How Many Licks? remaining on the chart for 20 weeks. "How Many Licks?" also charted in several other countries. It peaked at number six on the Dutch Top 40 chart, and remained on the chart for 13 weeks. The single reached number seven on the Ultratop chart in the Flanders region of Belgium, also remaining on that chart for 13 weeks. It further peaked at number 58 on the German Singles Chart, remaining for eight editions. The song's music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, was shot in the Sylmar, Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Angeles on October 3 and 4, 2000, and premiered
Irish bouzouki was introduced into Irish traditional music in the mid-1960s by Johnny Moynihan of the popular folk group Sweeney's Men. During the recording of their 1968 eponymous album, "Sweeney's Men", Andy Irvine also played Moynihan's bouzouki on the track "Johnston". Shortly after he returned from Eastern Europe in late 1969, Irvine met Dónal Lunny – who had been playing guitar up to that point – and gave him a Greek bouzouki he had brought back from his travels. Being left-handed, Lunny reversed the strings and critically, replaced the octave strings with unison strings, thus fundamentally changing the character of the instrument.