Walk (Foo Fighters song)
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"Walk" is a song by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
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 third single from their seventh studio album '' Wasting Light''. It was written by
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 ...
and co-produced by
Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...
.


Release and reception

The song was released on June 6, 2011, to rock radio. No physical CD single was released; it is only a digital downloadable single. The song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Rock Songs chart on July 20, 2011, dethroning the album's previous single " Rope", giving the band their third number one single on the chart - the most on the chart so far. On February 12, 2012, the song won two awards at the
54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted the ...
for
Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...
and Best Rock Song. They also performed the song live at the Grammys.


Song information

According to Dave Grohl, he came up with the verse about "having a trial" after the time he was helping his first daughter Violet Maye on "learning to walk", and eventually she was able to walk on her own. The song was supposed to be on the previous 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 ...
'', but Dave decided to put the final version as the last track of '' Wasting Light'' because it "sort of makes sense to the album's theme of time and second chances" and to "end the record on a positive note". Grohl added that the optimistic tone was a reminiscence on how bad he felt 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 ...
killed himself and wanting others to realize "in life, you get trapped in crisis, where you imagine there’s no way out. When really, if you dare to consider that crisis a blip on the radar, it’s easier to push through. And, yeah, I was just like, ‘I don’t want anyone to have that feeling that I had that morning.’ ” Pat Smear, who played with Grohl and Cobain in Nirvana, considers "Walk" and its lyrics about enjoying life an antithesis to the Nirvana song " I Hate Myself and Want to Die".


Music video

The music video appeared on YouTube on June 2, 2011. The video, directed by Sam Jones, was the second video released from ''Wasting Light'', and is an homage to Joel Schumacher's 1993 movie ''
Falling Down ''Falling Down'' is a 1993 American action film directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Ebbe Roe Smith and released by Warner Bros. in the United States on February 26, 1993. The film stars Michael Douglas in the lead role of William Foster, a di ...
''. In 2011, the video won Best Rock Video at the
2011 MTV Video Music Awards The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced. Katy Perry received the most nominations this year at ten, ...
.


Personnel

*
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 ...
– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *
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 ...
– lead guitar * Pat Smear – guitar * Nate Mendel – bass *
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 ...
– drums


In pop culture

* Despite not being included on the soundtrack, "Walk" can be heard in the background of the bar scene and in the end credits to the 2011 Marvel superhero film '' Thor''. *
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
aired a promo featuring the song to promote their 2011 summer/fall programming line up. * The song was made as downloadable content for the videogames '' Rock Band 3'' and '' Rocksmith''. * WWE used "Walk" to highlight Edge twice where it was first heard in a video package for his induction into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame, and again at the conclusion of the ''WWE 24'' documentary episode "Edge: The Second Mountain". *
A.J. Ellis Andrew James Ellis (born April 9, 1981), is an American former professional baseball catcher who is currently a Special Assistant to the General Manager in the front office of the San Diego Padres. Ellis played in Major League Baseball (MLB) fo ...
of the Los Angeles Dodgers uses the song when he walks up to bat. * The song was featured in the documentary ''Warren Miller's ...Like There's No Tomorrow''. * In the opening chapter of '' The Dresden Files'' novel ''
Cold Days ''Cold Days'' is a 2012 bestselling novel by Jim Butcher and the 14th book in the ongoing ''The Dresden Files'' series. The book was first published on November 27, 2012 through Roc Hardcover and continues the adventures of wizard detective Har ...
'', the title character talks about remembering his physical rehabilitation in Arctis Tor as a montage set to "Walk". * On WIBC 93.1 FM Indianapolis, the show Chicks On The Right used "Walk" as their theme song. * The song was featured in the trailer to the
Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy ''Romancing the Stone'' (1984), the science-fiction comedy ''Back to the Future'' film tr ...
film, '' Welcome to Marwen''. * An instrumental version of the song appeared in the 2020 T-Mobile commercials.


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


Certifications


Awards


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walk (Foo Fighters Song) Foo Fighters songs 2011 singles Songs written by Dave Grohl Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Grammy Award for Best Rock Song Songs written by Pat Smear Songs written by Taylor Hawkins Songs written by Nate Mendel Songs written by Chris Shiflett RCA Records singles