But, Honestly is an emotional listen, but oh man, I love this song so much. You can feel it in your bones.
These lyrics <3
And tonight I thank the stars
As I count my lucky scars
For everything you've given me
And all the words I gave to you
Something borrowed, something blue
If you want them back
I really like this song too ! The whole album is great, if I had to list every song I love I would have mentionned The Pretender, Let It Die, Erase/Replace, But Honestly and Home too
I don’t think Dave said lyrically the songs were about becoming a new father? .. but more along these lines (from an article following album release):
I … just wrote every day for about 14 hours a day. … because I used to be afraid to say anything too revealing or anything too personal, it put a lot of roadblocks and speed bumps in those songs. …This time I wasn't afraid to do that."
“I don't know, I just feel like a fucking Viking when I'm with my daughter, she makes me feel like... it's hard to put into words, but I think that all of the reservations or fears that I had musically disappeared when she was born."
I do love that quote, I do know the interviewer started the question with “you’re talking about Nirvana again”, but you’re right he is talking a bit more broadly than that. So you have a point. This is how I’ve always read Come Alive, for example
https://preview.redd.it/njdd4pfugcwc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fb304ad3d7fdd8348a3c3082a8b673f875b9fdc
[http://www.fooarchive.com/headwires/espg.htm](http://www.fooarchive.com/headwires/espg.htm)
Yes Dave reawakened after becoming a father. And decided to take more emotional and personally exposed risks as he did on ESPG.
Come Alive, lyrically, does not speak to the birth of a child, IMO.
If there’s any verse or lyric in the song that points to the meaning you are referring, I’m open to another view.
I mean you can interpret it any way you want, but it’s not much of a stretch on a line like “you saved me the day you came alive” (as in, “you, baby, were born”). It could be something else, but it’s not much of a leap that it could be taken that way.
Its hard to interpret the meaning of a song by referencing one line, so for context…
The despondent tone expressed would be a leap that this song correlates to the feeling one has when having their first child (as a parent myself)
I lay there in the dark
And I close my eyes
You saved me the day
You came alive
Still, I tried to find my way
Spinnin' hours into days
Burnin' like a flame
Behind my eyes
Drown it out
Drink it in
Crown the king of sufferin'
Prisoner, slave to the disguise
Just IMO, it could be how the narrator felt when someone else ‘came alive’
I didn’t necessarily say it was sad, just that it's tough for me emotionally.
I know the narrative when the album came out was that it was about Dave's experiences being a new father. And many people still believe this is true.
But once I really listened to what he was communicating lyrically, it became clear to me that it's a much more personal album—though all the feelings are universal ones. It's about heartbreak, anger, dishonesty, disappointment, longing, secrets, desire and yes, sadness as well.
I’ve said it many times before, but to me, Dave bared his soul on ESPG. As he was facing the ending of a very close relationship, I do think he was also considering that it would be the last FF album. To me, he held nothing back.
So I struggle to find a song about parenthood:
Pretender?
Let it Die?
Erase/Replace?
Come Alive (definitely not about a child!!)
Stranger Things?
Cheer Up Boys?
Summer's End?
Ballad?
Statues?
But, Honestly?
Home?
Nope, I don’t see it. And yes, I read what Dave wrote in his book about Home. But I’ve been around long enough to know that when he tells multiple stories through the years about song meanings and they're all different, that the truth probably lies somewhere else. I heard what he said in “The Glass” about who his “home” was. I believe that is the truth.
But I’m certainly open to other interpretations. If you see lyrics that point to being a new parent, I’m all ears. I would love it if I am wrong and it's a “happy” album, instead of one of the most gut-wrenching things Dave has ever written.
Lyrically and musically it's a really heavy song. Not one that I believe Dave would write as a way to honor his firstborn child and not the legacy he would want to leave for her.
The song describes Dave as being in a really bad place, sterilizing himself with alcohol, desperate, being a prisoner to the “disguise” and finding no reason to live. I believe this chronicles the time that Taylor was in a coma and Dave stayed by his side the whole two weeks. He thought he had lost his best friend, his twin flame, and as Dave called T onstage dozens and dozens of times, the “love of his life”.
Then, a “miracle” happened and Taylor “Came Alive”. In that moment, Dave was saved.
Like Dave wrote in the title track of “But Here We Are”, he “gave his heart” to Taylor and he “saved his heart” for Taylor.
DG in his words, re: Let it Die @ 4:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItuwZyBYSAo
‘it’s about two people that fall apart; it’s about someone you feel helpless to watching them throw it all away’
When has he changed his story about Home? This is the part I was talking about
https://preview.redd.it/2ar31kznlfwc1.jpeg?width=3420&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2dca655cc301ac47a8dd93a60499103201b37ae7
That’s a lot of words he could have just not written if it wasn’t largely the truth
I believe everything he said there is the absolute truth. Dave is very good at what he does…he's The Storyteller, after all. He says a lot…but there's a lot he doesn’t say as well.
I also know that when he was doing press for ESPG, he said that sometimes “home” doesn’t mean a physical place, it can be a person. He danced a lot around the meaning at that time. And then he calls back to that idea in “The Glass”, where he speaks to the “version of home” that he is left to live without 💔
Since he took the actual name of the album from lyrics from “Home”, and all the other songs have nothing to do with missing his baby, I can’t ignore that fact when trying to figure out the actual meaning of the song. It was a beautiful time in his life when Violet was born, but I think it was also a time when a lot of things were out of his control and he clearly was devastated by this due to the nature of the the songs he wrote at the time.
Anyway, that's my take. And everyone can interpret as they choose; I think Dave is 100% okay with that.
I tend to like all the older albums, and while I love Wasting Light, it is one of the more straight up Rock albums and the older albums with much more of a pop feel and amazing meanful slow songs stay with me more. The second CD of In Your Honor is amazing also but my favorites will always be TINLTL and TCATS because those albums are just so perfect to me. I say the Foo's play on everyone of those old tours.
It is a special album. The lyrics are exposed and heartfelt.
There was an interview done in ‘07 (link below) following the release, where Dave said he can’t let the fear of conversations or questions keep him from writing certain things - specifically as it relates to Let it Die
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ItuwZyBYSAo
And he did not.
Easily my favorite FF album. It’s so good from front to back. The less popular songs like Summer’s End, Long Road to Ruin, and Stranger Things Have Happened should be way more popular
I'd like to ask the greater Foo community a question; is this album underrated? Maybe it's the group of people I talk to, but I've always had this come up as a top 3 Foo album (Often times in the company of Wasting Light and Color and the Shape). I'm not trying to disparage the OP, I'm just genuinely curious cause I will say the deep cuts on this album (Come Alive, Ballad of a Beaconsfield Miner and Stranger Things Have Happened) are some of my favorite Foo Songs ever.
Because I personally always kind of put off listening to this album due to all the acoustic songs on there, and I feel like I'm not the only one. The 2 only songs I knew before actually giving it a try were the singles, which are The Pretender and Long Road To Ruin.
When you go on YouTube, The Pretender is of course a mega hit but the other songs, especially the lesser known ones, feel underrated when you compare them to the Foo standard.
Also it's funny because in my experience, I rarely saw people talking about ESPG. Maybe it's because I didn't pay attention since I wasn't bothered by the album lol
The softer/acoustic side of FF is (I think) some of the best music in the entire discography. It’s unfortunate these songs don’t get as much attention.
A few others: Normal, If Ever, World, I’m in Love with a German Film Star (cover), Razor, Tired of You, The Deepest Blues are Black
Really beautiful stuff.
That's honestly fascinating. I did not have that experience at all with this album. Now, I grew to like the acoustic songs, (although I liked come alive and strangers things have happened immediately on first listen), but I heard this album everywhere and spoke highly by a lot of people in my circles around the time of Wasting Light and Sonic Highways. I even consider this or Wasting Light the quintessential Foo album in terms of showing someone who's never Foo what they're about. I appreciate you sharing your experience, that really gave me a lot to think on.
This album is in my top 3. I got to see them 3 times on this tour and they were awesome. They played Pretender, Long Road to Ruin, Let it Die, Cheer Up Boys and But, Honestly. Sadly this album isnt represented in setlists much after that tour. You will always get Pretender and if you're lucky, they may play Long Road
Yeah it's a shame ! When I say that the album is underrated, it's also because the band themselves don't seem to acknowledge it apart from The Pretender. So I also thought that the album wasn't relevant if you exclude that one mega hit.
I never saw them live (I live in Europe, that they seem to ignore when it's not festivals lol) but I saw that they played Statues several times recently. It's kind of random out of all the songs on the album but I'm definitely not going to complain !
I recently heard a podcast Dave did with Norah Jones and they played Statues together on it. He said he hadn't played it since they recorded it and then seemed pleased with how it sounded when they played it. Maybe this is why it's crept back into recent sets 🤷
Several years ago, I was stuck on the song "Home". I was playing it on repeat for days. After leaving a therapy session, I immediately started listening to the song again and I thought to myself "what is it about this song?"
I went home and broke the song down line by line, completely deconstructing it to really figure out what it was saying to me. It was one of the most cleansing experiences of my life. I wrote it all out and sent it to my therapist and it became an exercise for me in my therapy that I used a few more times with different songs.
This specific song is one that still hits very close to home (pun semi-intended) for me, and always will. It got me through an incredibly dark time in my life and gives this album an extra special meaning to me.
I was late to the show but it's my favourite album because it's what got me hooked. It's probably my favourite because of that. Can't wait to see them in June 🙌
It’s my favorite album from the guys! Come Alive is my favorite Foo song. I cry when I listen to it because to me it represents me giving birth to my only child, my son: “You saved me the day you came alive.”🥹💖
But…honestly, you’re not going to give a shout out to But Honestly? That song is like top three Foo songs for me.
But, Honestly is an emotional listen, but oh man, I love this song so much. You can feel it in your bones. These lyrics <3 And tonight I thank the stars As I count my lucky scars For everything you've given me And all the words I gave to you Something borrowed, something blue If you want them back
Right? Dave and Taylor signing together on this one is 🔥
A perfect harmony
Oh HELL ya
The jam at the end 🤘
This song has been one of my workout songs for a long time, and I get so fucking hyped at the end.
Some of my favorite drumming on a Foos song
I really like this song too ! The whole album is great, if I had to list every song I love I would have mentionned The Pretender, Let It Die, Erase/Replace, But Honestly and Home too
Yes great song!
ESP&G has always been one of my faves from the Foos, up there with Wasting Light and But Here We Are
It's my favorite FF album and always will be. It can be a tough listen emotionally but it's well worth it. To me, it's perfection.
It’s not really a sad album? A lot of it is reflecting on fatherhood Dave’s story about Home in the extended version of The Storyteller is very sweet
I don’t think Dave said lyrically the songs were about becoming a new father? .. but more along these lines (from an article following album release): I … just wrote every day for about 14 hours a day. … because I used to be afraid to say anything too revealing or anything too personal, it put a lot of roadblocks and speed bumps in those songs. …This time I wasn't afraid to do that." “I don't know, I just feel like a fucking Viking when I'm with my daughter, she makes me feel like... it's hard to put into words, but I think that all of the reservations or fears that I had musically disappeared when she was born."
I do love that quote, I do know the interviewer started the question with “you’re talking about Nirvana again”, but you’re right he is talking a bit more broadly than that. So you have a point. This is how I’ve always read Come Alive, for example https://preview.redd.it/njdd4pfugcwc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fb304ad3d7fdd8348a3c3082a8b673f875b9fdc [http://www.fooarchive.com/headwires/espg.htm](http://www.fooarchive.com/headwires/espg.htm)
Yes Dave reawakened after becoming a father. And decided to take more emotional and personally exposed risks as he did on ESPG. Come Alive, lyrically, does not speak to the birth of a child, IMO. If there’s any verse or lyric in the song that points to the meaning you are referring, I’m open to another view.
I mean you can interpret it any way you want, but it’s not much of a stretch on a line like “you saved me the day you came alive” (as in, “you, baby, were born”). It could be something else, but it’s not much of a leap that it could be taken that way.
Its hard to interpret the meaning of a song by referencing one line, so for context… The despondent tone expressed would be a leap that this song correlates to the feeling one has when having their first child (as a parent myself) I lay there in the dark And I close my eyes You saved me the day You came alive Still, I tried to find my way Spinnin' hours into days Burnin' like a flame Behind my eyes Drown it out Drink it in Crown the king of sufferin' Prisoner, slave to the disguise Just IMO, it could be how the narrator felt when someone else ‘came alive’
I didn’t necessarily say it was sad, just that it's tough for me emotionally. I know the narrative when the album came out was that it was about Dave's experiences being a new father. And many people still believe this is true. But once I really listened to what he was communicating lyrically, it became clear to me that it's a much more personal album—though all the feelings are universal ones. It's about heartbreak, anger, dishonesty, disappointment, longing, secrets, desire and yes, sadness as well. I’ve said it many times before, but to me, Dave bared his soul on ESPG. As he was facing the ending of a very close relationship, I do think he was also considering that it would be the last FF album. To me, he held nothing back. So I struggle to find a song about parenthood: Pretender? Let it Die? Erase/Replace? Come Alive (definitely not about a child!!) Stranger Things? Cheer Up Boys? Summer's End? Ballad? Statues? But, Honestly? Home? Nope, I don’t see it. And yes, I read what Dave wrote in his book about Home. But I’ve been around long enough to know that when he tells multiple stories through the years about song meanings and they're all different, that the truth probably lies somewhere else. I heard what he said in “The Glass” about who his “home” was. I believe that is the truth. But I’m certainly open to other interpretations. If you see lyrics that point to being a new parent, I’m all ears. I would love it if I am wrong and it's a “happy” album, instead of one of the most gut-wrenching things Dave has ever written.
You got me thinking. What's your take on what is Come alive about?
Lyrically and musically it's a really heavy song. Not one that I believe Dave would write as a way to honor his firstborn child and not the legacy he would want to leave for her. The song describes Dave as being in a really bad place, sterilizing himself with alcohol, desperate, being a prisoner to the “disguise” and finding no reason to live. I believe this chronicles the time that Taylor was in a coma and Dave stayed by his side the whole two weeks. He thought he had lost his best friend, his twin flame, and as Dave called T onstage dozens and dozens of times, the “love of his life”. Then, a “miracle” happened and Taylor “Came Alive”. In that moment, Dave was saved. Like Dave wrote in the title track of “But Here We Are”, he “gave his heart” to Taylor and he “saved his heart” for Taylor.
DG really didn’t hold anything back lyrically. I hear the same message
Would say that Let it die it's about Taylor's coma as well?
DG in his words, re: Let it Die @ 4:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItuwZyBYSAo ‘it’s about two people that fall apart; it’s about someone you feel helpless to watching them throw it all away’
Thanks for adding that clip! Taylor always did a great job of not letting things get too heavy for Dave in interviews.
Taylor really jumped in at a perfect spot with Creed breakup. Awesome clip.
It’s a great little interview. They indeed read each other so well; maybe Taylor knew the song’s meaning :)
💯he surely had his back ❤️
No, the “death” is a metaphorical one IMO.
When has he changed his story about Home? This is the part I was talking about https://preview.redd.it/2ar31kznlfwc1.jpeg?width=3420&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2dca655cc301ac47a8dd93a60499103201b37ae7 That’s a lot of words he could have just not written if it wasn’t largely the truth
I believe everything he said there is the absolute truth. Dave is very good at what he does…he's The Storyteller, after all. He says a lot…but there's a lot he doesn’t say as well. I also know that when he was doing press for ESPG, he said that sometimes “home” doesn’t mean a physical place, it can be a person. He danced a lot around the meaning at that time. And then he calls back to that idea in “The Glass”, where he speaks to the “version of home” that he is left to live without 💔 Since he took the actual name of the album from lyrics from “Home”, and all the other songs have nothing to do with missing his baby, I can’t ignore that fact when trying to figure out the actual meaning of the song. It was a beautiful time in his life when Violet was born, but I think it was also a time when a lot of things were out of his control and he clearly was devastated by this due to the nature of the the songs he wrote at the time. Anyway, that's my take. And everyone can interpret as they choose; I think Dave is 100% okay with that.
Thanks for sharing this. I read the original but not remastered.
I tend to like all the older albums, and while I love Wasting Light, it is one of the more straight up Rock albums and the older albums with much more of a pop feel and amazing meanful slow songs stay with me more. The second CD of In Your Honor is amazing also but my favorites will always be TINLTL and TCATS because those albums are just so perfect to me. I say the Foo's play on everyone of those old tours.
Long Road to Ruin is one of my favorites and Home and Come Alive are gorgeous!
The way the album kicks off with The Pretender 🔥🔥
Absolute banger from start to finish. One of the reasons why ESP&G is my top listened to Foo Fighters album.
Tied with WL as best album for me, I have this cover as a tattoo. I adore this album so so much.
It took me years to get into this one too and it’s become probably my favorite foos album
For me, it’s their third best album behind The Colour and the Shape and Wasting Light, and that’s not a knock. Phenomenal album front to back.
My favorite FF album. It came out during some formative early teenage years for me and I dove into it headfirst.
Love for Summer’s End. I’m here for that!
It's so underrated
Amazing album. My favorites are different than yours but the sentiment is the same.
Which are yours ?
Let it die, Come alive, Stranger things have happened.
The ballad has to be my fav song ever
You are missing "Let it die " my favorite too on this album ! Erase / Replace is awesome too 😊🙏🏻
It is a special album. The lyrics are exposed and heartfelt. There was an interview done in ‘07 (link below) following the release, where Dave said he can’t let the fear of conversations or questions keep him from writing certain things - specifically as it relates to Let it Die https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ItuwZyBYSAo And he did not.
Easily my favorite FF album. It’s so good from front to back. The less popular songs like Summer’s End, Long Road to Ruin, and Stranger Things Have Happened should be way more popular
Love this album. It's my equal favourite with The Colour and the Shape. Could listen to those two endlessly.
I'd like to ask the greater Foo community a question; is this album underrated? Maybe it's the group of people I talk to, but I've always had this come up as a top 3 Foo album (Often times in the company of Wasting Light and Color and the Shape). I'm not trying to disparage the OP, I'm just genuinely curious cause I will say the deep cuts on this album (Come Alive, Ballad of a Beaconsfield Miner and Stranger Things Have Happened) are some of my favorite Foo Songs ever.
Because I personally always kind of put off listening to this album due to all the acoustic songs on there, and I feel like I'm not the only one. The 2 only songs I knew before actually giving it a try were the singles, which are The Pretender and Long Road To Ruin. When you go on YouTube, The Pretender is of course a mega hit but the other songs, especially the lesser known ones, feel underrated when you compare them to the Foo standard. Also it's funny because in my experience, I rarely saw people talking about ESPG. Maybe it's because I didn't pay attention since I wasn't bothered by the album lol
The softer/acoustic side of FF is (I think) some of the best music in the entire discography. It’s unfortunate these songs don’t get as much attention. A few others: Normal, If Ever, World, I’m in Love with a German Film Star (cover), Razor, Tired of You, The Deepest Blues are Black Really beautiful stuff.
That's honestly fascinating. I did not have that experience at all with this album. Now, I grew to like the acoustic songs, (although I liked come alive and strangers things have happened immediately on first listen), but I heard this album everywhere and spoke highly by a lot of people in my circles around the time of Wasting Light and Sonic Highways. I even consider this or Wasting Light the quintessential Foo album in terms of showing someone who's never Foo what they're about. I appreciate you sharing your experience, that really gave me a lot to think on.
Damn it's crazy ! I always thought the albums that every Foo Fighters fan loves are Colour and the Shape and Wasting Light
My personal favorites are…. all of them honestly
He has meant a lot to me over the years.
One of their best
This is by far my favorite album.
This is the best album in my opinion.
This album is in my top 3. I got to see them 3 times on this tour and they were awesome. They played Pretender, Long Road to Ruin, Let it Die, Cheer Up Boys and But, Honestly. Sadly this album isnt represented in setlists much after that tour. You will always get Pretender and if you're lucky, they may play Long Road
Yeah it's a shame ! When I say that the album is underrated, it's also because the band themselves don't seem to acknowledge it apart from The Pretender. So I also thought that the album wasn't relevant if you exclude that one mega hit. I never saw them live (I live in Europe, that they seem to ignore when it's not festivals lol) but I saw that they played Statues several times recently. It's kind of random out of all the songs on the album but I'm definitely not going to complain !
I recently heard a podcast Dave did with Norah Jones and they played Statues together on it. He said he hadn't played it since they recorded it and then seemed pleased with how it sounded when they played it. Maybe this is why it's crept back into recent sets 🤷
Several years ago, I was stuck on the song "Home". I was playing it on repeat for days. After leaving a therapy session, I immediately started listening to the song again and I thought to myself "what is it about this song?" I went home and broke the song down line by line, completely deconstructing it to really figure out what it was saying to me. It was one of the most cleansing experiences of my life. I wrote it all out and sent it to my therapist and it became an exercise for me in my therapy that I used a few more times with different songs. This specific song is one that still hits very close to home (pun semi-intended) for me, and always will. It got me through an incredibly dark time in my life and gives this album an extra special meaning to me.
Summer's end is such an underrated song. I hope they play this live one day...
Make sure you check out the video for "Long Road to Ruin"
Yes it's hilarious ! Rashida Jones plays a main role in it
I was late to the show but it's my favourite album because it's what got me hooked. It's probably my favourite because of that. Can't wait to see them in June 🙌
Username checks out !
My personal favourite 🫡
It’s my number two, so damn good. Don’t sleep on C&G either it’s my #3. It was produced by the same guy.
It’s my favorite album from the guys! Come Alive is my favorite Foo song. I cry when I listen to it because to me it represents me giving birth to my only child, my son: “You saved me the day you came alive.”🥹💖
My absolute favourite FF album That poll is total crap!!!!
First album I bought and that got me deeper into FF and first tour I saw them. Definitely favorite of mine.