"Around the World" is a song by American rock band

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

, appearing as the opening track on their seventh studio album ''Californication'' (1999). The song was released as the album's second single on August 23, 1999. The single peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and number 16 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart. In 2007, the song was heavily edited and used as a new soundtrack for the Rockin' California Screamin' ride at

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California ...

, as part of their "Rockin' Both Parks" campaign. The song was also used as the opening theme for the 2010 live-action film adaptation of ''

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

''. In 2011, a live version was one of the thirty songs by thirty different artists featured on the ''

Songs for Japan ''Songs for Japan'' is a charity compilation album created to benefit relief efforts for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. A collaborative project between the music industry's "big four" record labels ( EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner), ...

'' charity album.

Meaning

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American musician and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Kiedis spent his youth in ...

has stated that in the lyrics for the verses he is telling about his journeys and his experiences on them, about being a member of the

and living an extreme life. He also noted that

Roberto Benigni Roberto Remigio Benigni ( , ; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing, and starring in the Holocaust comedy drama film ''Life Is Beautifu ...

's film ''

Life Is Beautiful ''Life Is Beautiful'' (, ) is a 1997 Italian period comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his imagin ...

'' was a lyrical inspiration.

John Frusciante John Anthony Frusciante ( ; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician and the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, having been with the band across three iterations. He has released 11 solo albums and 7 EPs, ranging in style from acoustic gu ...

came up with the music for the song while playing at his house and told the other band members they would have to hear it but he had to play it with somebody because of its deceptive downbeat.

Chad Smith Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer of the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith has played with the Chili Peppers since 1988, appearing on ten of the band's studio albums and becoming the band's lo ...

kept time on the hi-hat while Frusciante played. Band members liked the outcome and

Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

came up with his

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

part. The different final chorus originates from a request from Flea's daughter. While writing the album in Flea's garage his daughter would listen to their songs. At the time of writing, Kiedis was struggling to come up with lyrics for the songs, so just filled in with scat. When a final draft of the album was made and Flea's daughter listened to the final version, she was disappointed that the scat had been removed. So, on the final version of the song in the last chorus, the original scatting vocal was used instead. When recording the song

played a '66 Fender Jaguar which he had borrowed from their engineer Jim Scott. He played it through two Marshalls: a JTM 45 and a 100-watt SuperBass. Frusciante told that he liked Jaguars because of their "real cool cheap sound". Flea played on a Modulus Flea Bass (Silver Flake) on the song. He also uses the Modulus in the music video.

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was made for the song and was released on September 14, 1999. The video was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, who had previously made videos for other Chili Peppers songs such as " Breaking the Girl", " Scar Tissue" and " Give It Away". The latter in particular, with its unique, chaotic visual style, is similar to "Around the World"; Sednaoui used similar visual techniques in the video for

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

's song " Lotus". The video was featured on an episode of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' Making the Video''.

Live performances

"Around the World" has remained a constant staple on the band's tours since 1999, making it one of their top ten most performed songs. The band

Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California, in 1985. The band is known for its eclecticism, cycling through several musical genres, often within the course of a single song, including heavy metal, avant-garde ...

performed a mock version of the song in 1999, as part of a

halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

concert

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

ing Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Track listings

CD 1 # "Around the World" – 3:58 # " Parallel Universe" (demo) – 5:33 # "Teatro Jam" – 3:06 CD 2 # "Around the World" – 3:59 # " Me and My Friends" (live) – 3:08 # " Yertle Trilogy" (live) – 7:10 Maxi-single # "Around the World" – 3:58 # "Parallel Universe" (demo) – 5:33 # "Teatro Jam" – 3:06 # "Me and My Friends" (live) – 3:08 * All live tracks were recorded in

Södra Teatern Södra Teatern is a theatre in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located at Mosebacke torg on Södermalm in Stockholm. The venue is the oldest theatre in Stockholm and is situated in the heart of the city. History Södra Teatern is one of Sweden's o ...

, Stockholm (1999)

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers *

– lead vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals *

– bass *

– drums, shaker, wood block Additional personnel * Greg Kurstin – keyboard

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Around The World (Red Hot Chili Peppers Song) 1999 singles 1999 songs Music videos directed by Stéphane Sednaoui Red Hot Chili Peppers songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Anthony Kiedis Songs written by Chad Smith Songs written by Flea (musician) Songs written by John Frusciante