Dave Grohl started playing drums with his teeth. The beats were there, in his head. Even though Grohl’s first love was playing guitar, he found himself tapping out rhythms with his teeth and bashing anything in sight (mostly pillows) until he could get his first kit.
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Immersed in punk rock as a teen and playing in bands in school, Grohl eventually joined Scream by the late 1980s when he was 17 before joining Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in 1990 in time for Nirvana‘s second album, Nevermind.
Co-writing the metamorphic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Endless, Nameless,” and two more tracks on the band’s third and final album, In Utero, Grohl’s musical world and legacy later extended into Foo Fighters in 1994 and penning the band’s book of hits —”Everlong,” “My Hero,” “Learn to Fly,” “Best of You,” “All My Life,” and more, spanning their 11 albums.
Writing, recording, and touring with Them Crooked Vultures and playing with Queens of the Stone Age, and through his many collaborations—Paul McCartney (“Cut Me Some Slack”), Zac Brown Band (The Grohl Sessions, Vol. 1), Diddy (“It’s All About the Benjamins”), and Cat Power (“He War,” “Speak For Me”), among many others—Grohl has crafted a lengthy book of songs over the past 30-plus years.
Here’s a look at four distinct songs that Grohl wrote, including one under an alias, a Jim Henson classic, and more for a few other artists.
1. “Color Pictures of a Marigold”/”Marigold,” Late! (1992)
Written by Dave Grohl
Before Nirvana recorded “Marigold” and released it as a B-side to “Heart-Shaped Box,” off their 1993 album In Utero, Grohl already shared the song on the (cassette-only) album, Pocketwatch, under the pseudonym Late! a year earlier. “Marigold” was the only song released by Nirvana with Grohl as the lead singer.
Titled “Color Pictures of a Marigold,” Grohl’s Late! version is more stripped back with just vocals and guitar to perfectly capture the slightly convoluted nature of the lyrics.
Grohl later released a live version of “Marigold” with Foo Fighters on their 2006 album, Skin and Bones. In 2022, Grohl performed “Marigold” for the first time in 12 years during the annual benefit concert in Chicago.
He’s there in case I won it all
He’s scared ’cause I want
He’s scared in case I want it all
He’s scared ’cause I want
All in all the clock is slow
Six colour pictures all in a row
Of a marigold
He’s there in case I won it all
He’s scared ’cause I want
He’s there in case I won it all
He’s scared ’cause I want
2. “Any Weather (606 Version),” Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (2013)
Written by Dave Grohl and Joan Jett; co-produced by Dave Grohl
On Joan Jett‘s 2013 album, Unvarnished, with the Blackhearts, Grohl co-wrote the opening track “Any Weather” and dubbed it a “606 Version,” named after the Foo Fighters’ Studio 606 in San Fernando Valley, California where it was recorded. Grohl also co-produced “Any Weather (606 Version)” and played all the instruments on the track.
“I wanted to write with Dave for a while,” said Jett. “I think he’s a great songwriter, but I don’t think he does a lot of writing with people outside of the Foos. But he invited me into his studio, and I had an idea for a song, which is ‘Any Weather,’ and did it for him. Just the two of us cut it in the studio.”
Jett added, “He played the drums, I played the rhythm guitar, and I just kind of hummed the melody and sang the chorus. Then he went and put on some bass and lead guitar and rhythm guitar. Then we got whatever crew members were around and had them do some background vocals. It was a really fun thing.”
I sense you feel the same
Now it’s time to ‘summer’ blame
Hey!
We’ll go and find some space to dance, some real romance
Let’s stay to take that chance
Hey!
I know you know
That it’s the way to go
I know you know
3. “Everything’s Electric,” Liam Gallagher (2022)
Written by Dave Grohl and Liam Gallagher
The lead single from Liam Gallagher‘s third solo studio album, C’mon You Know, “Everything’s Electric” was co-written with Grohl, who also plays drums on the track, and produced by Greg Kurstin.
“It kicks the doors open to what’s next,” said Gallagher of the track. “Some of it’s odd, man. 80 percent of the record is a bit peculiar but still good. And 20 percent of it is kind of classic, like ‘Everything’s Electric.'”
I don’t hate you
But I despise that feeling
There’s nothing left for me here
You won’t know if you don’t go
Superficial feelings
It’s hard to take it easy
Underneath the red sun
Everything’s electric
4. “Fraggle Rock Rock,” Fraggle Rock (2022)
Written by Dave Grohl
Jim Henson’s Muppets classic, Fraggle Rock, made a comeback in 2022 with a series of episodes on Apple TV+. For one of the episodes, Grohl penned the song “Fraggle Rock Rock.”
The original Fraggle Rock TV show aired for five seasons between 1983 and 1987, along with an animated Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series spin-off in 1987.
The revived series featured a collection of special guest performances, including Foo Fighters with “Fraggle Rock Rock,” Patti LaBelle singing “Shine on Us Now (Moon Come Soon),” Cynthia Erivo performing “Chase the Wind,” and Daveed Diggs with “Go with the Flow.”
Dance your cares away
Worry’s for another day
Let the music play
Down at Fraggle Rock
Work your cares away
Dancing’s for another day
Let the Fraggles play
We’re Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, Red
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Crown Royal
