Foo Fighters Reflect on Mortality on Thrashing Single ‘Of All People’

Foo Fighters have shared a new single, “Of All People.” The raucous track is the fourth track to emerge from the rock band’s forthcoming 12th LP, Your Favorite Toy, out April 24.

The song sees frontman Dave Grohl reflecting on life’s unfairness. “Of all people, you survived/ When no one else could stay alive,” he sings on the aggressive rock tune. “You know you should be dead/ But you’re alive instead.”

Last month, Grohl told The Guardian he wrote “Of All People” “after bumping into a drug dealer from the ’90s that was getting everyone fucked up on heroin.”

“I hadn’t seen them in 30 years, and they’re alive, healthy and sober,” Grohl said. “I was so happy that this person survived, while at the same time, I was devastated, because of all of the people I know that we’ve lost to exactly that drug. I was so fucking angry, but at the same time so grateful to see them alive and well. Again, a conversation within myself, feeling so conflicted and divided. When I read the lyrics back, I mentioned them to my therapist: Is this survivor’s guilt?”

Foo Fighters announced My Favorite Toy in February by sharing the album’s title track. “‘Your Favorite Toy’ really was the key that unlocked the tone and energetic direction of the new album,” Grohl said in a statement. “We stumbled upon it after experimenting with different sounds and dynamics for over a year, and the day it took shape I knew that we had to follow its lead. It was the fuse to the powder keg of songs we wound up recording for this record. It feels new.”

The band recorded the album, which includes the previously released “Asking for a Friend,” at home with co-producer Oliver Roman. It’s the band’s first recording since new drummer Ilan Rubin joined the lineup.

Your Favorite Toy will arrive two weeks before the group performs at the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, on May 8. They’ll also play Bottlerock Napa Valley on May 23 before embarking on a run of European dates. The Foos will return to North America for an Aug. 4 gig at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium with gigs running through late September. Queens of the Stone Age and Mannequin Pussy are the support acts for most of the shows.