• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Lieff Ink

TELL YOUR STORY

  • About
  • Services
    • Writing • Editing
    • PR
    • Writing Tutor
  • Words
  • Press
  • Blog
  • Clients
    • Client List
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Book
    • Accolades
    • Reviews

Rolling Stone Poll: The 10 Best Foo Fighters Songs

February 25, 2013

Foo Fighters Anyone who has ever met me or has read this blog knows that I love Dave Grohl and will always take any opportunity to write about him and/or the Foo Fighters so when I saw that Rolling Stone magazine did a readers’ pool on the 10 Best Foo songs I had to share what I learned:

10) Stacked Actors – The lead song to the Foo Fighters’ third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, “Stacked Actors” functions as the band’s way of calling out the fake people of Hollywood. Of course rock and roll’s favorite female nutjob Courtney Love felt that the line “you’re just another aging drag queen” was about her, but Grohl has denied those accusations.

9) Learn to Fly – This song was their first single to enter the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 19. This was partially due to their hysterical video for the track, featuring Tenacious D as airplane janitors. The second-biggest hit of the band’s career, topped only by “Best of You,” the song features a beginning guitar riff that is immediately recognizable by any Foo Fighters fan.

8) Aurora – Because it was never released as a single most casual fans don’t know it, but clearly some fans think it’s great otherwise it would have never made it on this list. According to Grohl, the song is a nostalgic look back at Seattle and the life he once had. “That song actually questions the meaning of life, probably. It’s probably the heaviest thing I’ve ever written.” Although I like the song I would have put “Walk” from 2011’s Wasting Light at number eight instead.

7) Monkey Wrench – The recording of the Foo Fighters second album, The Colour and the Shape, wasn’t going well and Grohl did not like what drummer William Goldsmith doing so he wound up playing the drum parts himself and Goldsmith left the band. A rock and roll/punk song about freedom, “Monkey Wrench” is one of those songs that quickly let listeners know just how big of a voice Grohl has and that his talents go way past the drum kit.

6) All My Life – When the Foo Fighters emerged from a three-year recording hiatus in 2002 with One by One, they decided it was time for a heavier sound. The group spent three months on the disc, only to scrap the entire thing and start again after taking a break while Dave Grohl toured with Queens of the Stone Age. When he returned the band turned out the album in just two weeks and “All My Life” became a huge radio hit, justifying the unorthodox recording process. This song came out when I was a senior in high school and I remember thinking that Grohl was bringing out some of his old-school Nirvana intensity and loudness. I loved it.

5) Times Like These – The lyrics to the second single from One by One were directly inspired by Grohl’sfear that the band might not survive the turmoil of making the album. “I am a little divided,” he sang. “Do I stay or run away/ And leave it all behind?” The song became the second hit from the disc and is definitely my favorite Foo Fighters song because it discusses what it feels like to make tough decisions while staying very true to the band’s rock and roll sound.

4) My Hero – Every time I hear this song I think of Varsity Blues and apparently Rolling Stone agrees as cites both the 1999 James Van Der Beek-a-thon and 1983’s Valley Girl. Although the song is linked to those teen movies, Grohl has explained that the song is about his real heroes as a child were regular people that he trusted and not rock stars or athletes.

3) Best of You – The Foo Fighters took to the road in 2004 to campaign alongside John Kerry, giving the band the experience of working toward something greater themselves. They channeled that feeling into the songs on their 2005 LP In Your Honor and “Best of You” was the lead single. It became a worldwide hit and was even covered by Prince during his 2007 performance at the Super Bowl.

2) The Pretender – The lead single from Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace which was cut with Pixies producer Gil Norton in just a month, “The Pretender” was subconsciously inspired by the Sesame Street song “One of These Things is Not Like the Other.”

1) Everlong –Earning 500 more votes than anything else on the list, this song was one of the biggest blow-out RS has ever seen. Although the song became a decent-sized radio hit in America, it failed to crack the Hot 100 but a few months after it came out Grohl was a guest on Howard Stern’s show and he played the track on acoustic guitar. It wasn’t even a planned performance, but Howard loved it and played it countless times on his widely syndicated show. It gave the song a whole new life, and to this day Grohl credits Howard Stern with the song’s incredible popularity. I have the acoustic version from Stern’s show on my iPod and as good as the original version is the acoustic version is beautifully heart-wrenching and absolutely worth listening to as soon as possible.

What do you think of this list? Would you have chosen these songs in this order?

Laura

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carly Fields says

    February 26, 2013 at 11:32 am

    Aurora! Yes! So glad it was on the list. It’s definitely a lesser known song, but I absolutely love it. I was hoping he’d play it the last time I saw them in CO just for the novelity of the nearby city of Aurora, CO but no go. One of my favorite song lines: “I just kinda died for you, you just kinda stared at me.”

    Reply
  2. Laura says

    February 26, 2013 at 8:06 pm

    What do you think of the order of these songs?

    Reply
  3. Carly Fields says

    February 27, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    Well Stacked Actors and Aurora are definitely random, but the others make total sense. Totally agree with “Everlong” being #1 and I will never hear “My Hero” without imagining football players running in slow-mo onto the field.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Blog Archive

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010

Footer

Laura Lieff was named Colorado Mountain College’s 2017-2018 Part Time Staff Member of the Year for her work as a writing tutor and teaching assistant.
Laura Lieff was named Colorado Mountain College’s 2017-2018 Part Time Staff Member of the Year for her work as a writing tutor and teaching assistant.

Work With Me

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
lieff-ink-logo_updated-2
  • About
  • Services
  • Words
  • Blog
  • Client List
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · PO Box 1228 Edwards CO 81632 · info@lauralieff.com