Africa Is a Country

Red Hot Chili Peppers got lost in Ethiopia

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Red Hot Chili Peppers got lost in Ethiopia

By
Tom Devriendt

The Red Hot Chili Peppers funk jam track Ethiopia came following “a life-changing trip Flea and Josh took to the African country.” Josh says:

It was like a musical field trip. We had outings every day. It was like summer camp… and then Flea got lost and when he was lost, he went through a lot of emotions which is reflected on the album. It’s the point where we were starting to really come together.

Flea recalls:

I got lost in a city called Harar. It was a really amazing experience that really changed everything. Damon Albarn had started African Express, basically a bunch of musicians go to a different country in Africa to jam with Africans, listen to African music and trip around. It was f***ing amazing. So we decided we’d go to Ethiopia. One day we got the bus and I got off the bus, walked down this little street, turned around and the bus was gone! I was lost. I walked around this little town for about an hour. No one speaks English and it’s kind of crazy. I started getting scared. People were coming up to me and speaking to me but I didn’t understand. Then one guy came up to me and he started speaking in broken English. He found my friends and helped me. So when I came home, I told that story to Anthony and he wrote that song. It’s very special to me.

Serious.

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