CAN’T STOP

Recorded during: By the Way sessions
Length: 4:29
Performers: Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), Chad Smith (drums)
Live performances.

Anthony had this to say about the song in a track-by-track commentary of the album recorded in 2002:

“Possibly the last song written in rehearsal was the most unfinished thing that we took into the studio. You know, I think it actually might have been written on the very last day of rehearsal and it was something that John and Chad and I were just going nuts. You know, I walked into a room where John and Chad had been rocking out together probably playing Van Halen songs or something and then they kind of switched into this improvisation and I started making up rhythms that sounded really good to everybody and we just played it non-stop sort of trance like for about 20 minutes and then Flea showed up and joined in and after the jam we all looked at each other and we said we need something like this on our record. So we took it into the recording studio, recorded it and I just made up nonsensical words for the initial recording process, you know, knowing that eventually along with the other 30 songs or so that I'd get around to finding the right words because I knew what it was called, I knew what it was going to be about but I also knew that it was very wordy, sort of in the vein of Give it Away and that I would have to sit down and spend hours wordsmithing until I found every little note, rhythm, idea and word that needed to be said and that took longer than I thought. It wasn't until I was in New York on my way to Rome that I ended up singing the vocal on that song. So I just it was the very last thing that I sang for this record and it almost didn't happen but I knew that it would. I knew that it needed to happen and in the end it's one of my favorite things on the whole record.”