Letterman and "Everlong"

[Carl]

Letterman closed out his final show last night (a bit of a slog) with the Foo Fighters, who like they did when Dave returned from heart surgery in 2000, performed "Everlong," this time soundtracking a montage of Letterman's memorable moments.

Letterman talked a bit about how the song was very important to him during his recovery, and how grateful he was to the band for performing it when he returned to the show. There is clearly something in the song that lights his fire, and it might be the same thing Dave Grohl was feeling when he wrote it.

Grohl composed the song in 1996. Hard to believe now, but his musical future was very much in doubt, as Foo Fighters was on shaky ground. After Kurt Cobain died in 1994, Grohl married his girlfriend Jennifer, who helped him through the tough times. But they were young and blinded by love - two years later they got divorced.

Grohl was crashing with a friend during his impending divorce, and it was all sinking in. He allowed himself to wallow on a song called "Walking After You," but he took a different tack on his other big breakup song, "Everlong." Here, instead of lamenting the love he lost, he tapped into what he felt for Jennifer that made him want to be with her forever. The song ended up being about that intimate passion where your endorphins are telling you that anything is possible. It's a love song, but it's also a musical kick in the ass. That feeling is what made so many of us connect with the song, even the notorious curmudgeon Letterman.

Un-funking yourself is not easily done, but Grohl found a way to do it in "Everlong." Letterman isn't the only one who got something out of the song: its Songfacts entry has over 100 comments.