The Pretender (song)
Encyclopedia
"The Pretender" is a song by the American alternative rock
band Foo Fighters
. It was the first single from the group's 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
. It is one of Foo Fighters' most successful songs; only "Learn to Fly
" and "Best of You
" beat its position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
.
, frontman Dave Grohl
stopped short of explaining the meaning behind "The Pretender", but alluded its roots go to current political unrest. Grohl noted,
Grohl also told XFM "The Pretender" was not initially planned for the album and happened really quickly.
nominee for Best Rock Song
and Record of the Year
. It won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance
the same year. This song was also #94 on MTV Asia
MTV Video Music Award
for Best Rock Video, but lost to Linkin Park
's "Shadow of the Day
".
This album was the fourth consecutive Foo Fighters album to have a song reach the top of the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "The Pretender" was the most densely played alternative rock song of 2007. It holds the record for longest running #1 in the Modern Rock Tracks' history, with 18 weeks at #1. It also spent 6 weeks at #1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It made the Triple J's Hottest 100 in Australia placing in at number 5.
was directed by Sam Brown. It is presented in letterbox format and heavily employs pans
, zooms, and tracking shot
s. It consists of the band performing the song in an airplane hangar with many strip lights on the ceiling. Behind the band is a large red screen, which is thick and solid. The band is then faced by what appears to be a riot police officer
, who stands behind a black line in front of the band. As the song progresses, he is joined by more riot police officers. As the quieter bridge begins, the video slows down as the officers charge at the band. Just as the band repeats the song's louder chorus
, the screen suddenly explodes and a liquid erupts from it, overwhelming the police officers, but affecting the band to a lesser extent. At the end of the video, Dave Grohl
is shown slamming his guitar on the floor as he falls to his knees. The visual effects in the video were done by Mechnology Visual Effects in Burbank, California.
, in a band-specific pack. It is also a playable song in the game Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades and for the Rock Band
series on November 3, 2009. The song was included in the soundtrack for the game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
. The song also appears on the tv series Californication and in the Season 6 premiere of CSI: Miami
.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
. It was the first single from the group's 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, selling 135,685 albums in its first week. The album also went platinum in its first week in both Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,000 copies in its first week, and has since been...
. It is one of Foo Fighters' most successful songs; only "Learn to Fly
Learn to Fly
For other results, see Learning to fly."Learn to Fly" is the first single from the Foo Fighters' third album There Is Nothing Left to Lose. It was released on two different singles in the UK in 1999...
" and "Best of You
Best of You
"Best of You" is a song by American alternative rock band Foo Fighters, and the first single released from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor...
" beat its position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Meaning
In a 2007 interview with XFMXfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
, frontman Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
stopped short of explaining the meaning behind "The Pretender", but alluded its roots go to current political unrest. Grohl noted,
"That's the thing with lyrics, you never want to give away specifics, because it's nice for people to have their own idea or interpretation of the song. But, you know, everyone's been fucked over before and I think a lot of people feel fucked over right now and they're not getting what they were promised, and so something to do with that."
Grohl also told XFM "The Pretender" was not initially planned for the album and happened really quickly.
"That song didn't happen until later on in the session. We didn't go into making the record with that song and it happened after we recorded a lot of stuff. Up until that point, I didn't know if we had a good opening song or not. So after we recorded it, I thought, 'oh this is perfect, we have the song to open the record,' and it just became everybody's favorite song. ... It's the type of song that I look forward to opening shows with and it came together really easily. We put that song together in, I don't know, a day, whereas a lot of the other songs we worked on for weeks."
Reception
This song was #47 on Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominee for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
and Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
. It won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
the same year. This song was also #94 on MTV Asia
2008 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 7, 2008 live from Paramount Pictures Studios , honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Nominations for a majority of the categories were announced on the MTV program FNMTV after being selected through viewer online voting at...
MTV Video Music Award
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
for Best Rock Video, but lost to Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
's "Shadow of the Day
Shadow of the Day
"Shadow of the Day" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was released as the third single from their third album, Minutes to Midnight, on October 16, 2007...
".
This album was the fourth consecutive Foo Fighters album to have a song reach the top of the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. "The Pretender" was the most densely played alternative rock song of 2007. It holds the record for longest running #1 in the Modern Rock Tracks' history, with 18 weeks at #1. It also spent 6 weeks at #1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It made the Triple J's Hottest 100 in Australia placing in at number 5.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was directed by Sam Brown. It is presented in letterbox format and heavily employs pans
Panning (camera)
In photography, panning refers to the horizontal movement or rotation of a still or video camera, or the scanning of a subject horizontally on video or a display device...
, zooms, and tracking shot
Tracking shot
In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken...
s. It consists of the band performing the song in an airplane hangar with many strip lights on the ceiling. Behind the band is a large red screen, which is thick and solid. The band is then faced by what appears to be a riot police officer
Riot control
Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
, who stands behind a black line in front of the band. As the song progresses, he is joined by more riot police officers. As the quieter bridge begins, the video slows down as the officers charge at the band. Just as the band repeats the song's louder chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, the screen suddenly explodes and a liquid erupts from it, overwhelming the police officers, but affecting the band to a lesser extent. At the end of the video, Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
is shown slamming his guitar on the floor as he falls to his knees. The visual effects in the video were done by Mechnology Visual Effects in Burbank, California.
Track listing
- 2-track CD
- "The Pretender"
- "If Ever"
- Maxi CD
- "The Pretender" - 4:31
- "Come Alive" (Demo) - 5:31
- "If Ever" - 4:15
- "Monkey Wrench" (Live from Hyde ParkHyde Park, LondonHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
video) - 5:35
- "The Pretender"
- "Bangin"
Chart positions
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
10 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 46 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 26 |
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
15 |
| Denmark Singles Chart | 25 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 39 |
| Euro Hot 100 | 24 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
72 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
11 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
9 |
| Norway Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
11 |
| Portugal Singles Chart Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa The Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa is currently the only recording industry association in Portugal. Created in 1989, it succeeded GPPFV and UNEVA .... |
5 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
8 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
37 |
| US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
47 |
| Chart re-entry (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 65 |
Releases
In addition to being on the album, the song was also released on a number of other formats and soundtracks. It was among the first to be released as downloadable content for the next-gen versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of RockGuitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
, in a band-specific pack. It is also a playable song in the game Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades and for the Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
series on November 3, 2009. The song was included in the soundtrack for the game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is a video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles; by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii; and by Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS...
. The song also appears on the tv series Californication and in the Season 6 premiere of CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
.