Tag Archives: foo fighters

#853: Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench

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All right, so I was about 10 when I heard Foo Fighters’ ‘Monkey Wrench’ for the first time. Saw its video on MTV2. And for a while, I thought it was the greatest song ever. Very energetic, fast, the aforementioned video was a bit funny and had an edge to it. All those characteristics had an impression on younger self. Though that self didn’t grow up to be the greatest Foo Fighters fan, I’ve realised that they usually knock it out of the park when it comes to their singles. And it’s understandable why this was chosen to be the first one when promoting their album The Colour and the Shape back in 1997.

The song is about the crumbling and total end of a relationship from the point of Dave Grohl, who had at the time gone through a divorce. He’s quite mad and maybe, just maybe, seems to be quite fed up with the whole experience. The track is essentially telling his ex-wife that now he’s ‘free’ he won’t be able to be that person that she could just use and throw away like some kind of tool. Or ‘monkey wrench’ in this case. Until I started listening to this track with headphones, I never realized just how heavy this song is. I guess One by One is usually seen as the heavy Foo Fighters album, but some sections in ‘Wrench’, particularly those ‘one in ten’ parts and especially the bridge where Dave Grohl screams a syllable at a time without taking a breath, probably match up to anything that’s on that record. I think it’s up there as one of Foo Fighters’ best songs, honestly.

I think I appreciate it more than perhaps I did in the past. If Dave Grohl went back to making faster, heavier, punk-influenced stuff like this, I would probably look forward to a new Foo Fighters album. I think the possibilities of a change in style happening are slim though. The band are really going for that classic American rock style nowadays. But the old music still goes on and on.

#720: Foo Fighters – Learn to Fly

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I don’t have as much an emotional connection or a real personal link to this song that I could properly get into. Not saying that it couldn’t have one for any of you reading. Never read the lyrics, but have always been attracted to the sound and the melodies ‘n’ all. It’s very nice. ‘Nice’ is normally considered to be the worst adjective to describe anything. That’s what it is though, a really nice song. And apparently Dave Grohl didn’t think it had any potential as a single when they completed the track.

The video for ‘Learn to Fly’ would show up on TV every once in a while, and it was through those viewings that I got into the song. It’s one of those music videos that I feel enhance the listening experience. It’s hilarious too. The guys from Tenacious D sneak some sleeping powder onto an airplane which gets mixed up with the pilot’s coffee supply and the Foo Fighter members take over the flight and save the day. It’s much better when you actually see it though.

Foo Fighters aren’t one of my favourite bands; their debut album is my go-to whenever I want a full playthrough experience. I don’t know what that says about me. They undeniably have some great songs, this being one of them. ‘Learn to Fly’ is from their third There Is Nothing Left to Lose from 1999.

#589: Foo Fighters – I’ll Stick Around

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Recovering from the emotional exhaustion caused by bandmate Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, Dave Grohl decided to go into the studio and record some songs that he had written and kept on the down low whilst still performing with Nirvana. It took him about a week to do so in October of the same year, recording all the instrumental parts himself (bar one guitar track) and singing every word from the heart.

The debut album by Foo Fighters has always been my favourite of the band’s….. it’s the most raw and possibly impulsive that Dave Grohl has been in the entirety of the group’s active years. He’s admitted that a lot of the lyrics don’t make sense, and his vocals are double-tracked and lathered with effects in some places because he was insecure about his vocal abilities. But that all adds to its charm.

‘I’ll Stick Around’ was the second single released from the album but was the first Foo Fighters track to get the music video treatment (as can be seen above), allowing everyone to see the drummer from Nirvana’s new band. In it, he, Pat Smear (guitar), Nate Mendel (bass) and William Goldsmith (drums) are confronted by a massive 3D HIV virus. The track itself is meant to be a ferocious scathing attack on Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, who Grohl hadn’t felt the greatest of ‘love’ for up to that point. In fact the HIV virus in the video was initially conceived to be a ‘bloated, charred, inflated girl representing Courtney’ before management got in the way.

The track is a powerful one. From its pummeling opening drum roll, it hardly lets up. Even in the “calmer” verses, there’s a sinister tone to the surrounding guitar and menacing groove before it all builds up into the raucous refrains. I can barely make out what Grohl is singing in those verses, though the message of the track is really summed up in its two most clear lines: “I don’t owe you anything” and “I’ll stick around, and learn that all that came from it”. The latter arriving in the song’s cathartic last minute and repeated to oblivion before it comes to a dramatic close. It’s a great tune.

My iPod #375: Foo Fighters – Floaty

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“Floaty” is a track placed right in the middle of Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut album – the one where Dave Grohl plays everything you hear bar one guitar part in a song.

The track consists of only three lines which are repeated throughout for verses and chorus, and the loud guitars and thrashing drums to the rest of the work. I think “Floaty” could pass for some shoegazing-esque type song, just because the guitars bury Dave Grohl’s (phased/flanged?) vocal right into the mix. Plus, the track is very pleasant to listen to no matter how loud and raucous it is. Its 6/8 time signature does add a floaty, swirling element to it. You’ll know what I mean if you listen to it.

My iPod #95: Foo Fighters – Big Me

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Amongst the loud, strong, and energetic songs by Foo Fighters is  “Big Me” found on the debut album from 1994, one of the most softest and almost poppy songs released by the band. Look at how much fun the guys are having in the video, Dave Grohl even has pigtails for goodness sake!

I can’t remember how I first came around the song, which is pretty crappy seeing as this is what this whole blog is about. I can only think that it was using the LAUNCHcast thing years ago that I’ve talked about many times in posts from before. It was probably the video that made me like it even more. It’s funny as hell, the band clearly didn’t give a shit about how they looked and they’re all having a good time. That’s what life is about isn’t it?

It was released as the final single in 1996 from the band’s first album, and by this time Dave had recruited a full band. He recorded the whole first album by himself, playing all instruments except for a lead guitar in one song.

What is the song about? Who knows? The video doesn’t clear it up, for sure. What does it matter anyway?

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.