 Kiedis wrote much of the song 's lyrics during a period when he felt distraught and emotionally drained . He had maintained sobriety for roughly three years and felt that this had distanced him from his bandmates . While the group worked on Blood Sugar Sex Magik , Frusciante and Flea often smoked marijuana together , ignoring Kiedis , who felt that Frusciante was " no longer in [ his ] world . " Driving home after rehearsal in April 1991 , Kiedis thought of his heroin and cocaine addiction during his relationship with former girlfriend Ione Skye : " the loneliness that I was feeling triggered memories of my time with Ione and how I 'd had this beautiful angel of a girl who was willing to give me all of her love , and instead of embracing that , I was downtown with fucking gangsters shooting speedballs under a bridge . " 
