Long Road to Ruin
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"Long Road to Ruin" is the second single from the
Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
' sixth studio album ''
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace ''Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on September 25, 2007, through Roswell and RCA Records. The album is noted for a blend of regular rock and acoustic tracks with shifting ...
''. The music video was released on November 1, 2007, with the single released on December 3, 2007. The video features an appearance by actress
Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...
, and was directed by
Jesse Peretz Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band which for ...
, who had previously collaborated with the band for "
Big Me "Big Me" is the fourth single by Foo Fighters from their self-titled debut album. Released in the spring of 1996, the song became a crossover hit for the band on pop radio, when it reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. Music video The so ...
", " Learn to Fly", "
The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung g ...
", and "
Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...
".


Commercial release

"Long Road to Ruin" topped the ''Billboard''
Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart for seven consecutive weeks and reached number two on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
in early 2008. It peaked at number 89 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song's number-one position on the Modern Rock chart, gave the Foo Fighters a record-setting feat by becoming the first act to reach number one on the chart in each of four consecutive years. In the United Kingdom, "Long Road to Ruin" peaked in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Rock Chart.


Track listings

*2-track CD #"Long Road to Ruin" #"Seda" *Maxi CD #"Long Road to Ruin" #"
Keep the Car Running "Keep the Car Running" is a song by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It is the second single released from the band's second album, ''Neon Bible'' in the UK (while "Black Mirror" is the first in the US). This song was #22 on ''Rolling Sto ...
" (
Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...
cover, live from
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
18 August 2007) #"
Big Me "Big Me" is the fourth single by Foo Fighters from their self-titled debut album. Released in the spring of 1996, the song became a crossover hit for the band on pop radio, when it reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. Music video The so ...
" (Live from Wal-Mart soundcheck) #"Long Road to Ruin" (video) *7" #"Long Road to Ruin" #"
Holiday in Cambodia "Holiday in Cambodia" is a song by American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. The record was released as the group's second single in May 1980 by Optional Music with "Police Truck" as the B-side. The photograph on the front cover of the single was ...
" (
Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...
cover, live from
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, featuring
Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...
)


Music video

The music video of the song, directed by
Jesse Peretz Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band which for ...
(who also has directed previous Foo Fighters videos "Big Me" and "Learn To Fly"), is a comedic spoof of a stereotypical 1970s-era hospital
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
(''
General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
'' in particular), and is essentially a "
show within a show A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...
". As seen in the opening credit sequence, the Foo Fighters portray the actors who in turn portray the show's characters. Grohl plays "Davy Grolton", who stars as the main doctor, "Hansom Davidoff". Drummer
Taylor Hawkins Oliver Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 – March 25, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, with whom he recorded eight studio albums between 1999 and 2021. Before joining the band in 1997, he ...
plays "Ty Hawkstone" ("Les Groper", Davidoff's womanizing colleague). Guitarist
Chris Shiflett Christopher Aubrey Shiflett ( ; born May 6, 1971) is an American musician. He is most recognizable as lead guitarist for the American rock band Foo Fighters. He was previously a member of the punk rock bands No Use for a Name (1995–1999) a ...
plays "Christopher Mishomotohama" ("Little Jimmy", a severely injured child). Bassist
Nate Mendel Nathan ‍Gregor ‍Mendel (born December 2, 1968) is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, as well as a former member of Sunny Day Real Estate. He has also worked with musical acts The Jealous Sou ...
plays "Ned Bender" ("Saul Goode", the show's shady antagonist). Actress
Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...
guest stars as "Racinda Jules" ("Susan Belfontaine", the doctor's love interest). In order to avoid confusion with the soap opera (also entitled "Long Road to Ruin") and the "real world", the scenes in the soap opera have brown tones to make it more vintage, while the real world retains normal color. There are various accidents and rifts on-stage (a fight between the cast, Grolton inadvertently hitting Jules in the face). Backstage, Grolton's cast mates read a magazine about him becoming a rock star, and later place his debut album on a
dartboard Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the boar ...
and throw darts at it. Upset, Grolton goes outside, only to find screaming teenage girls who want his autograph. After wiping away tears, he accommodates and interacts with them. The video then cuts to a concert in a mall where he fronts "The Davy Grolton Band" and performs the song. The band is also portrayed by the other Foo Fighter members, in attire appropriate of the era. The scene is inter-cut with flashbacks about Jules. While singing, he sees her amidst the audience filled with the ravenous girls, but she leaves after realizing he has spotted her. He ends the performance to give chase with the fans behind him, but when he finally finds her, she has driven off. Grolton becomes hysterical before continuing his pursuit. The video is interspersed throughout with scenes of Grolton driving in a car, wistfully singing the song. The final scene has him intentionally driving off a cliff in a typical 1970s television or movie death scene, with the vehicle bursting into flames during the fall. Grolton is clearly in an open-top
Jaguar E-Type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...
, but in what was likely an intentional continuity error (or the fact that the E-Type was too valuable to destroy), the vehicle that's crashed appears to be a 1990s
Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...
. The stock footage would later be used at the end of the video for "White Limo", a track from the following album. An alternative version of the video, consisting of the Davy Grolton Band performance in its entirety, is available on ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

website
and available to buy on
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.


Chart positions


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{authority control 2007 songs 2007 singles Foo Fighters songs Songs written by Dave Grohl Song recordings produced by Gil Norton RCA Records singles Songs written by Taylor Hawkins Songs written by Nate Mendel Songs written by Chris Shiflett