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Cover of By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cover: By the Way

Song · Red Hot Chili Peppers

“The Zephyr Song” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

From the album By the Way (2002)

“The Zephyr Song” by Red Hot Chili Peppers appears on 30 radio countdowns from 26 stations between 2002 and 2010. It was first released in 2002 on the album By the Way. Its best result is #10 on the Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2002. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #16 alternative song of 2002, #6,803 alternative song of all time and #120 of the '00s.

30countdowns
26stations
#10best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
2002–2010years charted

Watch

Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Zephyr Song [Official Music Video]

Video from YouTube (Red Hot Chili Peppers). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"The Zephyr Song" drifted out in August 2002 as the second single from Red Hot Chili Peppers' By the Way, and it finds the band at its most sun-dazed and gentle. Rick Rubin produced it, and the song, credited to Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith, floats along on a hazy, hippie-hearted daydream about nature's power to heal and people finding one another.

A funny footnote surfaced in 2017: Frusciante had unknowingly borrowed his opening three guitar notes from the first three sung notes of "Pure Imagination", from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The single came out in two editions holding four unreleased B-sides between them, and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris directed the video. On Billboard's Modern Rock chart it stopped at No. 6, snapping the band's run of three straight chart-toppers.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2002 35 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2002 107
2002 26 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2002 91
2002 27 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2002 106
2002 66 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 101
2002 23 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2002 100
2002 37 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2002 92
2002 46 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2002 100
2002 38 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 2002 107
2002 53 89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON 89X Top 89 Songs of 2002 89
2002 36 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 101 Songs of 2002 101
2002 37 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2002 100
2002 17 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2002 99
2002 71 WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2002 106
2002 10 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2002 105
2002 47 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2002 224
2002 11 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2002 103
2002 63 Radio 104.1 Hartford-New Haven, CT WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 2002 104
2002 59 103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL Buzz 103.1 The 103 Most Played Buzz Cuts of 2002 103
2002 16 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2002 100
2002 55 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2002 99
2003 35 Y100 Philadelphia, PA Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2003 100
2003 26 The Bear Ottawa, ON The Bear Top 107 Songs of 2003 107
2003 56 Channel 104.9 San Jose, CA Channel 104.9 Top 104.9 Songs of 2003 105
2003 36 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 2003 104
2003 74 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2003 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2003 449 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2005 956 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 90 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the Millennium (December 2006) 107
2009 488 WYEP WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade 913
2010 125 94.1 The Zone 94.1 The Zone 210 Most Played Songs of the Decade 210

Also listed as: Zephyr Song; The Zyphyr Song.

Charting alongside it in 2002

Best songs of 2002 →
  1. 1By the WayRed Hot Chili Peppers
  2. 2AerialsSystem of a Down
  3. 3ToxicitySystem of a Down
  4. 4You Know You're RightNirvana
  5. 5All My LifeFoo Fighters
  6. 6SweetnessJimmy Eat World

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