Day 24 – Run and tell the angels

Artist: Foo Fighters

www.foofighters.com

Song: Learn to Fly

Album: There is nothing left to lose

It’s weird. In a different world, in a parallel universe perhaps, if the arc of my life had bent in a different direction, I could be a drummer. I had always wanted to be a drummer, and I even took a few lessons when I was younger, but alas it was not meant to be. I think drummers are incredibly underrated they don’t get the kind of respect that they deserve. They’re always overshadowed by the guitarists or the vocalists and they’re rarely ever the frontmen. Hell, even freaking bass guitarists get more respect. 

But every once in a while, something comes around that breaks the mold. Enter Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. Former Drummer of Nirvana, the seminary Grunge rockers, he started Foo Fighters as a side project after the disbanding of Nirvana, playing all the instruments. I’ve always liked the name. It’s distinctive, and catchy, yet not totally obnoxious. Proving that drummers could be lead singers, I think that the fact that he neither looks nor sounds like a lead singer works very well in his favour and makes him stand out from the bloated pack. Sure, he plays all the instruments, but he’s primarily known as a drummer. Foo Fighters have released seven albums, with their latest release including the excellent song ‘Rope’. Their debut single ‘This is a call’ along with ‘Learn to fly’, ‘Times like these’ and ‘Everlong’ remain their most popular songs. Their sound is very reminiscent of Nirvana, with the minimalist lyrics, but they’ve evolved into something different, being a bit less mellow and with a harsher sound. Needless to say, they’ve won a ton of awards have been extremely successful. They may not be Nirvana, but they’re as good as we can get thanks to Courtney Love.

Learn to fly is my favourite song, not just of the Foo Fighters, but of all time. I couldn’t even tell you why, but there’s never been a situation where the song has been on and I haven’t stopped and listened to it. The lyrics, music, everything about it speaks to me. This is where the personal nature of music comes in. I can’t explain why, it just is. And the video is hilarious, and something about the seriousness of the subject matter and lyrics, coupled with the whimsical video, just makes me smile. Incidentally, the music video has been banned from TV in North America. Watch it above, and I’m sure you can guess why.

Best lyrics:

Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone
Try and make this life my own
I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn out bright