Universally Speaking

"Universally Speaking"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album By the Way
B-side	"Slowly Deeply"
Released	July 15, 2003
Format	CD
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:19
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Flea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith
Producer(s)	Rick Rubin
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Dosed" (2003) "Universally Speaking" (2003) "Fortune Faded" (2003)
Music video "Universally Speaking" on YouTube

"Universally Speaking" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 2002 album By the Way. It was the fifth and final single from the album and was released solely in Europe and Australia. The track was also included on their live album Live in Hyde Park and their Greatest Hits album.

The video for the song features Dave Sheridan, who plays a deranged concertgoer who attempts to return a book to vocalist Anthony Kiedis, who left the book in his taxi in the video to "By the Way". The book he is returning to Kiedis is "Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs", which is the biography of Darby Crash, the late frontman for the late-1970s punk band the Germs and was written by Brendan Mullen. The music video was directed by longtime friend Dick Rude who also directed the video for "Catholic School Girls Rule" and the live DVD Off the Map.

The cover for the single is the same as the cover of the By the Way album, except the colors are reverted to normal.

XFM online said it was a "fairly upbeat rock ode" and Rolling Stone said it was "Beatlesque psychedelia".^[1][2]

Track list

CD singles

Version 1 (2003)

1. "Universally Speaking" (John Frusciante single mix) – 4:18
2. "By the Way" (live acoustic) – 4:59
3. "Don't Forget Me" (live) – 5:07

Version 2 (2003)

1. "Universally Speaking" (John Frusciante single mix) – 4:20
2. "Slowly Deeply" (previously unreleased) – 2:40
3. "Universally Speaking" (enhanced video)

Chart performance

References