Monkey Wrench

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"Monkey Wrench"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album The Colour and the Shape
Released	28 April 1997
Format	CD
Recorded	1997 at Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood, CA
Genre	Alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge
Length	3:51
Label	Roswell, Capitol
Producer	Gil Norton
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"Alone+Easy Target" (1996) "Monkey Wrench" (1997) "Everlong" (1997)

"Monkey Wrench" is the first single released from the second Foo Fighters album The Colour and the Shape. The song is about the disintegration of Dave Grohl's marriage to Jennifer Youngblood. ^[1] Dave Grohl won a Guinness world Record for the longest single continuous outward breath in a live vocal take.^{[citation needed]}

Music video

The music video was directed by the band's lead singer/songwriter Dave Grohl. In the video, Grohl arrives at his apartment with groceries in hand. As he tries to walk into the door he is stopped by the chain latch and peers in through the peep hole. There a doppelganger set of the whole band is shown playing. The rest of the bandmates (save guitarist Pat Smear) walk out of their apartments and join Grohl as he views the band in his room. Smear then peers out of his apartment and is beckoned to join in the view. As the doppelganger band continues with the song Dave and his bandmates try to force their way into Grohl's apartment. As the lyrics go on, the doppel-Dave taunts the band, holding the door shut as he screams "free". When the door is finally opened, the musicians have left, and the first iteration of the band picks up their instruments to finish playing the song. Out in the hall, a third set of bandmates is listening, creating a recursive situation.

When Grohl enters his apartment and greets the superintendent, a muzak version of the Foo Fighters song "Big Me" can be heard.

The music video for the song was the first to feature Taylor Hawkins on drums.

Use in other media

The song is playable in the video game Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits as well as the Nintendo DS version of Band Hero. The song, along with the rest of the album, was released as downloadable content for the Rock Band series of music video games on November 13, 2008, with the exception of "Everlong", which was featured in Rock Band 2. Additionally, the song will be presented as a mashup with the Beastie Boys song "Sabotage" for the video game DJ Hero.

It can be heard during the end credits of an episode of Daria.

Track listing

CD1:

1. "Monkey Wrench"
2. "Up in Arms" (Slow Version)
3. "The Colour and the Shape"

CD2:

1. "Monkey Wrench"
2. "Down in the Park" (Gary Numan cover)
3. "See You" (Acoustic Version)

Vinyl:

1. "Monkey Wrench"
2. "The Colour and the Shape"

Chart positions

Accolades

• Ranked #48 in Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever" (1999)
• Ranked #26 in Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Singles of All Time" (2002)
• Ranked #65 in Q magazine's "100 Greatest Songs Ever!!" (2006)

Credits

• Dave Grohl - vocals, rhythm guitar, drums
• Pat Smear - lead guitar
• Nate Mendel - bass guitar
• Taylor Hawkins - drummer

References

External links

• Video at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)