For Wasting Light, Dave Grohl turned the Foo Fighters into a garage band - literally. The group cut the album DIY-style, with old-school tape machines in the Foo frontman's garage at his Los Angeles home. (Grohl's garage is a garage in the sense that you could park not one, but a fleet of cars). In an interview with L.A. Weekly he explained how the homely setting had a profound effect on his lyrics:
"At the end of the album I put all 11 songs together and listened to them, and I started to realize, wow, lyrically, there's a theme or there's some common threads that go throughout all those songs. And I realized that the album is about the album. You're surrounded by friends and family and nostalgia, and you're singing about the last 20 years of your life - that became a part of the process."
The influence of loved ones is very evident on this anthem of healing optimism, which finds Grohl learning to walk again after losing his way. He reveals a renewed lust for life as he repeatedly howls "I never wanna die!"
Lyrics
A million miles away
Your signal in the distance
To whom it may concern
I think I lost my way
Gettin' good at startin' over
Every time that I return
I'm learnin' to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learnin' to talk again
Can't you see I've waited long enough?
Where do I begin?
Do you remember the days
We built these paper mountains
Then sat and watched them burn?
I think I found my place
Can't you feel it growin' stronger?
Little conquerors
I'm learnin' to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learnin' to talk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
Now
For the very first time
Don't you pay no mind
Set me free again
To keep alive a moment at a time
But still inside a whisper to a riot
To sacrifice but knowin' to survive
The first to climb another state of mind
I'm on my knees, I'm prayin' for a sign
Forever, whenever, I never want to die
I never want to die, I never want to die
I'm on my knees, I never want to die
I'm dancin' on my grave, I'm runnin' through the fire
Forever, whenever, I never want to die
I never want to leave, I never say goodbye
Forever, whenever, forever, whenever
I'm learnin' to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
I'm learnin' to talk again
Can't you see I've waited long enough?
Where do I begin?
I'm learnin' to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
I'm learnin' to talk again
Can't you see I've waited long enough?
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