Pop Song 139 'Scar Tissue' The Red Hot Chili Peppers 1999

In 2004, Anthony Kiedis published an autobiography titled after the song. Co-written by Larry Sloman, its principal theme was sex, drugs and rock-'n-roll. In the book he talks about the consequences of drugs (especially heroin) and how this can destroy a person's life.

The music video for "Scar Tissue" was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, who also directed the video for "Give It Away".

The opening shot is of John Frusciante driving down a strip of desert highway, a metaphor for Frusciante's return to the band (he does not drive in real life). But the four of them are battered, beaten and bandaged. They are traveling in a rusty wreck and playing broken instruments on the comeback trail. The video ends after an emotional thirty second Frusciante guitar solo at the moment of sunset, with John tossing the broken, stringless guitar from the car. The car Frusciante drove for the video was a 1967 Pontiac Catalina convertible.