"Walk" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released as the third single from their seventh studio album Wasting Light. It was written by Dave Grohl and co-produced by Butch Vig.
Release and reception The song was released on June 6, 2011, to rock radio. No physical CD single was released; it is only a digital downloadable single. The song reached number one on the Billboard Rock Songs chart on July 20, 2011, dethroning the album's previous single "Rope", giving the band their third number one single on the chart - the most on the chart so far. On February 12, 2012, the song won two awards at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. They also performed the song live at the Grammys.
Song information According to Dave Grohl, he came up with the verse about "having a trial" after the time he was helping his first daughter Violet Maye on "learning to walk", and eventually she was able to walk on her own. The song was supposed to be on the previous studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, but Dave decided to put the final version as the last track of Wasting Light because it "sort of makes sense to the album's theme of time and second chances" and to "end the record on a positive note". Grohl added that the optimistic tone was a reminiscence on how bad he felt after Kurt Cobain killed himself and wanting others to realize "in life, you get trapped in crisis, where you imagine there’s no way out. When really, if you dare to consider that crisis a blip on the radar, it’s easier to push through. And, yeah, I was just like, ‘I don’t want anyone to have that feeling that I had that morning.’ ” Pat Smear, who played with Grohl and Cobain in Nirvana, considers "Walk" and its lyrics about enjoying life an antithesis to the Nirvana song "I Hate Myself and Want to Die".'I Don’t Want to Fucking Die': Foo Fighters and the Art of Survival
Music video The music video appeared on YouTube on June 2, 2011. The video, directed by Sam Jones, was the second video released from Wasting Light, and is an homage to Joel Schumacher's 1993 movie Falling Down.
In 2011, the video won Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
Personnel Foo Fighters Dave Grohl – vocals, rhythm guitar Chris Shiflett – lead guitar Pat Smear – guitar Nate Mendel – bass Taylor Hawkins – drums
Additional musician Rami Jaffee - organ
Production Butch Vig – production Foo Fighters – production James Brown – engineer Alan Moulder – mixing Joe LaPorta – mastering Emily Lazar – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2011)PeakpositionAustralia (ARIA)57 Czech Republic Modern Rock (IFPI)19 Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard) 23 Netherlands (Mega Top 50) 22 Chart (2021)Peakposition Czech Republic (Modern Rock) 19
Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard) 3 Chart (2012) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard) 17
Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard) 19
Certifications
Awards YearAwardResults2011MTV Award for Best Rock Video2012Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance2012Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
References