Monkey Wrench (song)

"Monkey Wrench" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released as the lead single from their second album, The Colour and the Shape. The lyrics chronicle the 1997 disintegration of singer/songwriter Dave Grohl's four-year marriage to Jennifer Youngblood. The song peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart,^[4] and at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.^[5]

"Monkey Wrench"
A variant of standard artwork
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album The Colour and the Shape
Released	April 28, 1997
Recorded	1996–1997
Studio	Grandmaster Recorders, Hollywood, California
Genre	Alternative rock[1] pop-punk[2] grunge[3]
Length	3:51
Label	Roswell/Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Dave Grohl Nate Mendel Pat Smear
Producer(s)	Gil Norton
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"Alone + Easy Target" (1996) "Monkey Wrench" (1997) "Everlong" (1997)
Alternate covers
Music video
"Monkey Wrench" on YouTube

Composition

"Monkey Wrench" is an up-tempo rock song, written in the key of B major in 4/4 time signature with a tempo of 174 bpm. It is performed with distorted guitars in Drop-D tuning. The song opens with a four bar phrase of a descending guitar line over a chordal riff of B5/F#5/E5 repeated twice. After a single bar of 3/4 time, the main verse enters with vocals and a choppier, palm-muted version of the intro riff.^[6] A pre-chorus using an E5 power chord then gives way to a chord-based chorus of B5/G#5/F#5/E5/F#5/E5/C5/B5.^{[citation needed]}

Lyrically, Grohl has said that the song is "about realising that you are the source of all of the problems in a relationship and you love the other person so much, you want to free them of the problem, which is actually yourself."^[7]

Critical reception

"Monkey Wrench" is widely regarded as one of the Foo Fighters' best songs. In 2020, Kerrang ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Foo Fighters songs,^[8] and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number seven on their list of the 10 greatest Foo Fighters songs.^[9]

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, but finds the door secured from inside by the chain latch when he tries to open it. Looking through the peephole, he finds black-clad duplicates of the band members playing the song. The rest of the band soon joins him at the door, peeking in through its mail slot, and eventually start trying to force their way in as the duplicate Grohl taunts them and spits on the peephole. He holds the door shut against the band's efforts for a while, but they eventually break in only to find the apartment suddenly empty. They look out the window and see the duplicates fleeing on foot through a courtyard, then close the door and finish the song using the abandoned instruments. As the video ends, a third set of bandmates is listening at the door outside, creating a recursive situation.

When Grohl is in the elevator heading up to his apartment, a muzak version of the Foo Fighters song "Big Me," performed by The Moog Cookbook, can be heard.

The music video for the song was the first to feature Taylor Hawkins on drums, although the actual drum track is performed by Grohl.

Personnel

• Dave Grohl – vocals, lead guitar, drums
• Pat Smear – rhythm guitar
• Nate Mendel – bass

Track listings and formats

• US 7" Vinyl / NT CD Single^[10][11]

1. "Monkey Wrench"  – 3:54
2. "The Colour and the Shape"  – 3:26

• AUS / EU / JP / UK CD Single^{[12][13][14][15]}

1. "Monkey Wrench"  – 3:54
2. "Up in Arms" (Slow Version) – 3:11
3. "The Colour and the Shape"  – 3:22

• UK CD 2^[16]

1. "Monkey Wrench"  – 3:54
2. "Down in the Park"  – 4:07
3. "See You" (Acoustic) – 2:27

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1997) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[17] 17 Australia Alternative Singles (ARIA)[18] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 37 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[20] 3 European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[21] 51 Scotland (OCC)[22] 10 UK Singles (OCC)[23] 12 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[24] 1 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[25] 58 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[26] 9 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[27] 9

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Peak position US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[28] 34 US Modern Rock (Billboard)[29] 49

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[30]	2× Platinum	140,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[31]	Platinum	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[32]	Gold	400,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
1999	Kerrang!	United Kingdom	100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever[33]	48
2002			100 Greatest Singles of All Time	26
2003	Q		100 Greatest Songs Ever!!	65

References

1. Yglesias, Matthew (21 May 2007). "The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist". The Atlantic. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
2. Rowley, Scott (May 20, 2016). "How Monkey Wrench brought Foo Fighters a whole new audience". LouderSound. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
3. "The history of grunge in 10 songs". Far Out Magazine. February 12, 2023.
4. Foo Fighters - Mainstream Rock Chart History billboard.com. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
5. Foo Fighters - UK Singles Chart. officialcharts.com. Retrieved on Jan 20, 2013.
6. "Foo Fighters "Monkey Wrench"". www.musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
7. "The Colour and the Shape : Dave Grohl's Guide To Every Song". www.fooarchive.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
8. Law, Sam (July 3, 2020). "The 20 greatest Foo Fighters songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
9. Uitti, Jacob (November 24, 2021). "The Top 10 Foo Fighters Songs". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
10. Monkey Wrench (US 7" Vinyl liner notes). Foo Fighters. Capitol Records. 1997. S7-724381954379.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
11. Monkey Wrench (NT CD single liner notes). Foo Fighters. Capitol Records. 1997. 7243 8 83945 2 9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
12. Monkey Wrench (AUS CD single liner notes). Foo Fighters. Capitol Records. 1997. 7243 8 83946 2 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
13. Monkey Wrench (EU CD single liner notes). Foo Fighters. Capitol Records. 1997. 7243 8 83946 2 8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
14. Monkey Wrench (JP CD single liner notes). Foo Fighters. Capitol Records. 1997. TOCP-40030.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
15. Monkey Wrench (UK CD single liner notes). Foo Fighters. Roswell Records. 1997. CDCLS 788.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
16. Monkey Wrench (UK CD single liner notes). Foo Fighters. EMI. 1997. CDCL 788.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
17. "Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
18. "ARIA Alternative Charts Top 20". ARIA Report. No. 377. May 18, 1997. p. 12. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
19. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3252." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
20. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 3236." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
21. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. May 17, 1997. p. 11. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
22. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
23. "Foo Fighters: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
24. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
25. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
26. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
27. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
28. "Airplay Monitor Best of '97: Mainstream Rock Tracks" (PDF). Airplay Monitor. Vol. 5, no. 52. December 26, 1997. p. 28. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
29. "Airplay Monitor Best of '97: Modern Rock Tracks" (PDF). Airplay Monitor. Vol. 5, no. 52. December 26, 1997. p. 30. Retrieved December 26, 2023. Alternative Airplay was previously called Modern Rock Tracks
30. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
31. "New Zealand single certifications – Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench". Radioscope. Retrieved December 17, 2024. Type Monkey Wrench in the "Search:" field.
32. "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
33. "100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever". Kerrang!. No. 746. April 17, 1999. p. 29. Retrieved August 26, 2019. As voted for by readers