"Times Like These" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It is the fourth track from their fourth album One by One, and was released as its second single in 2003.
Composition
The lyrics discuss how Dave Grohl felt "like I wasn't entirely myself" during the three-month hiatus the Foo Fighters entered following the tense and unsatisfying first recording sessions for One by One, as well as his uncertainty about the future of the band.[1][2] The lyric "I'm a new day rising" is a reference to the album New Day Rising by Hüsker Dü, one of Grohl's favorite groups.
"Times Like These" is in D Mixolydian mode and the section that begins at 0:13 is in 7/4 time. The chorus of the song is also grouped in bars of 3 rather than the regular bars of 4. The intro starts in 8/4 time for 4 bars, then switches to 7/4 for 8 bars and then 3 bars of 8/4 again before leading into the first verse, which is also in 8/4. It is set at 145 BPM.[3]
After the album version ended its run on the charts, a solo acoustic version of the song performed by Grohl was released. The acoustic version had some success on pop and adult contemporary radio; generally, it enjoyed great success on rock and alternative radio just like the original electric version.
Music videos
Two music videos were made for the studio version of the song and a third music video was made for an acoustic version of the song. All three versions were made available via the DVD release "Low/Times Like These"(2003):
Version 1
Directed by Liam Lynch. The band is shown performing the song against changing backgrounds, consisting mainly of brightly colored kaleidoscopic forms similar to those found in music visualization, giving the video a psychedelic, hopeful, joyful mood. In the end, the backgrounds blink out to reveal that the band are performing against a greenscreen in a studio. This version is often referred to as the "UK version" and received little airplay in the US as the band ultimately opted to film another video shortly afterward.
Version 2
Directed by Marc Klasfeld. The video was shot on the Rainbow Bridge in Victorville, CA (15597 Mineral Rd, Victorville, CA) and shows the band performing the song on location, below and in front of a bridge. A girl wanders onto the bridge and eventually tosses her Game Boy Advance at them. Gradually, more and more people arrive at the bridge and start throwing other inanimate objects (including appliances, instruments, and furniture) behind and around the oblivious band members. The items never hit any of them, though they come close. The actions of the participants would suggest that their motivations and intentions are to cast off the material trappings of society which prohibit them from living freely.
Two cars (a Chevrolet Camaro and an MGB) are then simultaneously dropped off the bridge and behind the band, resulting in clouds of smoke and fire. This is followed by an entire house (only with walls and roof) being dropped onto the band by a crane, and the walls falling onto the ground without anyone getting hurt.
Some of the extras featured in the video were fans selected through the band's official web site.[4]
Acoustic version
A music video was produced for the acoustic version. It consists solely of clips of Grohl recording the song's vocal, guitar, and piano tracks in the studio. It was co-directed by Grohl and Bill Yukich.
A live version recorded on July 7, 2007 at Wembley Stadium in London during Live Earth was released on the Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis CD.
The band performed the song live at the iPhone 5 launch event on September 21, 2012.
After Dave Grohl had broken his leg in 2015, and was unable to perform at Glastonbury Festival, Florence and the Machine stepped in for the Foo Fighters and sang a rendition of the song in Grohl's honor. The Foo Fighters later managed to perform the song at Glastonbury in 2017, opening their set and dedicated it to Florence Welch.
Foo Fighters performed the song for their second number during their 2020 appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Performed as part of the Celebrating America broadcast for President Joe Biden's inauguration celebration on January 20, 2021.
Performed as part of the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert on September 3, 2022, at Wembley Stadium. During the lyric, "It's times like these you learn to love again," Dave Grohl paused to collect his emotions.
In media
The acoustic version of this song was used in episode 20 of season 4 ("The Birth and Death of the Day") of One Tree Hill during the graduation scene, which is also when Haley's water breaks.
This is also used as the theme song for a video montage showing memorable past goals at Turf Moor for all of Burnley FC's home games from 2009 to the present.
It was used by George W. Bush for his 2004 re-election campaign without the band's knowledge. "That was weird," Grohl remarked. "And to me it just seemed like a pretty good example of how completely out of touch he was. You read those lyrics: they're about hope and love and compassion. And look at his administration: war and fear and death. It was laughable. You couldn't have picked a worse song. That's why I jumped on the John Kerry campaign. I thought, 'I guess the right thing to do is to go play the song where it's needed – where it makes sense.'"[5]
The acoustic version was used at the end of episode 21 ("Coalition of the Willing") of the American television series Jericho.
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, BBC Radio 1 organised the "biggest ever" Live Lounge cover version as part of their Stay at Home project.[20] The track was produced by Fraser T. Smith and was performed by the charity supergroup Live Lounge Allstars. Each member recorded and filmed their contribution to the song from their respective households in order to encourage social distancing.[21] The song was released on 23 April 2020 and the video premiered as part of The Big Night In telethon.[22] Among various charities worldwide, profits from the single will primarily go to Children in Need and Comic Relief, as well as WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.[23] Within 12 hours of the song's initial release, it gained 43,000 digital downloads and entered the top 5 on the UK Singles Chart.[24] The song reached number 1 on its second week, earning 66,000 chart sales (78% of which were downloads).[25] This song also became the first song produced by BBC Radio 1 to top the chart, and the first BBC release to reach number one since "Perfect Day" in 1997.[25] A lyric video of the cover version was released on 29 April 2020.[26]
Artists
The song was performed by the following artists (in alphabetical order):[27][28][29][30]
Ryan Adams performed acoustic covers of the song during a 2008 tour of Europe, and has continued to occasionally cover it live both with a backing band and solo since.
R&B singer JoJo performed an acoustic cover on BBC Radio 1Live Lounge, playing the verses and chorus without the sections in 7/4 time.
Florence and the Machine performed a cover during Glastonbury 2015 as a tribute to the Foo Fighters, whom they'd replaced as headliners after Dave Grohl broke his leg.
Trance DJ and producer Ciaran McAuley recorded the song in collaboration with vocalist Roxanne Emery under their HØLY WATERS alias.
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