"Californication" is a song by the American rock band the

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 ...

from their seventh album, '' Californication'' (1999). Released as a single in June 2000, it reached number 69 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, and number one on the ''Billboard''

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" ...

and

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 ...

charts.

Composition

The song begins in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

with Frusciante picking the chords of Am and F for twelve measures, before picking the chords of C-G-F-Dm then going back and picking Am and F for eight more measures before picking C-G-F-Dm again. For the pre-chorus Frusciante then strums a combination of Am and Fmaj7 chords for twelve measures, until the chorus when he strums the chords C-Gmaj7-Dm9-Am, then C-G-Dm9. It is notable for its sparse combination of

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

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 ...

notes in the main riff; Frusciante drew inspiration from " Carnage Visors" by

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

Music video

The video, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, takes the form of a fictional

open world In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the Gamer, player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. Notable games in this category include ''The Legend of Zelda (video game ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

that depicts each of the band members on some sort of adventure in a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

setting, particularly

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, which ends when the world is ravaged by an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

and the avatars are replaced by the live action band members. The music video for "Californication" is the group's most watched video on

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, having officially reached a billion views on December 5, 2022.

Video game

On March 1, 2022, Spanish game developer Miquel Camps Orteza created a video game based on the song's music video. The player plays as one of the four band members. The game has seven different levels, each based on a scene from the music video. Orteza wrote, “I wanted to play that game so bad! It’s 2022 and I haven’t seen anyone made the game so I challenged myself to create it. I have selected some epic moments from the video and turned into 7 levels each one with different game mechanics, I hope you like this game."

Critical reception

"Californication" was named the Red Hot Chili Peppers' best song by both ''

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''.

Formats and track listings

CD single 1 # "Californication" – 5:21 # "I Could Have Lied" (Live) – 4:26 # "End of Show Brisbane" (Live) – 8:11 CD single 2 # "Californication" – 5:21 # "I Could Have Lied" (Live) – 4:26 # "End of Show State College" (Live) – 9:27 EP # "Californication" – 5:21 # "End of Show Brisbane" (Live) – 8:11 # "I Could Have Lied" (Live) – 4:26 # "End of Show State College" (Live) – 9:27

Personnel

Red Hot Chili Peppers *

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 ...

– lead vocals *

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 ...

– guitars, backing vocals *

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 ...

– bass * Chad Smith – drums Additional musician * Greg Kurstin – keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1999 songs 2000 singles Animated music videos Cultural depictions of Kurt Cobain Number-one singles in Iceland MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction Music videos directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Red Hot Chili Peppers songs Songs about fame Songs about musicians Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs about California Songs about Los Angeles Songs written by Anthony Kiedis Songs written by Chad Smith Songs written by Flea (musician) Songs written by John Frusciante Warner Records singles