Taylor Hawkins’ favourite Foo Fighters songs of all time: “I love that side of Dave”
When a band starts out on the long road to rock and roll success, there’s a sincere knowledge that very few will make the grade. Opportunities might be lost and chances cut down to size. However, there is little left for Foo Fighters to achieve in their career.
The band, fronted by Dave Grohl, have become not only one of the biggest bands on the planet but have, somehow, managed to dwarf Grohl’s former group, Nirvana. While Grohl is undoubtedly the star of the show, the reason the band work so well is that they are well-stocked with talent throughout the line-up. Perhaps most notably in their late drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Joining the band for their LP There Is Nothing Left from 1999, Hawkins quickly became an integral member of the band, not only providing killer fills but the odd vocal performance when needed too, establishing himself as the second face of the group behind Grohl. As such, he has often been asked the questions every leading member of a band does: namely, ‘what is your favourite song from the band?’
Even though he arrived later than some other band members, and therefore might have a slight degree of separation, Hawkins has an equally tough time picking out his favourite song by the Foo Fighters.
It’s a difficult task for anyone, let alone a member of the band. The Foo Fighters have produced such a high level of work over the decades that centring on one singular song was always likely to be difficult for Hawkins. Instead, he slightly side-stepped the question when it was put to him during his appearance on Matt Wilkinson’s Apple Music 1 show, and delivered two options to mull over.
The first track he selected was from Hawkins’ first Foos LP, especially the song ‘Aurora’: “I love that side of Dave [Grohl]. I love it when Dave gets in his almost yacht rock softness in his voice, and he double tracks his voice really nice. And that was the first drum track that I ever did for the Foo Fighters that I was really, really proud of because I only played half the drums on the Nothing Left To Lose record, because it was my first time in the studio, and I was just… I didn’t know how to record”.
“Recording drums and playing live are just super different and the mistakes are polarised heavily, once you’re under the scrutiny of the microphones. You had to do it right.”
Taylor Hawkins
Hawkins couldn’t land on just one song in his pick of favourites, though. While he was likely interested in picking another song from his own time with the band, instead, he opted for 1995’s ‘This Is A Call’, the titular track from the album. “I could also say the first time I heard ‘This Is a Call’ was the first time I heard the Foo Fighters, and I wasn’t in the band yet,” he explains.
“I was playing with Alanis [Morissette] and we were all in the van, traversing the Foo Fighters, playing all the same clubs as they were. And it was just funny, and we just wore that album out. And ‘This Is a Call’ might be my favourite Foo Fighters song of all time, too.”
Two songs that will likely not top the list for many of the band’s fans, can find a home in Taylor Hawkins’ adoration. The tragic loss of the drummer is one felt by not just the group of friends that made up the band, nor his family, but an entire generation of rock lovers who found themselves drawn to his magnetic personality.
For Hawkins, these two tracks represented the very best of the Foo Fighters, and for that reason alone, they showcase a side to the band that few can truly understand. However, when playing the songs below, it is clear to hear the different sides of Hawkins coming through. One is the brash and bold drummer, fall of charisma and confidence, and they other is the more tender side, the one that allowed fans to attach themselves to his work.
