I'll Stick Around

Album: Foo Fighters (1995)
Charted: 18 51
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Songfacts®:

  • Along with "Oh, George" and "This Is a Call," this was one of the first songs Dave Grohl wrote after the death of Kurt Cobain. Grohl went through a dark time after Cobain's passing, but found creative ambition after performing on Mike Watt's solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?

    Grohl made a home demo of "I'll Stick Around" which he recorded with producer Barrett Jones at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle in October 1994. As was the case with most tracks on Foo Fighters first album, Grohl played all the instruments, waiting until the end to do the part he most feared: adding vocals. It took Grohl and Barrett just a week to complete the album, which was later designated as Foo Fighters but was really a solo project.
  • With the rousing chorus, "I don't owe you anything," some listeners thought this song was targeted at Kurt Cobain, which Dave Grohl was quick to deny. The real target of this song's vitriol is Courtney Love, something Grohl didn't admit until 2009 when he told his biographer Paul Brannigan: "I don't think it's any secret that 'I'll Stick Around' is about Courtney. I've denied it for 15 years, but I'm finally coming out and saying it. Just read the f--king words!"

    Some of those words Grohl speaks of include "I had no hand in your ever desperate plan," a reference to Love's possible role in Cobain's death. "I should have known, you were better off alone" is Grohl regretting getting them together. One of the most scathing lines, "How could it be I'm the only one who sees your rehearsed insanity?" indicates that Love's histrionics in the wake of her husband's death were somewhat contrived and possibly meant to advance her career (her band Hole released an album in 1994).

    Inflamed by legal entanglements, Grohl and Love remained at odds until 2014 when Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Putting the past behind, they embraced at the ceremony, signaling their reconciliation.
  • In America, Foo Fighters didn't make the singles from their first album available for sale - they just sent them to radio stations as promo copies. This was the second song they released, and because you couldn't buy it, it was not eligible for the Billboard Hot 100. It did make #51 on the Airplay chart, since many radio stations picked up the song.
  • The video was directed by Jerry Casale, a founding member of Devo. Casale directed Devo's videos, and Grohl contacted him because he wanted it to look like a Devo video without ripping them off.
  • The song marked a turning point for Dave Grohl in that it was the first song he worked on that he really liked the first time he heard it mixed in playback. He's quoted in the book This Is a Call as saying: "I actually had an anxiety attack because I finally realized that this was good, whereas everything else I recorded over the previous six year I thought was crap."

Comments: 12

  • Ron from Redlands CaliforniaDave and gwen should hook up
  • Mark from Cornwall, United KingdomOriginally called 'f--k Around'
  • Robert from Los Angeles, Castop talking about nirvana on foos. they are different bands.
  • Suzi from Arcadia, CaNirvana..those were the days. I love this album
  • Jacob from Atlanta, GaThis is very negative song about violation/deprivation. I love the furious attack of drums at the beggining and of course the chorus shines with repetitiveness.
  • Matt from Millbrae, Cano, dave is the only one to play on this song. the only sound made on the entire album by someone other than dave grohl is a guitar part on "X-Static" done by Greg Dulli. Everything else is Dave and Dave alone.
  • E from Vancouver, Canadathis song is good, but the part where he yells 'I don't owe you anything' kinda ruins it.
  • Matt from Millbrae, CaI think also they performed this on Saturday Night Live in late 95 or early 96. Dave still has the long hair from his Nirvana days during the performance.
  • John from Levittown, NyGreg Dulli (Afghan Whigs) plays guitar on this song. He and Grohl were both members of the Backbeat Band, which performed Betles songs for the movie soundtrack.
  • Fungus from Here, ScotlandEasily the foos best song, it comes from their deut album, which is almost 100% a dave grohl solo album, buy it.
  • Matt from Millbrae, CaWow Dave's really got a thing aganist Courtney. More power to ya Dave.
  • Kurt from Downers Grove, IlI love it! Another song bashing Courtney Love!
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