The Early Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters began to form in the back of Dave Grohls mind even before the death of Kurt Cobain, even if it didn’t have that name yet.  Dave began working on songs that he would have brought to Nirvanas set list had it not ended so abruptly.  With this new freedom, Dave expanded and began the new project in a different direction.  Many of the original fans of Nirvana were shocked to find that The Foo Fighters didn’t sound anything like Nirvana.  This change is all too apparent in the feel of the music videos.  Dave’s lively personality began to shine forth and through the videos when you wouldn’t normally see it through the music because of the genre. 

The band continued in this phase of funny joke videos that entertained the audiences with wacky stories being told rather than deep meaning hidden behind it all. The contrast between the nirvana videos and the new Foo Fighter video would deter many from an avid following, however it brought a new group together. This new base of fans had a similar outlook on music.  They loved it and they loved the way that Dave brought it to them with his visible passion. It is these fans who have been able to grow and follow the band as it matured into what it is today.  The music videos helped them along that path even when it meant people would throw mentos as them on stage.

Video # 4 - Big Me - 1995

This song was one of the songs that Dave began to write while still in Nirvana. The video is a spoof on the commercials of the Mentos commercials for people who found themselves in a bind, but received a minty fresh dose of inspiration from the small candy to get them through their difficulty.  This music video is quite comical but has very little to do with the actual lyrics of the song, which is about a break up. There is little connection unless trying to show that Dave has found small moments of inspiration to help him cope with the devastating event of the break up.  The big thing to notice here is the drastic change in the feel of the music video when compared to the music videos of Nirvana.  This has a lively and jovial feel. The band is bouncing around and making fun of the popular candy through the video.  There are no underlying themes behind the video, which we would need to discern.  Perhaps this is Dave’s way of coping with the loss of Kurt, or perhaps he was not into the depressed feelings of Nirvana and Cobain.  Either way, it is unfortunate that people used the mentos as a form of projectile in most of the ensuing concerts after this video.

Video # 5 - Everlong - 1997



This is another of the earlier songs of the Foo Fighters that shows a story that doesn’t really try to preach anything political or deep.  The song was written when Dave was having a down time. He had just gotten divorced and in doing so became homeless.  He was on the verge of loosing his guitarist Pat Smear and drummer William Goldsmith.  Lying on a friend’s floor in a sleeping bag he composed the song in less than 45 minutes.  The music video is s type of spin-off of the cult-classic movie “Evil Dead” directed by Sam Raimi.  In the film a group of young adults vacation in a cabin in the woods but evoke the presence of ghosts and ghouls, who attack the group.  In this parody the band is spread out between several dreams, which are all interconnected somehow.  Dave protects his “girlfriend” (band drummer Taylor Hawkins) in his own dream only to see her be attacked in her own dream.  He could possibly be hinting at his inability to control all the things going on around him at the time of writing the song.  He goes on a rage, enlarging his hand every time he is threatened, and eventually wakes up.  In the end they are still in a dream as they wake up and all turn back into the band members of Foo Fighters.  The water rushing over the lens signifies the transition into a dream throughout the video.  

Video # 6 - Breakout - 1999

Originally written as a joke and play on words referring to breaking out in acne because of a girlfriend the song took on many different meanings, as it became the theme song for the movie Me Myself, and Irene, staring Jim Carey.  This is another example of a song that was written with no deep underlying meaning but just to have a good song and a funny music video.  The music video takes on the split personality that Jim Carey’s character has in the movie.  Dave is a quirky, nerdy guy nervous about taking a cute girl out on a date.  He gets picked on throughout the video by his fellow band mates playing different punk like characters, and culminates with the infidelity of his date, which throws him over his limit and he Breaksout. This is not the original meaning of the song, but the meaning that was adapted as it became the themes song for the movie.  Just as with most of the songs that Dave produced at this point there is no real point that he is trying to get across to the world through this music video and song.

Video # 7 - Learn to Fly - 1999



This final song/video is actually one of Dave’s least favorite songs on the album that it was released on.  The song is said to be about looking for some sort of inspiration or signs of life to one feel alive.  The video is more a play on the idea of learning to fly from a manual if the pilot is out.  The video depicts Grohls friends, Jack Black and Kyle Gass from the band Tenacious D, accidentally spiking the coffee of the plane with some type of hallucinogenic drug.  Because of that the band, the only ones who haven’t had the coffee, must learn to fly in order to land the plane safely.  The band makes up almost all of the characters in the video from the pilot, to a little girl who is a big fan of the band.  The video makes fun of many steriotypes including airline flight attendants.  It is yet another example of the light hearted nature of the bad and the videos that they made at this point of their career.