THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

999-Foo Fighters-Monkey Wrench.

1997-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 2.33. The best temper tantrum in Rock N’ Roll history.

David Eric Grohl was born on January 14th, 1969, in Warren, Ohio, United States, prior to forming the Foo Fighters (see also best songs 292) in 1994, he had been the drummer with the American Grunge/Rock band Nirvana, (see also best songs 788 and 9) until their demise in 1994. In total there have been eight official different members of the Foo Fighters come and go, and at the time of writing they remain active, with the view of continuing to record new material, and tour. For the discography of the Foo Fighters, see best songs 292. As a member of Nirvana between 1990-1994, David Grohl did record solo material, but he never offered it to Nirvana to record, as he felt that Kurt Cobain’s (1967-1994) music was the sound of Nirvana. Grohl has also stated that he was in awe of the writing talents of Cobain. After the death of Cobain, and the split of Nirvana, Grohl recorded those songs, and they made up the majority of the Foo Fighters self titled debut studio Album released in June 1995, on which Grohl co-produced with Barrett Jones, he also wrote all 12 tracks, provided all of the vocals, and played every instrument on all of the tracks, with the exception of additional guitar on track 10 ‘X-Static,’ which was provided by Greg Dulli.

‘Monkey Wrench’ was the first of three singles released from the Foo Fighters second studio Album ‘The Colour and the Shape,’ from May 1997, with three of the members of the band at that time, David Grohl, Nate Mendel, (bass) and Pat Smear, (guitar) all sharing the song writing credits, and Gill Norton (see also best songs 904 and 490) being the producer of the single, and it’s parent Album. Norton would also work with the Foo Fighters again in 2007 on their sixth studio Album ‘Silence, Patience & Grace’ The songs video which was directed by David Grohl, features the first appearance of Taylor Hawkins (1972-2022) playing the drums for the Foo Fighters, although Hawkins actually didn’t play on the studio recording of ‘Monkey Wrench.’ Grohl had done the drumming after he and Gill Norton had not been satisfied with the Foo Fighters former drummer William Goldsmith, who had recently left the group in disgust at having his drumming re-recorded. Taylor Hawkins would remain a member of the Foo Fighters until his death in 2022, having played on 10 of their studio Albums between 1999-2021.

‘Monkey Wrench’ is a song about David Grohl’s deteriorating relationship with his wife of three years Jennifer Leigh Youngblood, who he would eventually divorce in 1997. Of the songs subject Grohl has said,’It’s about living with someone, and feeling like you’re living in a f–king cell, and then I wound up getting a divorce.’ Grohl has also said that it’s ‘About realising that you are the source of all of the problems in a relationship, and you love the other person so much, you want to free them of the problem, which is actually yourself.’ In the song David Grohl is using ‘Monkey Wrench’ as a metaphor. A monkey wrench is a piece of hard wear, which is useful for many tasks. In the song it is a metaphor for being used and trapped in a relationship.

‘Monkey Wrench’ is famous for David Grohl’s long rant starting at 2.33 seconds into the song. Grohl has said that he rarely attempts to sing it live these days, as it is very difficult to do in one breath, and he doesn’t want to risk losing his voice. One thing he has done to get around the problem is having the audience sing it instead. In 2015 when performing the song in Sweden, Grohl missed a landing on a jump, and fell off the stage, breaking his leg. After receiving medical attention he returned to the stage and finished off the set, while being propped up by an attendant holding his leg. Some of the bands future tour dates had to be cancelled , but when Grohl returned, the tour dates became known as the ‘Broken leg tour.’

‘One last thing before I quit I never wanted any more than I could fit into my head. I still remember every single word you said and all the shit that somehow came along with it. Still, there’s one thing that comforts me, since I was always caged and now I’m free.’