Best of You

For the Kenny Thomas song, see Best of You (Kenny Thomas song).

"Best of You"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album In Your Honor
Released May 30, 2005
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded January–March 2005
Genre Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock
Length 4:16
Label RCA
Writer(s) Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett
Producer(s) Nick Raskulinecz, Foo Fighters
Certification Platinum (RIAA)
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"Have It All"
(2003)		 "Best of You"
(2005)		 "DOA"
(2005)
Alternative cover
(CD2)
Music sample
"Best of You"

"Best of You" is a song by American alternative rock band Foo Fighters, and the first single released from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor (2005). Dave Grohl notes that the song was written following appearances at 2004 American presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign trail and is "about breaking away from the things that confine you".[1] To date, it is the band's only single to reach Platinum status in the US.[2] The song holds the band's highest chart peaks in the U.S. (#18), the UK (#4), and Australia (#5), and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The song won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. It also topped Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks. Following the band's performance at Live Earth, the song again entered the UK charts at #38.

Background

"Best Of You" was one of the first compositions for In Your Honor, written by Dave Grohl in his garage following his involvement on the campaign trail for John Kerry. Once the Foo Fighters recorded a demo, they shelved it feeling they could do better. It was only brought back for further production by manager John Silva, who felt "Best of You"'s absence while listening to what they had recorded that far.[3] Taylor Hawkins declared that it was the only song from the rock disk of that album that remained from the original sessions along with "No Way Back".[4]

Grohl stated that while many of his songs start with the music and lyrics come last, the words for "Best of You" were fast to write. Given the Kerry rallies inspired him to do "all these songs about breaking away from the things that confine you",[5] thus came "a song of resistance. It’s about the refusal to be taken advantage of by something that’s bigger than you, or someone you’re in love with. It’s the fight in the face of adversity."[6] Grohl added that "Most people think it's a love song but it's meant to be more universal, which I think is one of the reasons so many people sing along when we play it."[5] The composition had no interest in "an interesting melody",[6] instead featuring "a rhythm that we'd never really used on any of the other albums."[5] The focus was on a strong performance, where Grohl could "scream the whole way through". During the first rehearsals, Grohl came close to injuring his throat and felt afraid of being unable to perform live, but eventually considered he could pull it off as "when you go out and sing words from the heart, you scream twice as hard.”[6]

Music video

The music video was directed by Mark Pellington, best known for his work on the video for "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam. He was inspired by the death of his wife a few months prior to the shoot, and was drawn to the song's notion of dealing with pain in life.[7]

The video features the band playing on top of the abandoned Linda Vista Community Hospital. Along with the band's scenes are clips that show pain, depression, or anger:

Track listing

CD1[8]
No. Title Length
1. "Best of You"   4:16
2. "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" (The Passions cover) 4:21
CD2[9]
No. Title Length
1. "Best of You"   4:16
2. "FFL"   2:31
3. "Kiss the Bottle" (Jawbreaker cover) 4:04
4. "What an Honour (interview video clip)"    
7" vinyl[10]
No. Title Length
1. "Best of You"   4:16
2. "Spill"   3:30

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 5
Brazil Hot 100 (Billboard)[12] 59
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[13] 3
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[14] 11
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 20
Italy (FIMI)[16] 36
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] 94
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] 38
Norway (VG-lista)[19] 23
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 41
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[21] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 18
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[23] 1
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[24] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[25] 20
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[26] 38
Chart (2012) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[27] 74
Germany (Official German Charts)[28] 85

Year-end charts

Chart (2005) Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[29] 62

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[30] Platinum 70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[31] Gold 40,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA)[33] Platinum 1,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone

Covers

Anastacia version

"Best of You"
Single by Anastacia
from the album It's a Man's World
Released 2 November 2012
Format Digital download
Recorded 2011-12
Genre Rock
Length 4:20
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Glen Ballard
Anastacia chronology
"Dream On"
(2012)		 "Best of You"
(2012)		 "Stupid Little Things"
(2014)

Anastacia covered the song for her fifth studio album It's a Man's World. The song was released as album's second single, only in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The music video was filmed in Barcelona, Spain in October 2012.

Release history

Region Date Format
Austria 2 November 2012 Digital download
Germany
Switzerland

References

  1. ↑ Kerrang! Legends: Foo Fighters pg. 114
  2. ↑ RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Foo Fighters singles. RIAA.com.
  3. ↑ Foo Fighters On How They Wrote 'Best Of You'
  4. ↑ Seven Questions with Taylor Hawkins
  5. 1 2 3 How To Write A Rock Anthem
  6. 1 2 3 Tireless Dave Grohl Screams Twice As Hard On Double LP
  7. ↑ James Montgomery (2005). "Foo Fighters Get Serious With Director Of Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy'" MTV News (May 12, 2005)
  8. ↑ Foo Fighters - Best Of You (CD) at Discogs
  9. ↑ Foo Fighters - Best Of You (CD) at Discogs
  10. ↑ Foo Fighters - Best Of You (Vinyl) at Discogs
  11. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Foo Fighters – Best of You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  12. ↑ Brazil Hot 100 - 1999 - 2013 ivetesangalonews.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  15. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Best of You". Irish Singles Chart.
  16. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Top Digital Download. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Foo Fighters – Best of You". VG-lista. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Foo Fighters: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  22. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Foo Fighters. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Foo Fighters. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Foo Fighters.
  25. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Foo Fighters.
  26. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Foo Fighters. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Foo Fighters – Best of You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Musicline.de – Foo Fighters Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  29. ↑ End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 - 2005 officialcharts.com. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  30. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  31. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Music Canada. Retrieved 08 April 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  32. ↑ "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – Best of You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 October 2015. Enter Best of You in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  33. ↑ "American single certifications – Foo Fighters – Best of You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 08 April 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help) If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  34. ↑ "Foo Fighters 'Have No Idea' Why Prince Covered Their Song At Super Bowl". MTV. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2009-12-04.

External links

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