Actually Learning Songs

So I got a good score on the Keystones and my mother gave me a $100 towards my bass guitar. Suddenly, I had enough money to buy my pie-in-the-sky instrument. One weekend later, I was bringing my beautiful instrument home, whom I dubbed Kasey. I got her home and started to play. I then found another problem. I suck. I have to learn some songs off some loser doing a cover on YouTube because I can't read bass clef, or read tabs. Teaching yourself is hard because you're building a building on a swamp. Since this isn't my first instrument, I have developed my ear enough to reconize how much I need to work on it. Because I play the sax, the pinky isn't used all that much so my pinky finger is weaker than my others. Another one of my problems is I can't find a style of playing I connect with. Finger style (the most common style of playing) is too backround for my taste. I am an attention seeker so that style doesn't appeal to me. There is no way I'm using a pick because that frankly sounds silly. Which brings me to slap. Slap bass is loud, in your face but hard to play fast. You basically hit the string with your thumb or pull the string away from you (plucking). This style also gives you the most buzz. I am pretty good with plucking, but I get too much buzz slapping with my thumb. All these facts bring me to my current style. Called "Hooking" its like slap but without the thumb. When I get better, I will add the thumb. Now to pick a song to cover! I know for a fact I am playing " Bad to the bone " by George Thorgood, but thats an easy song. A filler, if you will. I want to pick a song that challenges me. Red Hot Chili Peppers it is! This band was often dismissed as a typical LA drug users who craved attention, but they are so much more than that. Their bass player, Flea, was the best slap bass player of all time. He is fast, funky and gifted. He wrote bass lines that are loud but harmonous at the same time. And really hard. Really really hard. I will probably pick "Slow Cheetah" which is way easier to play than "Black Eyed Blonde". Now to actually learn the song........