.E.M.
  3. 3Here Comes Your ManThe Pixies
  4. 4She Drives Me CrazyFine Young Cannibals
  5. 5Love ShackThe B-52's
  6. 6Personal JesusDepeche Mode

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