"This Is a Call" is a song by American rock band

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 ...

, released as the lead single from the band's 1995 self-titled debut album. Released in 1995, it is one of many songs

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

wrote and performed on the album when Foo Fighters was a one-man band.

Origins

"This Is a Call" is one of the few songs on the Foo Fighters' debut album that does not date from Dave Grohl's days with

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. It was a new song written in the summer of 1994, months after

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. Grohl married his long-time girlfriend Jennifer Youngblood and wrote the song while on honeymoon in Ireland, "In that summer of 1994 I'd travelled a lot; I think I wrote 'This Is A Call' in Ireland. When I got back I booked five days in a recording studio, which seemed like an eternity, and I did the whole first Foo Fighters album in five days".

Release and reception

The song debuted at number 12 on the

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 and quickly rose to a peak of number 2,Foo Fighters - Billboard Alternative Songs Chart History
billboard.com. Retrieved May 26, 2014. held off the top by

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

's hit "

You Oughta Know "You Oughta Know" is a song by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, released as the lead single from her third studio album, ''Jagged Little Pill'' (1995) on July 6, 1995. After releasing two studio albums, Morissette left MCA Records Canada and ...

". The song also charted at number 5 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

.Foo Fighters - UK Chart Archive
officialcharts.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013. No music video was made for the song: however, the band played the song live on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' toward the end of the summer in 1995. It was the band's first national television performance. Since this performance David Letterman has become an avid fan of the band and

have played on the show 11 times including his last show.

In other media

"This Is a Call" was released as a

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...

in the 2007 video game series

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

on December 23, 2008.

Lyrics

said about the song: "The chorus says 'This is a call to all my past resignation'. It's just sort of like a little wave to all the people I ever played music with, people I've been friends with, all my relationships, my family. It's a hello, and in a way a thank you." "'This Is A Call' just seemed like a nice way to open the album, y'know, 'This is a call to all my past resignations...' I felt like I had nothing to lose, and I didn't necessarily want to be the drummer of Nirvana for the rest of my life without Nirvana. I thought I should try something I'd never done before and I'd never stood up in front of a band and been the lead singer, which was fucking horrifying and still is!"

Other versions

*A live version recorded on June 15, 1996 at the

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

as part of the Tibetan Freedom Concert was released on the "Free Tibet" DVD. *Another version recorded at the following year's version of the festival on June 7, 1997 at the

Downing Stadium Downing Stadium, previously known as Triborough Stadium and Randall's Island Stadium, was a 22,000-seat stadium in New York City. It was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 after John J. Downing, a director at the New York City Department of Parks a ...

was released on the '' Tibetan Freedom Concert'' live album.

Personnel

Foo Fighters

– guitars, vocals, bass, drums

Singles

;7" Vinyl single Stamped Label / French CD single / Japan CD single / 7" single # "This Is a Call" # "Winnebago" (Grohl, Turner) ;7" One-sided vinyl single / Promo CD # "This Is a Call" ;12" luminous vinyl single / 12" UK vinyl Promo single / UK CD single / Radio promo CD # "This Is a Call" # "Winnebago" # "Podunk" ;Cassette tape single / Australian CD single / Dutch CD single # "This Is a Call" # "Winnebago" # "Podunk (Cement Mix)" * "Podunk (Cement Mix)" is seemingly exactly the same mix and version as the standard version of "Podunk". The reason for this is unknown.

Chart positions

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:This Is A Call 1995 debut singles Foo Fighters songs Songs written by Dave Grohl 1994 songs American power pop songs