Foo Fighters: Best of You Meaning
Song Released: 2004
Best of You Lyrics
I'm your fool
Everyone's got their chains to break
Holdin' you
Were you born to resist or be abused?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the...
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Hello, i´m from Germany and my english is not so good. So i don´t understand everything of the text, but for me it means this:
You lost your girl, she got´s an new boyfriend and you can see that she changed! She is giving her new one everything you ever wanted in your relationship, but never got it from her. Do you know what i mean? (sry for my english).
But this is excactly (?) my situation in the moment. But this song helps me!!!
Greetings from Germany! -
Seems to me that the song is being sung to/about someone the singer really loves and cares about, and this person is letting some situation or other person take control of their life to their own detriment. Could be drugs, an abusive relationship, or any number of things. The person is being hurt by whatever is going on, but what saddens and angers the singer the most is that the person can't see that s/he is in control and permitting this situation to continue. The singer has done everything in his power to help his friend/lover, but they refuse to change. I dunno if Dave wrote it specifically about Kurt or not, but artists write their lives into their work, so the relationship between Dave and Kurt certainly had some influence on the song.
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I think it's about a person who's in a relationship with someone who is not really into it. The singer is wondering if the person has moved on but just not ended the relationship. Let's call the singer X and the person who has checked out of the relationship Y.
X sings, "Is someone getting the best of you?" He is wondering if there is another person and the focus and energy of Y is now being given to that other person (i.e. Is Y cheating?)
X sings, "Or are you gone and onto someone new?" explicitly asking if Y is cheating.
X sings, "You gave me something that I didn't have
But had no use." I think he's talking about the feeling a person has when their relationship has gotten bad. Is it better to have nobody than have something untrue?
X sings, "I was too weak to give in
Too strong to lose". I think that means that he was too weak to actually end a bad relationship but too stubborn to just accept it at face value.
Finally, at the end, I think X has decided to end the relationship or at least confront Y when he says, "I've got another confession my friend
I'm no fool". This reverses the first line that says "I'm your fool."
Interpreting the song is more complex because I think sometimes X is talkng to himself (as when he says," Were you born to resist, or be abused?") -
My interpretation was that he is in a relationship with a girl and they were very much in love with each other but they have lost that passionate connection somehow so she got the best of him. He is tired of trying to start over and get things back to the way they used to be, but he still loves her enough that he can't let her go so he is a her fool. He won't give in to letting her go so he is stuck between being in love and falling out of love which causes him pain because he knows what it used to be like.
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I've got another confession to make
I'm your fool
Everyone's got their chains to break
Holding you
(Its obvious here that he already put his heart out to this girl and he had "another confession to make." He's a fool because its useless to hold on to her but he still does so. Everyone has to let go of their chains that hold them back and his chain is holding on to this girl.)
Were you born to resist or be abused?
(Here he is asking the girl if she just likes not being open or if she just likes hurting herself by not opening up)
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
(He is talking to himself and the listener. He asking if the listener/himself is being confined by someone else and they can't let go when even know they know they tried their best with that person.)
Are you gone and onto someone new?
(self explanatory)
I needed somewhere to hang my head
Without your noose
(This is a metaphor stating that he needs to get some time for himself to sulk without this girls noose which signifies the grasp that she has on him that figuratively chokes him.)
You gave me something that I didn't have
(This can represent many things but in general he had a void that she filled. This void could be an insecurity of some sort, love etc.)
But had no use
(Regardless of filling this void he has it was useless nonetheless in their relationship)
I was too weak to give in
(This means he was to afraid and not strong enough to trust in this girl)
Too strong to lose
(At the same time he put up a front because he didn't want to end up getting screwed over)
My heart is under arrest again
But I break loose
My head is giving me life or death
But I can't choose
I swear I'll never give in
I refuse
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
You trust, you must
Confess -
I took this song as an abusive relationship with anyone close to you, especially in a partner relationship. The other person may be literally taking the life from you so your left with nothing - that you are going all out for them...the best of you, and they are offering little back.
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I could all depend on the state of mind you are in when you hear it.
To me it's about a girl that meant something very special to a man. She was soo charming, she gave something he didn't have (renewed trust) but in the end it had no use. although he's obviously been hurt before he was too weak and gave in, his heart was stolen and put into arrest once again, put soo much love into her that he was too stubborn and strong to lose her, but through experience knows he has to break the chains, not because he wanted to... but because its too painful to hang on and be dragged along (needed somewhere to hang my head w/o your noose) due to how obvious it is her past makes her "born to resist or be abused" because of all of this, once again he is made a fool. This man is tired of falling in love and getting torn to shreds, and swears he will never give in... although he says it he's very conflicted still... due to the nature of the song being a question he's still looking for an answer... He wants her to confess about her trust, her pain, her faith. Some emotional disconnection happened between the two and she has been filling that emotion with someone new, either someone from her past is getting the best of her keeping her from moving on with her life, or someone is getting the best of her in the present as in she is giving her all to someone else. This man needs closure he needs that answer, he's trying soo hard to break free but is soo tired of worn thin from trusting someone new, and its obvious he that his heart burns to be with her. -
My meaning is basically, You have to stand up and fight for justice and they are asking you: "Are you gonna do something about it?".
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On the acoustic album, Dave dedicates Best of You to his sister. I think the song is sung by Dave in the role as a protective brother towards his sister. He is telling her to stick up for herself.
Just my thoughts.
x -
A girl has taken advantage of him time after time. He is lonely and she fills the void but overall he damaged by her. He has given his heart (the best) to her and she has used him.
Its possible that instead of a girl, Grohl is talking about a friend, but I thought of it immediately as a romantic interest -
On the Skin and Bones DVD Dave said this one is for my sister. Go figure.
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This song is a friendship with Dave and Kurt.
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I think that the biggest part of this has to do with Kurt and Dave's friendship. upon Kurt's death, Grohl was depressed. It took him along time to play/write music again. but when he did, a lot of the songs are very reflective on the relationship between the two. i think "my hero"; and a more recent song "home" are great examples of that. parts of the song could be referring to the love/hate between Cobain and Courtney love.
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Dave Grohl wrote 'Best of You' for his sister who committed suicide.
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Ok I am just going to say this; this song and 99% of all other songs aren't to do with freaking Kurt Cobain. I mean sure when he killed himself obviously Grohl was saddened but for EVERY song to be about Kurt would be really obsessive, and besides, they were never to the point of being best friends. That was Kurt and Novaselic.
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