Weirdo Wednesday: Red Hot Chili Peppers Go Almost Unlistenable With “Yertle The Turtle”

While plenty of Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics lean heavily on Anthony Kiedis’ rapid-fire California name-dropping—sometimes to eye-rolling effect—“Yertle the Turtle” takes an even stranger turn. Featured on their 1985 sophomore album Freaky Styley and produced by George Clinton, the track loosely draws from the classic Dr. Seuss story of a power-hungry turtle king stacking others beneath him to rise higher.

Naturally, the band doesn’t play it straight. Instead, they warp the tale into a free-associative whirlwind packed with surreal imagery, tongue-in-cheek innuendo, and offbeat humor. Call it weird, chaotic, or just plain bizarre—whatever the label, it stands as one of the band’s most overlooked oddities.