"Exhausted" is a song by the American rock band

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

, released as a promotional single from the album ''

'' on January 8, 1995 to Self-Pollution Radio, a radio station created by

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

Background and recording

"Exhausted" was one of the demos

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

showed to

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

to see if he wanted to record any for a

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

album. Cobain never told Grohl that he liked the song a lot, with Grohl only learning about Cobain's liking to the track after Cobain died from Pat Smear. Cobain did not want to ask Grohl if he could write new lyrics or rerecord his vocals. Grohl and Cobain recorded the song between January 28–29 1994.

Composition and lyrics

"Exhausted" is a pop track, with lyrics being described by Kerrang! as having "purging that darkness of the recent past at their outset".

Release and reception

"Exhausted" was released as a promotional single ahead of the album on January 8, 1995 to Eddie Vedder's pirate radio station, Self-Polution Radio. Since its release, it has been seen as one of the band and album's best songs. When ranking every Foo Fighters song for

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

magazine in 2014, Dan Weiss placed it 22, stating it is "pretty ballsy for a promo single, running almost six minutes long with stretches of feedback and murky vocals", calling it an "excellent opening salvo"while noting that it "shows that the band was never going to be predictable, even if those who only know their Modern Rock chart-toppers might think otherwise." Ranking the 20 best Foo Fighters songs for

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

magazine, Dave MacIntyre placed it number 11, stating that it "sounds most akin to bands from the past (think

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, the band was forced to change their name because of legal issues. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter) ...

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...

), and it's easily one of their noisier and grittier ones". In a ranking of every Foo Fighters song for Consequence of Sound, Michael Roffman placed it number 11, calling it a "sludgy, psychedelic ballad", while noting that that it "stays true" to Nirvana's 1993 album ''

In Utero The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more fertilized eggs until bir ...

''. Dave Grohl called it his favorite on ''Foo Fighters''. Sam Law placed it at number 13 in his ranking of the 20 greatest Foo Fighters songs, stating it "was a sludgy, six-minute statement smothered in fuzz and charged with the same loud loneliness Dave had helped benchmark with Nirvana's ''In Utero'' less than two years earlier."

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from Apple Music: *

– vocals, bass, drums, guitar

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Foo Fighters 1995 songs 1995 singles Foo Fighters songs Songs written by Dave Grohl Capitol Records singles