"Best of You" is a song by American hard rock band Foo Fighters, and the first single released from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor. Dave Grohl notes that the song was written following appearances at John Kerry's campaign trail and is "about breaking away from the things that confine you."[1] To date, it is the band's only single to reach Platinum status in the US.[2] The song holds the band's highest chart peaks in the US (#18), the UK (#4), and Australia (#5), and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. It also topped Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks.
| "Best of You" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
Following the band's performance at Live Earth, the song again entered the UK charts at #38. It had previously peaked at #4, giving them their highest performing song there as well.
Background
In an interview discussing the band's successful singles, Dave Grohl notes that: "Best of You is funny because we demoted so many songs for In Your Honor, I'd kind of forgotten about it. Our manager came in and said, "What happened to that Best of You song?" So we pulled it out and worked on it a little more."
Music video
The music video was directed by Mark Pellington, best known for his work on the video for "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam. He was inspired by the death of his wife a few months prior to the shoot, and was drawn to the song's notion of dealing with pain in life.[3]
The video features the band playing on top of an abandoned hospital. Along with the band's scenes are clips that show pain, depression, or anger:
- Clips with children playing alone or with each other, one scene shows one girl hugging another.
- A car crash
- A lion pouncing on its prey, which is a vulture
- A snake attacks a rodent
- A zebra kicks another zebra behind itself
- A snarling wolf
- Crash test dummies being crushed by a car crash test
- Men and women showing affection for each other.
Track listing
This section needs expansion with: Writers and lengths. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
CD1
- "Best of You"
- "FFL"
- "Kiss the Bottle" (Jawbreaker)
CD2
- "Best of You"
- "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" (Passions)
7" Vinyl
- "Best of You"
- "Spill"
Chart positions
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 94 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles | 35 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 20 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 36 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 38 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 41 |
| UK Singles Chart | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 18 |
| U.S. Pop 100 | 20 |
| U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
Covers
Prince covered the song during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, on February 4, 2007. Drummer Taylor Hawkins expressed surprise by the performance, due to Prince's prior criticism of the band's desire to release a cover version of his song, "Darling Nikki", in 2003.[4]
Appearances
Whenever the New York Islanders get their victory at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the song plays.
At the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, the song was played as the two competitors, Rangers F.C. and Zenit St Petersburg, entered the field at the City of Manchester Stadium, England and when Anatoliy Tymoschuk lifted the trophy.
The song is mentioned in an episode of the NBC series 30 Rock, and is also mentioned in the MTV show Run's House during the first season finale.
The Pittsburgh Pirates used this song for their TV ads during the 2007 season. The Cincinnati Bengals play this song during halftime of their football games.
The song is available as DLC for Rock Band 2 and is featured in Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
"Best of You" is the walk-up song for Cincinnati Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan.
Notes
- ^ Kerrang! Legends: Foo Fighters pg. 114
- ^ RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Foo Fighters singles. RIAA.com.
- ^ James Montgomery (2005). "Foo Fighters Get Serious With Director Of Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy'" MTV News (May 12, 2005)
- ^ "Foo Fighters 'Have No Idea' Why Prince Covered Their Song At Super Bowl". MTV. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2009-12-04.