Even though I just saw the Foo Fighters a few weeks ago, I couldn’t bring myself to immediately listen to their latest record, But Here We Are, coming just slightly over a year after the passing of the band’s longtime drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Then I learned that Dave Grohl’s mother passed a month after Taylor and I knew I was going to be in for a gut-punch of a record.
I was right. I made the mistake of listening to this at work, so I really had to blink back some tears at times. Sure, if you don’t pay attention at all to the lyrics, about eight of the ten tracks sound like they’d fit right in to most of the rest of the band’s discography. But even if you just catch a line here or there – you’re toast. Gosh, I’m even just looking at the track list right now to remind myself of all the titles and I can feel that tightness in my throat. Like, how are you not supposed to get teary seeing songs listed like “The Teacher” or “Rest.” It’s clear that the running theme through the record is grief. How could it be about anything else? But of course, grief can look like a lot of things for different people, and it certainly worked its way around here.
I think my favorite song on the record was “The Glass,” but god, what a sad song! If you’re telling me the lyric, “I had a person I loved, and just like that, I was left to live without it,” doesn’t immediately make you want to sob, then you must be a sociopath. Or you have no familiarity with this band. Those are the only two reasons. “Show Me How” was another song that really had me worried about my makeup running at work, because how am I supposed to listen to a song about how to go on without someone who’s been a mentor all their life without crying? How?! I’m sure with a few more listens it might be easier to discern if certain songs are more about Taylor or Grohl’s mother, but for now I think almost all of them apply to both.
Equally as gut-wrenching as the rest in the 10-minute opus, “The Teacher,” which I’m sure my dad will love. Like I said at the beginning, a lot of this record instrumentally sounds just like a lot of what they’ve put out before, fitting in seamlessly, but it’s the lyrical content that sets it apart. I read a review that described this album as ten different and new songs in the vein of “My Hero,” and I’d agree with them in saying there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! While that song might be more general in praise of the every day man, these ten tracks are truly commendations in memory of two of the most important people in Grohl’s life.
I’m sure it should come as no surprise that Grohl, along with vocals and guitar, also recorded all the drums for this record. Now new member Josh Freese just has to play with all the integrity that two of the greatest did before. Having seen him in action a few weeks ago, I can attest that he’s fitting in just fine.