I'll Stick Around

"I'll Stick Around" is the second single released by American rock band Foo Fighters from their 1995 self titled debut album, Foo Fighters.

"I'll Stick Around"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album Foo Fighters
B-side	"How I Miss You"
Released	September 4, 1995 (1995-09-04)[1]
Studio	Robert Lang (Seattle, Washington)
Genre	Grunge alternative rock power pop
Length	3:52
Label	Roswell Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Dave Grohl
Producer(s)	Foo Fighters, Barrett Jones Miti Adhikari (live)
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"This Is a Call" (1995) "I'll Stick Around" (1995) "For All the Cows" (1995)
Music video
"I'll Stick Around" on YouTube

Background

The song's lyrics are about American singer-songwriter Courtney Love. "I don't think it's any secret that 'I'll Stick Around' is about Courtney," Dave Grohl said in 2009. "I've denied it for fifteen years, but I'm finally coming out and saying it. Just read the fucking words!"^[2] The song has been labeled grunge,^[3] alternative rock,^[4] and power pop.^[4]

Music video

The video for this song was the first Foo Fighters music video and was directed by Jerry Casale, who was a member of and directed videos for Devo. Casale said he was chosen due to Devo's well-known surreal music videos, which would fit Grohl's request for a "non-video video", produced with a budget of just $60,000. The video shows the band performing the song in a room with a paper background while lights strobe and a giant spore floats around them (the spore, described by Casale as "Foo Ball", was inspired by the foo fighter phenomenon that named the band, and its original conception was a "bloated, charred, inflated girl representing Courtney", but as Grohl's management vetoed the idea, it was replaced by an "3D HIV virus [sic] based on medical models from Scientific America [sic] magazine"). This is interspersed with footage of Dave Grohl eating chess pieces (an idea by the singer himself, done with "frame by frame stop-action animation") and brushing his teeth with what appears to be a switchblade.^[5]

The video also appeared in Beavis and Butt-Head.^[6]

Other versions

• A live version recorded on May 25, 1997, at the Manchester Apollo was released as a B-side to the CD2 version of the "Everlong" single.

Track listings

7-inch red vinyl single and Cardsleeve CD single

1. "I'll Stick Around"
2. "How I Miss You"

UK CD and 12-inch single

1. "I'll Stick Around"
2. "How I Miss You"
3. "Ozone" (Ace Frehley cover)

Japanese CD maxi-single

1. "I'll Stick Around"
2. "How I Miss You"
3. "Ozone" (Ace Frehley cover)
4. "For All the Cows" (live at the Reading Festival, August 26, 1995)
5. "Wattershed" (live at the Reading Festival, August 26, 1995)

Personnel

Musicians on the album

• Dave Grohl – guitars, vocals, bass, drums

Musicians in the music video

• Dave Grohl – guitar, vocals
• Nate Mendel – bass
• Pat Smear – guitar
• William Goldsmith – drums

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1995) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[7] 61 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[8] 2 European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[9] 49 UK Singles (OCC)[10] 18 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[11] 1 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[12] 51 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[13] 8 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[14] 12

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Peak position US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 99

References

1. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. September 2, 1995. p. 31.
2. Brannigan, Paul (2011). This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl. Philadelphia: Da Capo. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-306-81956-8.
3. O’Brien, Jon (September 18, 2017). "The 10 Best Foo Fighters Songs". Paste. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
4. "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. August 6, 2015. p. 4. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
5. Apter, Jeff (2006). The Dave Grohl Story. Music Sales Group. pp. 291–2. ISBN 978-0-85712-021-2.
6. "Hey that's the dude from Nirvarna!". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved December 17, 2020 – via YouTube.
7. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 29 Oct 1995". ARIA. Retrieved July 12, 2017 – via Imgur. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
8. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 2793." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
9. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. September 23, 1995. p. 16. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
10. "Foo Fighters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
11. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
12. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
13. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
14. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
15. "Airplay Monitor Best of '96: Mainstream Rock Tracks" (PDF). Airplay Monitor. Vol. 4, no. 53. December 27, 1996. p. 23. Retrieved December 26, 2023.