Walk (Foo Fighters song)

"Walk" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released as the third single from their seventh studio album Wasting Light. It was written by Dave Grohl and co-produced by Butch Vig.

"Walk"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album Wasting Light
Released	June 17, 2011
Recorded	September 6–December 21, 2010 in Dave Grohl's garage
Genre	Alternative rock post-grunge hard rock
Length	4:16
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear
Producer(s)	Butch Vig
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"White Limo" (2011) "Walk" (2011) "Arlandria" (2011)
Music video
Walk on YouTube

Release and reception

The song was released on June 6, 2011, to rock radio. No physical CD single was released; it is only a digital downloadable single. The song reached number one on the Billboard Rock Songs chart on July 20, 2011, dethroning the album's previous single "Rope", giving the band their third number one single on the chart - the most on the chart so far. On February 12, 2012, the song won two awards at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. They also performed the song live at the Grammys.

Song information

According to Dave Grohl, he came up with the verse about "having a trial" after the time he was helping his first daughter Violet Maye on "learning to walk", and eventually she was able to walk on her own. The song was supposed to be on the previous studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, but Dave decided to put the final version as the last track of Wasting Light because it "sort of makes sense to the album's theme of time and second chances" and to "end the record on a positive note".^[1] Grohl added that the optimistic tone was a reminiscence on how bad he felt after Kurt Cobain killed himself and wanting others to realize "in life, you get trapped in crisis, where you imagine there’s no way out. When really, if you dare to consider that crisis a blip on the radar, it’s easier to push through. And, yeah, I was just like, ‘I don’t want anyone to have that feeling that I had that morning.’ ” Pat Smear, who played with Grohl and Cobain in Nirvana, considers "Walk" and its lyrics about enjoying life an antithesis to the Nirvana song "I Hate Myself and Want to Die".^[2]

Music video

The music video appeared on YouTube on June 2, 2011.^[3] The video, directed by Sam Jones, was the second video released from Wasting Light, and is an homage to Joel Schumacher's 1993 movie Falling Down.^[4][5]

In 2011, the video won Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.^[6]

Personnel

Foo Fighters

• Dave Grohl – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Chris Shiflett – lead guitar
• Pat Smear – guitar
• Nate Mendel – bass
• Taylor Hawkins – drums

Additional Personnel

• Rami Jaffee - organ

In pop culture

• Despite not being included on the soundtrack, "Walk" can be heard in the background of the bar scene and in the end credits to the 2011 Marvel superhero film Thor.
• HBO aired a promo featuring the song to promote their 2011 summer/fall programming line up.
• The song was made as downloadable content for the videogames Rock Band 3 and Rocksmith.
• WWE used "Walk" to highlight Edge twice where it was first heard in a video package for his induction into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame, and again at the conclusion of the WWE 24 documentary episode "Edge: The Second Mountain".
• A.J. Ellis of the Los Angeles Dodgers used the song when he walked up to bat.
• The song was featured in the documentary Warren Miller's ...Like There's No Tomorrow.
• In the opening chapter of The Dresden Files novel Cold Days, the title character talks about remembering his physical rehabilitation in Arctis Tor as a montage set to "Walk".
• The song was featured in the trailer to the Robert Zemeckis film, Welcome to Marwen.
• An instrumental version of the song appeared in the 2020 T-Mobile commercials.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2011) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[7] 57 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 49 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 25 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[10] 34 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[11] 49 Canada Rock (Billboard)[12] 1 Czech Republic Modern Rock (IFPI)[13] 19 Japan (Japan Hot 100)[14] 32 Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[15] 23 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] 31 Netherlands (Mega Top 50)[17] 22 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[18] 58 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[19] 38 Scotland (OCC)[20] 48 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 74 UK Singles (OCC)[22] 57 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[23] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[24] 83 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[25] 1 Chart (2021) Peak position Czech Republic (Modern Rock)[26] 19

Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[27] 3 Chart (2012) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[28] 17 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[29] 19

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[30]	Platinum	70,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[31]	Platinum	60,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[32]	Platinum	60,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33]	Platinum	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[34]	Gold	400,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Awards

Year	Award	Results
2011	MTV Award for Best Rock Video	Won
2012	Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance	Won
2012	Grammy Award for Best Rock Song	Won

References

1. "【動画】フー・ファイターズが新作アルバムや自伝映画を語る！ - ミュージックニュースチャンネル - RealPlayer". Retrieved June 7, 2011.
2. 'I Don’t Want to Fucking Die': Foo Fighters and the Art of Survival
3. "Foo Fighters. Walk. - YouTube". YouTube. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
4. "Music Video News: WATCH IT: Foo Fighters "Walk" (Sam Jones, dir.)". Video Static. Retrieved 2011-06-08.
5. "Foo Fighters Parody 'Falling Down' in 'Walk'". Rolling Stone. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
6. Ditzian, Eric (2011-08-28). "Foo Fighters Win, Defend Rock Music At VMAs - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Archived from the original on September 23, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
7. "The ARIA Report: Issue 1117" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. July 25, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-29. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
8. "Foo Fighters – Walk" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
9. "Foo Fighters – Walk" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
10. "Foo Fighters – Walk" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
11. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
12. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
13. "CZ - Radio - Top 20 Modern Rock - Foo Fighters - Rescued" (in Czech). IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
14. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
15. "Foo Fighters - Mexico Ingles Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
16. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Foo Fighters" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
17. Arens, Bart; Kruize, Edgar; Adams, Ed (2013). Mega Top 50 presenteert: 50 Jaar Hitparade. Netherlands: Spectrum. p. 335. ISBN 9789000331000. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
18. "Foo Fighters – Walk" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
19. "Foo Fighters – Walk". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
20. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
21. "Foo Fighters – Walk". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
22. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
23. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
24. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
25. "Foo Fighters Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
26. "CZ - Radio - Top 20 Modern Rock - Foo Fighters - Walk" (in Czech). IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
27. "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
28. "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2012". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
29. "Decade-End Charts: Hot Rock Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
30. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
31. "Brazilian single certifications – Foo Fighters – Walk" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
32. "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 22 July 2020. Type Foo Fighters in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Walk in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
33. "New Zealand single certifications – Foo Fighters – Walk". Radioscope. Retrieved December 17, 2024. Type Walk in the "Search:" field.
34. "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – Walk". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 1, 2024.