Road Trippin'
An acoustic road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway featuring Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, and Flea.
"Road Trippin'" is a song by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from their seventh studio album, Californication (1999). It was released as the album's fifth single in December 2000. The release was geographically limited to Australia and Europe, hitting Australian stores on December 11, 2000, and the United Kingdom on January 1, 2001. A music video accompanied the single but remained unreleased in the United States until the band issued their Greatest Hits album in 2003. Due to this restricted release strategy, it stands as one of the least-known singles in the band's catalog, garnering minimal recognition or airplay outside their core fanbase.
- Album
- Californication
- Release year
- 1999 (Single released December 2000)
- Writers
- Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, Flea, Chad Smith (implied by band credit, but s
- Band era
- Post-Frusciante Return
- Genre
- Acoustic Rock
- Single status
- Yes
Lore & Background
The song narrates a specific journey taken by lead singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, and bassist Flea. They traveled along the Pacific Coast Highway, surfing at Big Sur shortly after Frusciante's return to the group. This personal excursion formed the lyrical core of the track. Notably, drummer Chad Smith did not participate in this trip; he had other commitments and was simply not into surfing. Consequently, Smith is absent from the song itself, which is entirely acoustic. It joins a select list of Peppers album tracks—alongside "Lovin and Touchin", "Thirty Dirty Birds", "Pea", "If" and "Tangelo"—that feature no drums. In the music video, Smith appears only briefly halfway through, arriving in a boat to join his bandmates.
Reader's Guide
Fans can identify "Road Trippin'" as one of the few Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks that completely omits drums. The instrumentation relies entirely on Anthony Kiedis for lead vocals, John Frusciante on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, Flea on acoustic bass guitar, and Patrick Warren adding a Chamberlin organ. The single saw multiple physical formats: two versions were released in the UK, with only the first available elsewhere, while Australia received a third compilation version containing additional live tracks like "Californication" and "Blood Sugar Sex Magik." Live performances of this song are extremely rare; it has been performed exactly four times, with no appearances since 2004. However, former guitarist Josh Klinghoffer did offer a tease of the song during the I'm with You tour in 2012.
Did You Know?
- The song is entirely acoustic and does not feature drummer Chad Smith on the recording.
- Chad Smith appears in the music video only briefly, arriving halfway through in a boat.
- "Road Trippin'" has been performed live exactly four times, with no performances recorded since 2004.
- The single was released exclusively in Australia and Europe, making it one of the band's least-known singles.
- Josh Klinghoffer teased the song during a 2012 tour despite the official track not being played live since 2004.
More in Songs & Singles
Related in Red Hot Chili Peppers
Links follow this subject's own source article.
Elsewhere in Red Hot Chili Peppers
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced