Run (Foo Fighters song)

"Run" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released as a single on June 1, 2017, and is off their ninth studio album, ''Concrete and Gold''. The song performed well commercially and critically, topping the ''Billboard'' US Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song and was nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 2018 Grammys.

Background

The song had first been played live in February 2017.Foo Fighters Crank Up the Heavy on New Song 'Run'
billboard.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017. The studio version of the song was released as a single on June 1, 2017,Watch Foo Fighters Perform as Retirees in Crazy New "Run" Video
pitchfork.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017. making it the band's first single since "Saint Cecilia" in 2015. Many music journalists noted the song was expected, but not confirmed, to be off of the band's then-upcoming ninth studio album, ''Concrete and Gold''. The single was a surprise release, without any prior indication being made of its existence, other than the band's vague allusions to working on music over the course of 2017. Seven weeks after its initial release, the song topped the US ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Songs chart, the seventh song from the band to do so.

Music video

A music video for the song was released on the same day.Foo Fighters' New Song, 'Run,' Sparks A Nursing-Home Uprising
npr.org. Retrieved June 1, 2017. The video features the band performing the song in a nursing home (abandoned St Luke's Hospital in Pasadena, CA), in make-up making them appear as elderly versions of themselves, and end up inciting a riot amongst other patients and orderlies. The nurse in the video is played by Missi Pyle. Multiple outlets, including ''Billboard'' and ''People'' magazines, felt the music video was an homage to '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'',Foo Fighters Are Back! Elderly Dave Grohl Leads a Nursing Home Revolt in Video for New Song, 'Run'
people.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017. while Team Rock noted its additional similarity to the film '' Cocoon''. The video ends with a brief choreographed dance routine, noted by '' Variety'' and ABC News as being similar to the routine done in Michael Jackson's video for the song " Thriller".Foo Fighters Return With the Bruising 'Run' Single and Video (Watch)
variety.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
abcnewsradioonline.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017. The video was directed by band frontman Dave Grohl.Foo Fighters – "Run"
spin.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017. The old age makeups were designed by Tony Gardner, and created by Alterian, Inc. The video was inspired by drummer Taylor Hawkins lamenting having to do promotional work for the song and album cycle while the band was beginning to look older; when Grohl told him that "it doesn't really matter", Hawkins proposed taking it in the opposite direction, and purposefully making themselves look older, inspiring Grohl to write up a treatment for the video.

Composition and themes

The song is approximately five-and-a-half minutes long, and features a 40-second intro with just soft guitar notes and mellow vocals by Grohl.Foo Fighters return with glorious new single "Run" and video — watch
consequence.net. Retrieved June 1, 2017. After the intro, the song erupts into a hard rock sound, featuring heavy, distorted guitar riffs, thunderous drums, and alternating melodically sung and screamed vocals by Grohl. The song features breakdowns similar to that found in heavy metal and noise rock music. A number of outlets described the song as one of the heaviest rock songs the band has ever released. Lyrically, the line "Wake up/run for your life with me" is urgently repeated through the song by Grohl.

Reception

The song was generally well-received upon release, with many journalists praising the band for maintaining their high-energy rock sound with the song, while being over twenty years into their career. ''People'' praised the song for being "a return to full-speed-ahead rock. Like the best of Foo Fighters, it's hard and occasionally hilarious." Similarly, NPR praised the song for being "an enjoyably ludicrous bit of viral silliness" and concluded "'Run' itself is no joke: Eight (and perhaps soon to be nine) albums into his Foo Fighters career, Grohl still wails with the infectiously unhinged force of a kid a third his age." Loudwire named the song the eighth best hard rock song of 2017. The single had the highest first day sales of any prior singles for the band.

''SPIN Magazine'' proclaimed "Run" a "thunderous lead single" and a "a galloping game of heavy-metal Red Light, Green Light".

The song received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Concrete and Gold'' liner notes.
;Foo Fighters
* Dave Grohl – vocals, guitar, percussion
* Chris Shiflett – guitar, percussion
* Pat Smear – guitar, percussion
* Nate Mendel – bass, percussion
* Taylor Hawkins – drums, percussion
* Rami Jaffee – Mellotron, Casio SK1, organ, percussion

;Other musicians
* Greg Kurstin – piano

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Awards

References

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2017 songs
2017 singles
American heavy metal songs
Foo Fighters songs
Songs written by Dave Grohl
Songs written by Taylor Hawkins
Songs written by Nate Mendel
Songs written by Chris Shiflett
Songs written by Pat Smear
Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin
RCA Records singles
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song