"Waiting on a War" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released as the third single off of their tenth album Medicine at Midnight.
Background The song was first released on January 14, 2021, as the third single from their tenth studio album, Medicine at Midnight, after "Shame Shame" and "No Son of Mine". The date was chosen to celebrate frontman Dave Grohl's 52nd birthday. The band debuted the song live on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the same date.
Composition and lyrics "Waiting on a War" has been described as an "aching" folk rock ballad, starting as acoustic pop rock but progressing into 1970s-esque hard rock by the outro. Most of the song is composed of Grohl singing over an acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and strings, before building in intensity in its second half, and moving into an energetic, full-band rock sound with electric guitars for the last minute. The song was noted to have a more traditional Foo Fighters sound than prior singles from the album.
Lyrically, the song was described as the Foo Fighters' modern approach to a "Give Peace a Chance" type song, with Grohl pondering the possibility of a dark future. The lyrical content was inspired by bleak conversation Grohl had had with his own daughter Harper Grohl, in 2019, which reminded him of his own worries about the world: Grohl later explained that he himself had feared the effect of the Cold War while growing up in Washington DC. Upon the completion of the song, Grohl felt it was one of the best songs the band had ever written.
Music video A music video directed by Paola Kudacki was released for the song on January 19, 2021. It features the band performing mixed with cinematic shots of young people whose carefree outlook on life is threatened by ominous-looking adults who have brown paper bags over their heads.
Reception Rolling Stone singled the song out as the standout track on Medicine at Midnight.
Personnel Personnel taken from Medicine at Midnight liner notes.
Foo Fighters Dave Grohl – vocals, acoustic guitar, production Taylor Hawkins – drums, production Rami Jaffee – keyboards, production Nate Mendel – bass, production Chris Shiflett – guitar, production Pat Smear – guitar, production
Additional Personnel Omar Hakim - percussion Songa Lee – violin Charlie Bisharat – violin Alma Fernandez – viola Jacob Braun – cello Greg Kurstin – production, string arrangements
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for "Waiting on a War" Chart (2021) Peakposition Australia Digital Tracks (ARIA) 33 Czech Republic Modern Rock (IFPI) 3 Iceland (RÚV) 11 Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard Japan) 3 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 10 Switzerland Airplay (Schweizer Hitparade) 98
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for "Waiting on a War" Chart (2021) Position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 79 US Rock Airplay (Billboard) 9
Awards YearAwardResults2022Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
References
Notes