The song Dave Grohl said changed his life: “Suddenly I was seeing music, not just hearing it”
To say that Dave Grohl is a fan of rock music would be underselling it massively. From the moment he took his first breath, Grohl seemed destined for a rock and roll career, being enamoured with the music when seeing The Beatles for the first time. Even though Grohl had been known to shout the praises of many of his favourite bands, he cites one song as the moment when his musical life changed forever.
Before Grohl learned to play any instrument, he was already known for making the best of what he had. Armed with drumsticks and giant pillows, Grohl was known to figure out the different drumming techniques of his favourite artists by playing along with the records, honing his chops by jamming along to records by Rush and Led Zeppelin.
By the time he heard what punk rock had to offer, though, Grohl was hooked on a new musical drug. While the genre never emphasised players with the most extraordinary musicianship, Grohl latched onto the ferocity with which every song was being played, not needing anything more than a song in one’s heart to become one of the biggest bands in the world.
Although most of Grohl’s favourite songs had solid lyrics and melodies, he started to get introduced to the idea of the instrument along with the melody. For all of the prog rock bands playing songs that showcased their technical skills on their instrumentals, Grohl first found his musical calling when listening to ‘Frankenstein’ by The Edgar Winter Group.
Being one of the first significant rock songs of the 1970s to reach the top of the charts without lyrics, the entire song showcases how many instruments Winter can play. Boasting a stunningly heavy riff, Winter handles various instruments throughout the track, playing piano, synthesiser, timbales and alto saxophone throughout the song.
When talking about hearing the track for the first time, Grohl was left stunned, telling People, “There was one song called ‘Frankenstein’ by The Edgar Winter Group. It’s an instrumental, and it was amazing. It really changed my life. I listened to it, and suddenly I was seeing music, not just hearing it. The record became my prized possession”.
Rather than relying on a hit lyric, Winter had developed a musical language that spoke to people’s hearts rather than their minds. Although Grohl may not have known it at the time, the creative ingenuity of the song had a massive impact on the song he constructed melodies as well.
While he may have been confined to the drummer’s stool when in Nirvana, the first Foo Fighters record saw Grohl take a similar approach that Winter did when creating his songs. Since Winter was known for playing numerous instruments across the song’s runtime, Grohl would follow suit by playing every note on the debut record, save for one guitar part reserved for the song ‘X-Static’.
Aside from the approach to instrumentation, the heaviness of the riff also stayed with Grohl, leading to him making Foo Fighters classics out of simple musical fragments like ‘Everlong’ and ‘All My Life’. As much as Grohl may fall back on his heroes for lyrical inspiration or vocal melodies, it’s sometimes better to get to the point with minimal words.
