• A song about the deterioration of society, this reflects how the world is becoming very superficial and plastic, much like California. The Red Hot Chili Peppers formed in Hollywood and are quite familiar with the quirky nature of life in Los Angeles.
• The lyrics, "Cobain can you hear the spheres singing songs off station to station and Alderaan's not far away, it's Californication," get in a few pop-culture references: Kurt Cobain, David Bowie's album Station To Station, and Alderaan - the planet Princess Leia was from in Star Wars. Alderaan was destroyed by The Empire, implying that the world is being destroyed.
• When it was released, Flea called Californication "the best record the Chili Peppers have ever made."
• The lyrics, "Celebrity skin is this your chin, or is that war your waging," get in a reference to Celebrity Skin, the third and final album from the band Hole. Hole was formed by Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain's wife.
• The music video mixed live footage with a simulated video game where each band member is on a different virtual adventure. This wasn't easy to do in 1999, when computer modeling was still rudimentary. It looks very dated today, but the concept was innovative.
• The video's directors were Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who were storytellers, not virtual effects artists. They went on to direct the films Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Battle Of The Sexes (2017).

Thanks for reading!

CATW