"The Zephyr Song" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

 and the second single released from the band's eighth studio album, By the Way

By the Way

By the Way is the eighth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on July 9, 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. It sold over 286,000 copies in the first week, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. The singles from the album included "By the Way", "The...

. The song, as a single, was released in two parts. Both editions held two previously unheard-of B-sides, making it, collectively, hold four non-LP tracks. This is the largest amount of accumulated unreleased studio recorded B-sides any solitary single the Red Hot Chili Peppers have ever released. Coincidentally, it is also one of their rarest singles, regularly fetching prices above 100 dollars.

The single peaked at number 6 on the Modern Rock chart, breaking the band's streak of three straight number-one hits.

During the By the Way tour, the song was played extensively a most live concerts however it has not been played in full since 2005.

Music video

The music video, released on December 3, 2002, was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are a team of American music video directors, also husband and wife, that received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, Little Miss Sunshine....

. The couple has collaborated with the band on numerous other videos. It is generally suggestive and reminiscent of a kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope

A kaleidoscope is a circle of mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other end creates a colorful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors...

, by utilizing the same circular and intertwining figures in order to illustrate the psychedelic feel the band was aiming for.

Track listing

Pressing error

There is a pressing error on the UK versions of "The Zephyr Song" CD1 and CD2 singles. The CDs and inlays have matching catalogue numbers but the B-sides listed on the inlay are on the opposite disc to the one included with the inlay. Retailers began to switch the CDs in the cases to correct the problem but the catalogue numbers on the CDs were then mismatched with the inlay numbers.

Charts

Charts	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	11
ARIA Charts ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	21
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	11
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	49
US Modern Rock	6
US Mainstream Rock	14