This August marks an exciting time for Foo Fighters fans: the guys are bringing their hit-packedย Concrete and Gold Tour to Southeast Asia, their first visit in over two decades.
You know the story, Dave Grohl rose like a phoenix from the ashes of Nirvana and formed Foo Fighters, a one-man project turned one of Earth’s biggest rock bands. As a countdown toย their historic return, here areย 10 essential Foo tunes โ No. 1 anthems, deep cuts and non-singles โ along with their history and must-watch performance.
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1. โThis Is A Callโ, Foo Fighters (1995)
Dave Grohl considered quitting music altogether following Nirnavaโs disbandment. Thanks to his friends in the industry, his fire was rekindled. Enjoying the time he performed with The Backbeat Band at the 1994 MTV Movie Awards, Grohl embarked on a therapeutic solo project wherein he wrote, played and sang the entirety of Foo Fighters himself, with the exception of โX-Staticโ which was supported by guitarist Greg Dulli. Opening track โThis Is A Callโ is both a self-introduction and a thank you note. โIt’s just sort of like a little wave to all the people I ever played music with, people I’ve been friends with, all my relationships, my family,โ said Grohl. He only meant the chorus, of course, because good luck deciphering lines like โThem balloons are pretty big/ And say they should/ Ever fall to ground/ Call the magic markerโ. One wonders if heโs ever messed up his ownย perplexing lyricsโฆ
The answer is yes (1:28).
2. โEverlongโ, The Colour and the Shape (1997)
โEverlongโ became an instant hit upon its release in 1997. It remains to date Foo Fightersโ biggest love song and most performed show-closing anthem. The song comes from a very emotionally charged place for Grohl โ Will Goldsmith and Pat Smear were on the verge of leaving the band, he was separating from his first wife. In the midst of all this he found comfort in a budding romance with a new woman and poured his heart and soul out into the song and completed it in 45 minutes. While very personal to Grohl, the song leaves some space for you to channel your own feelings. Which is why itโs close to manyโs hearts, including former talk show host David Letterman who said โEverlongโ got him through the recovery period from an open heart surgery in 2000. Foo Fighters performed the song on Lettermanโs first day back and several more times including his last episode before retirement in 2015.
3. โWalking After Youโ, The Colour and the Shape (1997)
The deep cut ballad about heartache and longing first appeared in The Colour and the Shape. It is so personal, almost as if you were looking into someoneโs bedroom and in this case you see a broken marriage bed. Dave Grohl wrote the song after receiving divorce papers from his first wife. The lines โIf youโd accept surrender/ Iโll give up some moreโ show just how vulnerable the state of mind that they came from was. The song was re-recored with a full band in 1998 and released as a soundtrack toย the X-Filesย movie. It never quite caught on, though, except in the UK, where it remains one of the best performing Foo Fighters tunes to date.
That same year, the band performed on BBCโs Top of the Pops, a chart show notorious for its miming performances. Grohl sported spooky white contact lenses and sang lifelessly to the camera. Considering the stunt he and his Nirvana cohorts pulled on the show in 1991, this was only a first degree burn.
4. โLearn To Flyโ, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)
There Is Nothing Left to Lose marks a significant milestone in Foo Fightersโ career. The album went on to win the band their first Grammy and, owing to the success of lead single โLearn To Flyโ, the Foos were no longer only alternative rockโs top seed but mainstream mediaโs favourite by the end of 1999. โLearn To Flyโ climbed atop Billboardโs Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts as well as Billboard Hot 100, making it the bandโs first entry to Americaโs biggest chart. With a hopeful tone, catchy hooks and zeitgeisty video, the song became an MTV staple alongside โAll The Small Thingsโ and โI Want It That Wayโ. Even though Grohl once said โLearn To Flyโ was โactually one of my least favourite songs on the recordโ, it has continued to inspire generations of fans. Watch Rockin1000โs epic cover below and see what we mean.
5. โAuroraโ, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)
Many diehard Foo fans would tell you that this lengthiest track from There Is Nothing Left to Lose is the bandโs greatest non-single ever written. And you may as well believe them. Dave Grohl does. โ’Aurora’ is definitely one of my favourite songs that weโve ever come up with,” the frontman said. “Lyrically, itโs just kind of a big question mark, but the words sound good and itโs a nostalgic look back at Seattle and the life I once had. That song actually questions the meaning of life, probably. Itโs probably the heaviest thing Iโve ever written.โ That heavy part of the song, according to the rockerโs biography by Jeff Apter, is inspired by the death of his grandmother.
6. โTimes Like Theseโ, One by One (2002)
Had the Foos been active in the 80โs, the explosive guitars of โTimes Like Theseโ would certainly join the ranks of โWalk This Wayโ and โSweet Child Oโ Mineโ. But before there were any classic riffs, there was so much tension in the studio that the band needed a three-month break. The lyrics were inspired directly by the experience and the fact that they overcame it. โIโm a little divided,โ Grohl sings. โDo I stay or run away and leave it all behind?/ It’s times like these you learn to live again.โ At one point, the rocker said this was the best song heโd ever written. Foo Fighters performed the song with jazz musician Chick Corea at the 2003 Grammy Awards, where they won Best Rock Album.
7. โWheelsโ, Greatest Hits (2009)
Like what it does to the fans, โWheelsโ, one of the two songs recorded for the bandโs compilation album, divides our editorial team into two camps: one that enjoys this fun cross-genre experiment and one that doesnโt quite see its raison dโรชtre โย do we need more passable Bon Jovi-esque songs? Seeing as the band likes it so much despite popular opinion (โIt’s one of those songs that our biggest fans hateโ), we gave it another try and saw why the song is a gem in their songbook after all. โWheelsโ denotes Grohlโs affinity for airplane imagery, which links it to โLearn To Flyโ. The song works as a response to the 1999 anthem and the frontmanโs younger self. Thereโs no question his โLearn To Flyโ persona has found a โsign of life” and learned to โfly highโ by now, but as time passes, โWheelsโ shows, thereโs that fear of a man whoโs peaked. What if itโs all downhill from here? What if the plane touches down and never takes off again? The older Grohl can โfeel the sinkingโ too but he retains the optimism: โ[When] you feel like itโs all over/ There another round for youโ.
If theย country in “Wheels” doesn’t suit your palate, check out this acoustic rendition.
8. โI Should Have Knownโ, Wasting Light (2011)
When it comes to ballads, โI Should Have Knownโ has mostly lived in the shadows of the albumโs big single like โThese Daysโ. Makes one wonder why, really. If โThese Daysโ is about the repercussions of Kurt Cobainโs suicide on Dave Grohl that he feels no one could understand, โI Should Have Knownโ is the key (โDidnโt hear your warning/ Damn my heart gone deafโ). Grohl didnโt originally plan a song about Cobain but โas I elaborated on it I thought there are definitely connections.โ The song has more connections with Nirvana than the lyrics: Grohl reunited with Nevermind producer Butch Vig and personally asked former bandmate Krist Novoselic to play bass and accordion for the song. Needless to say nostalgia and 90โs grunge are strong with this one.
9. โRopeโ, Wasting Light (2011)
โRopeโ is one of those anthems that come from the most ordinary of places. Bored to tears as he waited to board a plane while touring Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, Dave Grohl would grab an acoustic guitar and began to entertain himself. The result?That very badass progression in โRopeโ. The song became the second ever to debut at No. 1 on Billboardโs Rock Songs chart (after Linking Parkโs โThe Catalystโ). Many interpret it to be about a suicidal man (โLeave your condition, this position does no harmโ, โChoke, on a kiss [of death]โ), making the rope motif horribly graphic. Or it may be about someone in a very suffocating relationship.ย Both interpretations correspond to the sinister-looking video directed by Grohl. “[It] was meant to really just look like the band performing the song in a really tight, claustrophobic space, not unlike our rehearsal space.โ
The band recreated the video at their 2012 Grammy performance with Deadmau5, who remixed “Rope” as part of his EP that year.
10. โRunโ, Concrete and Gold (2017)
2015 and early 2016 were rough for Foo Fans, to say the least โ the bandโs Glastonbury performance and subsequent tour dates was cancelled due to Grohlโs leg injury, rumours about them splitting up were spreading like wildfire. But as we now know, they just gearing up for a comeback (while making a fool out of us). โRunโ is a lead single to their forthcoming record. Much like its unexpected release, the song features slow burning chords that suddenly erupt into a speeding hard rock sound that characterizes the Foosโ early days. The music video, directed by Grohl, sees the band as old men, relaying a message about complacency, freedom and revolt. You can bet the song is a wild ride at live shows. But before we can really witness that, hereโs a little taste of โRunโ, which the band took to their Glastonbury headlining slot (finally!) last month.
Catch Foo Fighters’s historic return to Bangkok on Thursday, August 24 at Impact Challenger Hall. Tickets are still available through Thai Ticket Major, ranging from THB2,500-6,000.
