 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 the 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 had 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 . " 
