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Rope (song)

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"Rope"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album Wasting Light
ReleasedMarch 1, 2011
Recorded2010
StudioDave Grohl's residence (Encino, Los Angeles)
Genre
Length4:19
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"Wheels"
(2009) 		"Rope"
(2011) 		"White Limo"
(2011)
Music video
"Rope" on YouTube

"Rope" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, the second track on their seventh studio album, Wasting Light (2011). Like the rest of the album, it was written by all band members and produced by the band alongside Butch Vig. The song originated during the tour supporting Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), the band's sixth studio album. A demo version was recorded after the tour ended in 2008. Some acts that have been noted as influences on the song include Rush and Led Zeppelin.

"Rope" was released as the lead single of Wasting Light on March 1, 2011, through RCA Records as a download. It was supported by a music video, shot almost entirely in VHS, that paid tribute to the claustrophobic space of the recording studio used for the album. A remix by Canadian producer deadmau5 was later released as part of a limited edition 12-inch single. "Rope" received favorable reviews from critics and performed well commercially. It was the year-end number-one song of 2011 for the Billboard Rock Songs chart, peaked at No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top 25 in five countries, including the United Kingdom.

Composition

[edit]
"Rope" sample
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Rope" had its origins during the Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace world tour, as frontman Dave Grohl played an acoustic guitar while waiting for the soundchecks or to fly to the next city.[1] After the tour ended in 2008, the song had its first version recorded during sessions at Grand Master Studios in Hollywood. It would later be brought into the Wasting Light songs which were recorded in Grohl's garage.[2]

The song's unusual rhythms and angular chords have a distinct influence from Rush[3] as well as Led Zeppelin's album Presence, which Grohl declared "may be my favorite album of theirs".[1][4] The main progression of chords is a flat seventh, a fourth and a minor third, warranting guitarist Chris Shiflett to comment that "What my guitar is doing over the bass makes no sense in a way. It does, but you don't know how." The intro is a sequence of minor sevenths with a suspended fourth, going from B minor to D, which Shiflett stated was "kind of illogical, in a way, to your ear",[4] and Grohl himself compared to Television and Mission of Burma.[1] The delay on the intro was induced manually given the album was produced without digital instruments, with producer Butch Vig synchronizing it with the click track through a drum machine and a shake tambourine.[5]

Release

[edit]

The single premiered on radio on February 23, 2011 and was officially released on March 1, 2011.[6][7] The song was only released as a download single and no physical CD single was actually released. However, a 12-inch vinyl single was released on May 9, 2011.[8]

Canadian electronic producer deadmau5 produced a remix of the song that was released separately as part of the deadmau5 Mix Edits EP. It was made available digitally on April 14.[9] The Foo Fighters performed the remix version at the 54th Grammy Awards with deadmau5, along with "Walk".

The first televised performance of the single was part of a Foo Fighters set at the 2011 NME Awards, at which the band was present for Dave Grohl to collect the 'Godlike Genius' award.[10]

Music video

[edit]
Pat Smear (left, off-screen), Dave Grohl (center) and Chris Shiflett in the "Rope" music video. The setting was a cubic white set inspired by the "tight, claustrophobic space" on which the album Wasting Light was recorded.

The music video, directed by Grohl, was shot entirely in VHS,[11] and shows the Foo Fighters performing inside a white cube set built inside a soundstage in Los Angeles. The "tight, claustrophobic space" was inspired by Grohl's garage, where Wasting Light was recorded.[12] The first verse and chorus of the song simply show the band performing, while the second verse and chorus show the band as silhouettes, and the instrumental bridge and final chorus shows lights of various colors flashing within the cube.

The music video made its worldwide premiere live from a MTV.com contest winner's house in Los Angeles, CA. An MTV and fan interview from the same house was conducted after the premiere, followed by a Twitter "question and answer" portion.[13]

Critical reception

[edit]

"Rope" was well received by critics. On its review of the song, Rolling Stone said the single "rides lower to the ground that the usual Foos anthem, especially during the gnarled-guitar fire-fight at the end, without undercutting the modern-rock heroism that's become one of the few reliable guitar-based brands on contemporary radio."[14] Billboard described the song as having "a meaty guitar lick that sounds ripe for Rock Band, a rip-roaring extended instrumental solo and a few choice "Yow!"s from frontman Dave Grohl",[15] praising the "raw, hard-hitting focus" and concluding that "'Rope' makes the listener feel like it's 1995 all over again."[16]

"Rope" was nominated for "Best Rock Track" at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards,[17] and Deadmau5' remix was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical.[18] It placed at No. 63 on the Australian Triple J Hottest 100, 2011, the world's largest annual music poll.

Chart performance

[edit]

The song is only the second in history to debut atop the Rock Songs chart, after "The Catalyst" by Linkin Park in 2010.[19] It also gave the Foo Fighters their second song to top the chart, tying them with Alice in Chains, Three Days Grace and Linkin Park as the only artists with multiple number-ones on the chart (a record that they would break immediately after "Rope" ended its reign at number one). "Rope" spent an unprecedented 20 consecutive weeks on top of the chart, until the July 30 issue, when the album's second single "Walk", took the number one spot. This made the Foo Fighters the first ever artist to have two consecutive number one songs on the chart. "Rope" also charted at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart making it the twenty-first Foo Fighters single to reach the UK Top 40, and as of 2024, remains their last UK Top 40 hit. "Rope" is Foo Fighters' highest-charting single on the Netherlands Singles Chart, charting at number 31.

Track listing

[edit]
Download
  1. "Rope" – 4:19
12-inch vinyl
  1. "Rope" (deadmau5 Mix) – 3:06
  2. "Rope" – 4:19
Download – deadmau5 Mix [edit][20]
  1. "Rope" (deadmau5 Mix) [edit] – 3:06

Personnel

[edit]
Foo Fighters
Additional Personnel

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[39] Gold 35,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[40] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[41] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Foo Fighters "The Pretender" and "Rope" Lesson, Photo Gallery and New Special-Edition Magazine Archived 2016-01-31 at the Wayback Machine guitarworld.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ^ Paul Brannigan (December 2010). "Kerrang's 50 albums you need to hear in 2011 - Foo Fighters (Interview)". Kerrang!.
  3. ^ "Foo Fighters Premiere High-Octane Single Rope". MTV. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Hey. What's That Buzz?, Guitar World fooarchive.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  5. ^ Rope Burns! soundvisionmag.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  6. ^ Cross, Alan (February 7, 2011). "This IS the New Foo Fighters Single (Video)". ExploreMusic. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
  7. ^ "Foo Fighters debut new single 'Rope'". NME.com. IPC MEDIA. February 23, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
  8. ^ "Foo Fighters Rope - Sealed UK 12" vinyl single (12 inch record / Maxi-single)". eil.com. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  9. ^ Search For: "Foo Fighters" beatport.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  10. ^ Foo Fighters rock Wembley Arena for NME Awards Big Gig nme.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  11. ^ Foo Fighters Go VHS For Brand-New 'Rope' Video mtv.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  12. ^ Dave Grohl Says Foo Fighters' 'Rope' Video Is 'Claustrophobic' mtv.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  13. ^ Foo Fighters Announce 'Rope' Video Premiere, Woodies Performance mtv.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  14. ^ Foo Fighters "Rope" rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  15. ^ Foo Fighters Unveil Rip-Roaring 'Rope' Single, 'Wasting Light' Art billboard.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  16. ^ Foo Fighters, "Rope" 2 November 2013.
  17. ^ Bieber, Glee, And Everything And Everyone Awesome Get Teen Choice Awards Noms. Peep the List! teen.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  18. ^ 'Deadmau5 Day' Declared in Las Vegas billboard.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  19. ^ Foo Fighters' 'Rope' Hangs A No. 1 Debut On Rock Songs billboard.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  20. ^ Rope (deadmau5 Mix) [Edit] - Single Foo Fighters itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  21. ^ ARIA Top 100 Singles – Week Commencing 18th April 2011 pandora.nla.gov.au. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  22. ^ "Foo Fighters – Rope" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  23. ^ "Foo Fighters – Rope" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  24. ^ "Foo Fighters – Rope" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  25. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  26. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  27. ^ "CZ - Radio - Top 20 Modern Rock - Foo Fighters - Rescued" (in Czech). IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  28. ^ "Foo Fighters – Rope" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  29. ^ "Foo Fighters - Mexico Ingles Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  30. ^ Arens, Bart; Kruize, Edgar; Adams, Ed (2013). Mega Top 50 presenteert: 50 Jaar Hitparade. Netherlands: Spectrum. p. 335. ISBN 9789000331000. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  31. ^ "Foo Fighters – Rope" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  32. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  33. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  34. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  35. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  36. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  37. ^ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  38. ^ "Decade-End Charts: Hot Rock Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  39. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  40. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Foo Fighters – Rope" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  41. ^ "British single certifications – Foo Fighters – Rope". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
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