Songfacts®:

• "These Are The Ways" finds Anthony Kiedis detailing his perspective on life in the USA. Rather than heaping judgment on the American people's capacity for excess and materialism, the Red Hot Chili Peppers singer comes from a place of acceptance.
  
  These are the ways when you come from America
  The sights, the sounds, the smells
  These are the ways when you come from America
  I don't want to die and she's gonna take good care of ya
  I just wan to thrive and there's gonna be hysteria
  
  Nonetheless, Kiedis wonders whether he and his fellow Americans could back off a little from their huge consumption.
  
  Take me inside
  Twenty-three windows and it's gonna be a long ride
  All had enough?
  Have we all had too much?
  
  Kiedis told Apple Music: "We might be bloated, we might be overloaded with more than we can handle, and let's just take a step back and rethink it just a little bit. But it's not 'this is wrong and that's right.' It's just 'this is who we've become.'"
• "These Are The Ways" originated with an arrangement and melody that guitarist John Frusciante brought in one day. "I'm never able to recreate his melodies perfectly - he's just on a different melodic level- so I usually put it through a simplification machine," Kiedis explained to Apple Music. "I didn't overthink it. It was the first idea that came to my mind when I heard that arrangement, which is very bombastic and almost like a huge classical orchestra, exploding and then going way back."
• The Chilli Peppers released "These Are the Ways" on March 31, 2022 as the second single from Unlimited Love. They debuted the track live the following day on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
• Rick Rubin produced this high-octane rocker along with all the other Unlimited Love tracks. The veteran producer first worked with the band on their 1991 Blood Sugar Sex Magik album, and later helmed Californication (1999), By The Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006).
• The Malia James-directed video finds Kiedis on the run from the police after stealing items from a convenience store. Frusciante, bassist Flea, and drummer Chad Smith all appear in the video, along with Flea's wife, fashion designer Melody Ehsani.
  
  Malia James has also worked with Green Day ("Oh Yeah!"), Troye Sivian ("Youth"), and Rita Ora ("Let You Love Me").
  
  James had wanted for a long time to make a chase video as a tribute to classic Hollywood films like Point Break and Run Lola Run. "The concept needed a strong, driving track and someone who could carry the role," she told Little Black Book. "The first time I heard the track, I knew it would be a perfect fit. It wasn't until we'd started production that I remembered Anthony was in Point Break, so it feels meant to be."