It’s one of Foo Fighters’ biggest hits, but you won’t believe what the lyrics behind ‘Learning to fly’ are really about
Whenever singing the lyrics to songs, they often evoke strong emotions from the meaning we derive from them. But is that what the artist was thinking about?
The Foo Fighters are considered “the last great rock band” and they are topping the charts once again with their latest album Your Favorite Toy released in April. This is their 12th studio album since the 1995 release of their self-titled album Foo Fighters.
The group has had a consistent career over the past three decades drawing crowds in the tens of thousands to their concerts. Frontman Dave Grohl once shared that being able to sit down to write songs and then play them for crowds of people as they sing along is “the luxury of my life.”
The reflection came during an interview in 2021 with Kelly Clarkson on her daytime talk show while promoting his best-selling memoir, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music. They were discussing the meaning of his lyrics, specifically those of ‘Everlong’ and ‘Learning to fly’.
“Music is meant to heal,” Grohl said. “So, one of the things about a song that you connect with, like you find yourself in the song, or you can relate to the lyric or you can relate to the pain.”
“And it could be 50,000 people singing the same lyric for 50,000 different reasons, because that lyric means something specific to them,” he added. “Like they’re not singing it for my reasons. They’re singing it for their reasons.”
When Clarkson inquired about the meaning behind the lyrics to ‘Learning to fly’, which she loves how they are “a little dark and a little light.” Grohl could only respond at first, “I don’t want to burst your bubble.”
Dave Grohl “bursts the bubble” behind ‘Learning to fly’ lyrics
“At the time I wanted to become a pilot! I wanted to learn to fly. I did,” the Foo Fighter frontman continued. Clarkson couldn’t believe what she was just told so Grohl added, “I mean like that’s it. I’m sorry.”
He shared how he was reading books and watching videos because he really wanted to learn how to fly. Unfortunately, there was a slight hitch. “Oh wait, there’s math involved. I can’t do this,” he recounted.
Clarkson offered for Grohl to come by her place as she had also wanted to get her pilot’s license too and had a flight simulator at her house that she said he could use.
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