Did Foo Fighters steal Tom Petty song ‘Learning to Fly’?
At this point, Dave Grohl has written more hits than most artists could dream of. Although he may have been back to square one when Nirvana fell apart, his determination to pick himself back up after hard times resulted in one of the greatest second acts in rock and roll history, building himself from the ground up with the first Foo Fighters record. Although Grohl has a unique way of constructing melodies, some of his influences can become too easy to spot.
When working on the band’s Greatest Hits in the late 2000s, Grohl was commissioned to include two new tracks amid the hits collection. While a new song could hardly be considered a hit if included amongst the other legendary songs in a band’s arsenal, the audience quickly adopted ‘Wheels’ as one of their enduring classics. After listening to the melody, some classic rock fans can pick out a few familiar notes.
A decade before Foo Fighters’ best-of package, Tom Petty was in a similar spot when putting together his Greatest Hits album. Offering up the soon-to-be classic ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’, one of the many hits on the record was ‘Learning to Fly’, taken from the then-fresh Into the Great Wide Open.
While Grohl’s song may not have intended to copy Petty’s track, there are more than a few noticeable similarities for the average listener. Looking at the chord structure, everything moves identically, with Grohl playing in A compared to the Heartbreakers playing in C. The rhythm of the chords also falls at the same time as Petty’s, having the same breezy momentum that makes the listener feel like they’re flying through the air.
Speaking of flying, both songs have their fair share of flying imagery. Although Petty uses his version as an allegory for manoeuvring one’s way through life, Grohl isn’t that far off, offering a sentiment of what might happen when someone’s wheels touch the ground after the height of success.
Given the similar lyrical and musical themes, it would have made sense for Petty to take legal action against Grohl, right? Well, not exactly. Throughout his career, Petty couldn’t have cared less about people using bits and pieces of his songs, even commending The Strokes for how well they pinched the opening riff to ‘American Girl’ for their breakout single ‘Last Nite’.
When asked about his feelings on copyright, Petty took a laid-back approach to anyone looking to step on his notes, telling Rolling Stone, “It doesn’t bother me. If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe. But I don’t believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs.”
Besides, Petty suing Grohl would have soured the friendship they had cultivated over the years. Before Foo Fighters had been an idea in Grohl’s mind, he was one of the only people asked to join Petty’s band for the Wildflowers tour, having parted ways with founding drummer Stan Lynch. Although Grohl would play with the group during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, keyboardist Benmont Tench had heard the demos of early Foo Fighters tracks and convinced Grohl to pursue that instead. Compared to the malicious stealing that happens left and right in the music industry, there’s a good chance that ‘Wheels’ might be a loving nod to Grohl’s honorary musical uncle.
