Song Meaning: Walk by Foo Fighters

ARTIST: foo fighters | ALBUM: wasting light | RELEASED: 2011

Year was 2011. Foo Fighters produced their seventh studio album in... a garage. That's right. It was frontman Dave Ghrol's idea because he wanted to try something "different." So the band moved into Dave's garage with analog equipment and instruments, and produced Wasting Light in its entirety. The effort was definitely worth it, as the album received five Grammy awards, including the best rock album of the year.

Wasting Light had some great singles, and one was "Walk," which also received a Grammy for the rock song of the year. Though it wasn't necessarily a concept album, lyrical ideas for pretty much all the songs were rooted in the fact that the record was produced at Dave's home - meaning he drew inspiration from his friends and family for writing. And with respect to that, lyrics of "Walk" is no exception. You won't notice this at first glance because the song doesn't make any obvious references to thereof. However, as Dave himself admitted, there's much of life,self, and family is wrapped in the song. If you're as skillful as I'm to look closely you might be able to pick some of these up in the lyrics. If not that's fine because I'll do it for you anyway. Examining lyrics of rock songs is what keeps my fragile psyche together.


Analysis of lyrics: 

Something to note in this song is that, to get a constructive and unifying meaning out of the lyrics, you cannot consider lines individually, rather you have to look at a set of lines cohesively. In other words, each line maybe seem meaningless; this is in contrast to some songs like, say, "American Idiot" by Green Day.

There's this rumor that "Walk" is about summing Dave's experiences/feelings when he thought his daughter to first walk. Although this maybe true, I think the lyrics go way beyond just pertaining to a single event. It's something like having a second chance to, well, walk again. The image that came my mind mind was someone who lost his ability to walk and finally regained it, as stated in, "I believe I've waited long enough." However the interesting thing is that it's just not about "walking," it 's also related to other aspects of a rocker's life. Case in point, Foo Fighter's drummer Taylor Hawkins was once hospitalized for dug overdose, but he was lucky enough to "walk" again. So "walk" is the metaphoric vehicle in which the lyrical theme is conveyed. That's how I see it.  There's definitely may other ways of looking at this, but if you know of something better please let me know in the comments. Thanks and peace.

Lyrics:

A million miles away
Your signal in the distance
To whom it may concern
I think I lost my way
Getting good at starting over
Every time that I return

I'm learning to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learning to talk again
Can't you see I've waited long enough?
Where do I begin?

Do you remember the days
We built these paper mountains
And sat and watched them burn?
I think I found my place
Can't you feel it growing stronger?
Little conquerors

I'm learning to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learning to talk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?

Now
For the very first time
Don't you pay no mind?
Set me free again
You keep alive a moment at a time
But still inside a whisper to a riot
To sacrifice but knowing to survive
The first decline another state of mind
I'm on my knees, I'm praying for a sign
Forever, whenever
I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I'm on my knees
I never wanna die
I'm dancing on my grave
I'm running through the fire
Forever, whatever
I never wanna die
I never wanna leave
I'll never say goodbye
Forever, whatever
Forever, whatever

I'm learning to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learning to talk again
Can't you see I've waited long enough?
Where do I begin?

I'm learning to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
I'm learning to talk again

Can't you see I've waited long enough?

Lyrics from: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/foofighters/walk.html