Synopsis

Red Hot Chili Peppers perform in a stark, surreal studio space that keeps changing around them. Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith appear in rapidly shifting positions, sometimes multiplied within the same frame, while the camera swings, zooms and circles with the song's restless funk-rock pulse. Bold color washes, abrupt edits and exaggerated perspective turn a straightforward band performance into a kinetic visual collage. The imagery builds toward a frenetic, color-saturated finale, matching the track's globe-trotting lyrics and celebratory, anything-goes energy.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in September 1999, with its television premiere presented through MTV's "Making the Video" on September 27, 1999.

• Its rapid camera movements, repeated images and disorienting edits place it among the Chili Peppers' most overtly stylized performance videos. The chaotic visual approach recalls the band's earlier "Give It Away" video and also resembles techniques used in R.E.M.'s "Lotus."

• Flea plays his silver-flake Modulus bass in the video. The same instrument was used for the studio recording of "Around the World."

• "Around the World" opens the band's 1999 album "Californication" and was issued as the album's second single.

• The song became a regular part of the band's live repertoire after its release and has remained one of their most frequently performed songs.

• The final chorus includes improvised scat vocals that had been left off most of the track. They were restored after Flea's daughter reacted negatively to their removal from an earlier version.