The Taylor Hawkins song he said “ripped off” John Lennon and Roger Waters
Music is cyclical, and every artist, to varying degrees, is influenced by those sitting in their record collection. Refreshingly, unlike most musicians, the late former Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was more than willing to openly discuss his sources of inspiration. Hawkins even admitted that he once “ripped off” John Lennon and Roger Waters on the same track.
While Foo Fighters was Hawkins’ bread and butter, he also built up a strong catalogue of music outside of the band. His first solo release was the eponymous Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, which the drummer shared in 2006. At the time, Foo Fighters were one of the biggest bands on the planet, but Hawkins needed to flex his creative muscles outside the remit of the group and started a new side-project.
As there was no pressure attached to the project compared to the making of a Foo Fighters record, Hawkins had free reign to do whatever he desired across the LP. It was a place which allowed him to dig into his influences and have fun in the studio without having to worry about pleasing fans or selling enough copies to appease label bosses.
Discussing the influences on his album with Newsquest in 2006, Hawkins said: “‘Running In Place’ are lyrics I wrote when I was going through a nervous breakdown some time ago. It was like Syd Barrett and Roger Waters”.
He added: “When Syd lost his wife, he began to lose his mind, and after a while, you get tunnel-vision and start to become unrealistic, so these were lyrics I wrote down to this song during that time in my life, conversating with myself, saying don’t go crazy. You finally come out of it, and after that, you end up saying goodbye to old friends and reality”.
Hawkins continued: “‘End of The Line’ is an untrusting love song, ‘Drive me Insane’ is about my wife, she drives me insane but I love her. ‘Pitiful’ is a John Lennon rip off, Roger Waters ripped off Lennon and I’ve ripped it off Roger Waters”.
As Hawkins stated, Waters has previously discussed how The Beatles inspired him at length. He told radio station KLCS in 2015: “I learned from John Lennon and Paul McCartney and George Harrison that it was okay for us to write about our lives, and what we felt — and to express ourselves… That we could be free artists and that there was a value in that freedom. And there was”.
Delving into the story behind ‘Pitiful’, Hawkins revealed how it was penned during a particularly dark period when he was abusing drugs, leaving him in a lonely place. The musician continued: “It was a long time ago when I was abusing drugs, I was feeling weak and sorry for myself. So there’s meaning to every song. The versus have nothing to do with the chorus, like the song Lennon wrote ‘I Am The Walrus’, it’s wordplay”.
On the emotional track, Hawkins agonisingly begs for help and sings, “Mother save me, There’s nowhere left to hide, Except inside, Mother save me, ‘Cause this boy’s lost his way, Again”.
Listen to ‘Pitiful’ below.
