I'll Stick Around Explained

I'll Stick Around
Cover:	foo fighters i'll stick around.png
Type:	single
Artist:	Foo Fighters
Album:	Foo Fighters
B-Side:	How I Miss You
Released:	^[1]
Studio:	Robert Lang (Seattle, Washington)
Genre:	Grunge alternative rock power pop
Length:	3:52
Label:	Roswell Capitol
Producer:	Foo Fighters, Barrett Jones Miti Adhikari (live)
Prev Title:	This Is a Call
Prev Year:	1995
Next Title:	For All the Cows
Next Year:	1995

"I'll Stick Around" is the second single released by American rock band Foo Fighters from their 1995 self titled debut album, Foo Fighters.

Background

The song's lyrics are about American singer-songwriter Courtney Love. "I don't think it's any secret that 'I'll Stick Around' is about Courtney," Dave Grohl said in 2009. "I've denied it for fifteen years, but I'm finally coming out and saying it. Just read the fucking words!"^[2] The song has been labeled grunge,^[3] alternative rock,^[4] and power pop.^[4]

Music video

The video for this song was the first Foo Fighters music video and was directed by Jerry Casale, who was a member of and directed videos for Devo. Casale said he was chosen due to Devo's well-known surreal music videos, which would fit Grohl's request for a "non-video video", produced with a budget of just $60,000. The video shows the band performing the song in a room with a paper background while lights strobe and a giant spore floats around them (the spore, described by Casale as "Foo Ball", was inspired by the foo fighter phenomenon that named the band, and its original conception was a "bloated, charred, inflated girl representing Courtney", but as Grohl's management vetoed the idea, it was replaced by an "3D HIV virus [''sic''] based on medical models from Scientific America [''sic''] magazine"). This is interspersed with footage of Dave Grohl eating chess pieces (an idea by the singer himself, done with "frame by frame stop-action animation") and brushing his teeth with what appears to be a switchblade.^[5]

The video also appeared in Beavis and Butt-Head.^[6]

Other versions

• A live version recorded on May 25, 1997, at the Manchester Apollo was released as a B-side to the CD2 version of the "Everlong" single.

Track listings

7-inch red vinyl single and Cardsleeve CD single

1. "I'll Stick Around"
2. "How I Miss You"

UK CD and 12-inch single

1. "I'll Stick Around"
2. "How I Miss You"
3. "Ozone" (Ace Frehley cover)

Japanese CD maxi-single

1. "I'll Stick Around"
2. "How I Miss You"
3. "Ozone" (Ace Frehley cover)
4. "For All the Cows" (live at the Reading Festival, August 26, 1995)
5. "Wattershed" (live at the Reading Festival, August 26, 1995)

Personnel

Musicians on the album

• Dave Grohl – guitars, vocals, bass, drums

Musicians in the music video

• Dave Grohl – guitar, vocals
• Nate Mendel – bass
• Pat Smear – guitar
• William Goldsmith – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[7]	61
European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)^[8]	49

Year-end charts

Notes and References

1. New Releases: Singles. Music Week. 31. September 2, 1995.
2. Book: Brannigan, Paul . 2011 . This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl . Philadelphia . Da Capo . 250 . 978-0-306-81956-8.
3. Web site: O’Brien. Jon. September 18, 2017. The 10 Best Foo Fighters Songs. November 10, 2019. Paste.
4. Web site: August 6, 2015. The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995. September 17, 2021. Spin. 4.
5. Book: Apter, Jeff. 2006. The Dave Grohl Story. Music Sales Group. 978-0-85712-021-2. 291–2.
6. Web site: Hey that's the dude from Nirvarna!. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Y5eTu6JQ84s . 2021-12-21 . live. December 17, 2020. YouTube.
7. Web site: The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 29 Oct 1995. ARIA. Imgur. July 12, 2017. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
8. September 23, 1995 . Eurochart Hot 100 Singles . Music & Media. 16 . July 28, 2018.
9. Airplay Monitor Best of '96: Mainstream Rock Tracks. Airplay Monitor. 4. 53. 23. December 27, 1996. December 26, 2023.