Times Like These (song)

"Times Like These"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album One by One
B-side "A Life of Illusion"
"Planet Claire"
"Normal"
Released January 14, 2003
Format CD, CD-R, vinyl (7")
Recorded May 2002
November 29, 2002 (BBC sessions)
December 4, 2002 (Live at the Spektrum)
August 2006 (Acoustic version)
Genre Alternative rock, post-grunge
Length 4:26 (Album version)
3:55 (BBC sessions)
4:35 (live at the Spektrum)
Label Roswell, RCA
Writer(s) Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett
Producer(s) Foo Fighters, Nick Raskulinecz
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"All My Life"
(2002)		 "Times Like These"
(2003)		 "Low"
(2003)
Alternate covers
CD2

"Times Like These" is the second single released from the Foo Fighters' fourth album One by One.

Song information

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 uncertaintity 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.

After the album version ended its run on the charts, a solo acoustic version of the song performed by Grohl was released and had some success on pop and adult contemporary radio but generally it enjoyed great success on rock and alternative radio just like the original electric version.

Music videos

All 3 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 afterwards.

Version 2

Directed by Marc Klasfeld. The video was shot on the Mojave River Bridge in 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 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. A continuity error occurs at the end: when the house falls apart, the roof is missing.

Some of the extras featured in the video were fans selected through the band's official web site.[3]

Version 3

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. It has only been made officially available through this release.

Track listings

UK CD1
  1. "Times Like These"
  2. "A Life of Illusion" (Joe Walsh cover)
  3. "Planet Claire" (The B-52's cover) (Live at New York City, New York, 31 Oct 2002 with Fred Schneider)

Enhanced Section ("Nice Hat")
Enhanced Section ("Back Slapper")

UK CD2
  1. "Times Like These"
  2. "Normal"
  3. "Learn to Fly" (Live in Los Angeles, California, 22 Oct 2002)

Enhanced section ("Japanese Grunge")

Japan EP
  1. "Times Like These"
  2. "A Life of Illusion" (Joe Walsh cover)
  3. "The One"
  4. "Normal"
  5. "Planet Claire" (The B-52's cover) (Live in New York City, New York, 31 Oct 2002 with Fred Schneider)
  6. "Learn to Fly" (Live at Los Angeles 22 Oct 2002)
7" Vinyl
  1. "Times Like These"
  2. "A Life of Illusion" (Joe Walsh cover)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[4] 22
Ireland (IRMA)[5] 27
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6] 90
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[7] 12
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 65
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[9] 5
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[10] 5

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[11] Platinum 70,000^
United States (RIAA)[12] Gold 500,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Silver 200,000double-dagger

*sales figures based on certification alone

Notable live performances

In media

The acoustic version of this song was used in episode 21 of season 4 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.'"[14]

The acoustic version was used at the end of episode 21 ("Coalition of the Willing") of the American television series Jericho.

The acoustic version was used by the Calgary Flames during their 2003–04 NHL season cup run, for their opening.

It was released as a Rock Band and Rock Band 2 DLC track on Xbox Live and PSN on December 23, 2008.

It was featured in the 2003 film American Wedding.

The song and the acoustic version were both featured in the 2012 ESPY Awards in a montage to commemorate the past 20 years in sports.

"Times Like These" was featured in the 2007 annual WWE Tribute to the Troops.

Cover versions

References

  1. ↑ Moll, James (2011). Back and Forth.
  2. ↑ Apter, Jeff (2008). The Dave Grohl Story. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0-85712-021-2.
  3. ↑ Official FooFighters.com news headline, "Wanna be in a Foo video?" (bottom of page) at the Wayback Machine (archived October 17, 2003)
  4. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Foo Fighters – Times Like These". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Times Like These". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foo Fighters – Times Like These" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Foo Fighters: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Foo Fighters. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Foo Fighters. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Foo Fighters. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  11. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "American single certifications – Foo Fighters – Times Like These". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 10 April 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  13. ↑ "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – Times Like These". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 October 2015. Enter Times Like These in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  14. ↑ Doyle, Tom: "I wanted to take acid and smash stuff," Q #253, August 2007, p80
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