All My Life (Foo Fighters song)
"All My Life" is a song by the American band Foo Fighters, released as the first single from their fourth album, One by One. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, and spent ten straight weeks at number 1 on the Alternative Songs chart and it peaked at number 3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was also a top 5 hit on the UK Singles Chart.
"All My Life" | ||||
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Single by Foo Fighters | ||||
from the album One by One | ||||
B-side |
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Released | September 24, 2002[1][2] | |||
Recorded | May 2002 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:24 | |||
Label | Roswell, RCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett | |||
Producer(s) | Foo Fighters, Nick Raskulinecz | |||
Foo Fighters singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
(CD2) | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"All My Life" on YouTube |
Background
According to Dave Grohl, the song "was originally an instrumental and it went through a few different versions. At first it was really dissonant and noisy. The middle section sounded like "Wipe Out" [by the Surfaris]. It was just nuts! We recorded the instrumental and I had no idea how I was gonna sing it. Again, that was another one that our manager said, "That's the song!" And we said, "Really? You think that's the one people will like?"[6] Grohl has said that the song is about how he enjoys performing oral sex on women. "['All My Life'] is a little dirty. I'm very fond of giving oral sex to women. It's a pleasure-giving experience - giving someone something that they'll remember for the rest of their lives, and if you do it right, they will."[7]
Release and reception
The song won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, and spent ten straight weeks at number 1 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and it peaked at number 3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was also a top 5 hit on the UK Singles Chart.
It also became the 6th best performing alternative song on the Alternative Songs chart of the decade and the 10th best performing rock song on the Rock Songs chart of the decade. Dave Grohl notes that the band had wanted a heavier sounding song to appear as a single, stating that the band were "coming out with "Learn to Fly" and "Next Year" and other songs that had middle-of-the-road melodies."[6]
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "All My Life" at number 94 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.
Other versions
A version recorded during Episode 8 of Series 20 of Later... with Jools Holland on November 26, 2002 at the BBC Television Centre was released on the DVD "Later... Louder with Jools Holland". An unaired interview with Dave and Taylor recorded on the same day was included as an exclusive bonus feature on the DVD.
A live version filmed at Hyde Park on June 17th 2006 was released on the Live at Hyde Park DVD.
A live version filmed at Wembley Stadium on June 7th 2008 was released on the Live at Wembley Stadium DVD.
In other media
The song appeared in the 2003 film Identity. It was also released as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series on August 18, 2009. The song is also playable on both Rock Revolution and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits.
British rock band Feeder, use the opening lines from this song as an interlude during live performances of "Lost and Found". It was also used in the promotional video for the Australian Tennis Open by Eurosport(Din).
Part of the song was used to highlight nominee Spider-Man in the Best Movie montage at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.
Personnel
- Dave Grohl – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Chris Shiflett – lead guitar
- Nate Mendel – bass
- Taylor Hawkins – drums
Track listing
CD1:
- "All My Life"
- "Sister Europe" (The Psychedelic Furs cover)
- "Win or Lose"
"All My Life" (Director's Cut video) [enhanced section]
"Win or Lose" is a reworked version of an older song, "Make a Bet" (from Learn to Fly Disc 2).
CD2:
- "All My Life"
- "Danny Says" (Ramones cover)
- "The One"
7" vinyl/Japanese CD single:
- "All My Life"
- "Sister Europe" (The Psychedelic Furs cover)
Promo
- "All My Life" (Radio Edit) 4:13
- "All My Life" 4:22
Music video
The video, directed by Grohl, is a performance video because he wanted to "sort of show everybody this is what it's like when we play live" as opposed to the comedic videos the band had done before such as "Big Me" and "Learn to Fly". In the video, the band performs the song on stage in front of a video screen at The Forum in Inglewood, California, near Los Angeles (the video was actually shot inside Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena, which was called Centennial Garden at the time).[8] At the conclusion, it is revealed that they had been performing in an empty arena. The video was included on a DVD extra that was packaged with the CD version of the album.
Charts and certifications
Charts
Year-end charts
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Certifications
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References
- "Welcome to Foofighters.com". WaybackMachine. Archived from the original on October 12, 2002. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
- "Note Worthy". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 2002-09-13. p. 12.
Sessions Records will release the Foo Fighters' new single, "All My Life," on 7-inch vinyl on Sept. 24
- Gallucci, Michael (March 2, 2013). "Top 10 Alt-Rock Videos From 2002". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- Thomas, Jeremy (November 15, 2014). "The 8 Ball: Top 8 Post-Grunge Bands". 411MANIA. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
Songs like "Everlong," "All My Life" and "I’ll Stick Around" are landmark post-grunge tracks
- George, Richard (November 11, 2009). "Foo Fighters Greatest Hits Review". IGN. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
Most, like I once did, would try to define Grohl and his Foo companions (Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett) as strictly being hard rock. And with hits like "Pretender", "All My Life" and "Everlong", it's tough to argue that point.
- Kerrang! Legends: Foo Fighters pg.114
- Carroll, Grace (July 31, 2015). "10 INNOCENT SONGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW WERE ABOUT SEX". Gigwise. Giant Digital. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
- "Foo Fighters Out To Show They Can 'Really Do It Up'" MTV News
- "Australian-charts.com – Foo Fighters – All My Life". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. October 26, 2002. p. 17. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Foo Fighters – All My Life". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "The Irish Charts – Search Results – All My Life". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Italiancharts.com – Foo Fighters – All My Life". Top Digital Download. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Foo Fighters – All My Life" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Charts.nz – Foo Fighters – All My Life". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Norwegiancharts.com – Foo Fighters – All My Life". VG-lista. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
- "Swedishcharts.com – Foo Fighters – All My Life". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Foo Fighters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- "Foo Fighters Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Foo Fighters Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "Foo Fighters Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
- "The Official UK Singles Chart 2002" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved July 22, 2020. Type Foo Fighters in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and All My Life in the box under TÍTULO
- "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – All My Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 2, 2020.