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Best of You

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For the Kenny Thomas song, see Best of You (Kenny Thomas song).
"Best of You"
Song

"Best of You" is a song by American alternative rock band Foo Fighters, and the first single released from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor (2005). Dave Grohl notes that the song was written following appearances at 2004 American presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign trail and is "about breaking away from the things that confine you".[1] To date, it is the band's only single to reach Platinum status in the US.[2] The song holds the band's highest chart peaks in the U.S. (#18), the UK (#4), and Australia (#5), and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The song won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. It also topped Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks. Following the band's performance at Live Earth, the song again entered the UK charts at #38.

Background

"Best Of You" was one of the first compositions for In Your Honor, written by Dave Grohl in his garage following his involvement on the campaign trail for John Kerry. Once the Foo Fighters recorded a demo, they shelved it feeling they could do better. It was only brought back for further production by manager John Silva, who felt "Best of You"'s absence while listening to what they had recorded that far.[3] Taylor Hawkins declared that it was the only song from the rock disk of that album that remained from the original sessions along with "No Way Back".[4]

Grohl stated that while many of his songs start with the music and lyrics come last, the words for "Best of You" were fast to write. Given the Kerry rallies inspired him to do "all these songs about breaking away from the things that confine you",[5] thus came "a song of resistance. It’s about the refusal to be taken advantage of by something that’s bigger than you, or someone you’re in love with. It’s the fight in the face of adversity."[6] Grohl added that "Most people think it's a love song but it's meant to be more universal, which I think is one of the reasons so many people sing along when we play it."[5] The composition had no interest in "an interesting melody",[6] instead featuring "a rhythm that we'd never really used on any of the other albums."[5] The focus was on a strong performance, where Grohl could "scream the whole way through". During the first rehearsals, Grohl came close to injuring his throat and felt afraid of being unable to perform live, but eventually considered he could pull it off as "when you go out and sing words from the heart, you scream twice as hard.”[6]

Music video

The music video was directed by Mark Pellington, best known for his work on the video for "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam. He was inspired by the death of his wife a few months prior to the shoot, and was drawn to the song's notion of dealing with pain in life.[7]

The video features the band playing on top of the abandoned Linda Vista Community Hospital. Along with the band's scenes are clips that show pain, depression, or anger:

  • Clips with children playing alone or with each other, one scene shows one girl hugging another.
  • A car crash
  • A lion pouncing on its prey, which is a vulture
  • A snake attacking a rodent
  • A zebra kicking another zebra behind itself
  • A snarling wolf
  • Crash test dummies being crushed by a car crash test
  • Men and women showing affection for each other.
  • A nuclear explosion
  • A baby crying
  • A wall covered in writing, including the phrases "Help me" and "They all died in the fire I started."

Track listing

CD1[8]
No.TitleLength
1."Best of You"4:16
2."I'm in Love with a German Film Star" (The Passions cover)4:21
CD2[9]
No.TitleLength
1."Best of You"4:16
2."FFL"2:31
3."Kiss the Bottle" (Jawbreaker cover)4:04
4."What an Honour (interview video clip)" 
7" vinyl[10]
No.TitleLength
1."Best of You"4:16
2."Spill"3:30

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Covers

Anastacia version

"Best of You"
Song

Anastacia covered the song for her fifth studio album It's a Man's World. The song was released as album's second single, only in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The music video was filmed in Barcelona, Spain in October 2012.

Release history

Region Date Format
Austria 2 November 2012 Digital download
Germany
Switzerland

References

  1. ^ Kerrang! Legends: Foo Fighters pg. 114
  2. ^ RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Foo Fighters singles. RIAA.com.
  3. ^ Foo Fighters On How They Wrote 'Best Of You'
  4. ^ Seven Questions with Taylor Hawkins
  5. ^ a b c How To Write A Rock Anthem
  6. ^ a b c Tireless Dave Grohl Screams Twice As Hard On Double LP
  7. ^ James Montgomery (2005). "Foo Fighters Get Serious With Director Of Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy'" MTV News (May 12, 2005)
  8. ^ Foo Fighters - Best Of You (CD) at Discogs
  9. ^ Foo Fighters - Best Of You (CD) at Discogs
  10. ^ Foo Fighters - Best Of You (Vinyl) at Discogs
  11. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  12. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  13. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Best of You". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You". Top Digital Download. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  16. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  17. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  18. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You". VG-lista. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  19. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  20. ^ "Foo Fighters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  21. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  22. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  23. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  25. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  26. ^ "Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  27. ^ End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 - 2005 officialcharts.com. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  28. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  29. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Music Canada. Retrieved 08 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  30. ^ "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – Best of You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 October 2015. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Best of You in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 08 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  32. ^ "Foo Fighters 'Have No Idea' Why Prince Covered Their Song At Super Bowl". MTV. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
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