Esta canción siempre me pareció muy feeling y que denotaba un cariño especial al momento de la producción del disco. Así que me animé a buscar un poco su significado y encontre por las Internets lo siguiente de RadioX UK:
Drugs have had a hugely negative impact on the California punk rockers over the years, with the band losing their original member Hillel Slovak to a heroin overdose in 1988.
Three years following the death of Hillel (after appointing John Frusciante as their new guitarist and releasing their Mother’s Milk LP) the band set about writing their fifth studio album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Anthony Kiedis was clean during this period of time, and began to feel isolated from his bandmates - especially Flea and Frusciante, who still smoked marijuana together.
Driving home from rehearsals one night he began singing to himself about his feelings of loneliness, and reflected on how drugs had negatively affected his relationships with loved ones- including his former girlfriend Ione Sky. As he documents in his Scar Tissue memoir, producer Rick Rubin used to call him to check up on him and review his material.
When looking through his writing he found a poem entitled Under The Bridge and - instantly touched by their lyrics - Rubin implored Kiedis to show them to the rest of his band.
[…]
Speaking about his famous final verse which literally describes the bleak process of scoring and injecting heroin, Kiedis explains: “What that was referring to was a point in time about five years ago when I had nothing in my life, no friends or no places to live, no car or relationship with my family.
[…]
He adds: “And that always sticks in my brain as a low point in my life.” While at his lowest point, Kiedis does find some salvation in the chorus, pledging not to feel like he did that day.
Sabiendo esto, escuchar “I don’t ever wanna feel/Like I did that day/Take me to the place I love/Take me all the way” y en especial “Is where I drew some blood/(Under the bridge downtown)/I could not get enough/(Under the bridge downtown)/Forgot about my love/(Under the bridge downtown)/I gave my life away”, con el gran acompañamiento coral, adquiere un significado muy inteso.
Más allá de las recaídas que Kiedis et al puedan haber tenido antes y después del disco, a mi me satisface haber encontrado que también para mi la canción ha sido una suerte de faro, una canción que me llenó de melancolía y optimismo al mismo tiempo y que, en letra y melodía, sentí que trataba, en momentos inciertos, de hacerme recordar cómo y por qué había llegado a donde me encontraba. Al final, es cierto que siempre podemos perdernos pero también es cierto que siempre hay un camino de regreso… y gente que nos espera en el puerto.
