Foo Fighters: Monkey Wrench Meaning

Song Released: 1997

Monkey Wrench Lyrics

What have we done with innocence
It disappeared with time, it never made much sense
Adolescent resident
Wasting another night on planning my revenge

One in ten

Don’t want to be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I’d rather...

1. anonymous

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   Oct 23rd 2009 !⃝

   first off, dave grohl admitted that he hardly ever writes or wrote any songs that had anything to do with Kurt and especially that horrible excuse for a person Courtney Love. but i believe that the song is about being a kid and living under certain rules, and having to do certain things that they don't want a part of. it makes sense to me.

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2. anonymous

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   Jun 22nd 2009 !⃝

   I think it's about country love. and how he feels or felt threaten by her. and also the name monkey "wrench" kinda scares me I think he's refering to the guy she hired to kill Cobain mr allen wrench from the band "kill allen wrench" not el duce as some think. The guy el dulce slips up about during n interview in the documentry Kurt n courtny. check him out n tell me if you think he did it or not. His bands name is "kill allen wrench" he has a myspace with some witty and ironic stuff boldly stated on it. It really hurts me to think he was murdered. www.myspace.com/killallenwrench also check out allens page on there. Its sicking to even think this

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3. anonymous

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   May 18th 2009 !⃝

   I always figured it was about Cobain. "I'd rather leave than suffer this - don't want to be your monkey wrench"
   
   "All this time to make amends - what if all your enemies are friends?"
   
   1 in 10 people who threaten suicide end up succeeding: "Another indecent accident"
   
   The shouting part of the lyric "still theres one thing that comforts me since I was always caged and now I'm free" - the caged part makes me think of a drum set, also metaphorically, since Nirvana=Cobain in the mainstream - Grohl was largely forgotten. Now that it's over, he's free.
   
   But hey, I didn't write the song, so I could be totally wrong.
4. anonymous

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   Apr 30th 2009 !⃝

   I think this is about how Dave Grohl felt about Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, how he never wanted what happened but he can't forget those times.

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5. anonymous

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   Apr 8th 2009 !⃝

   Take a look at this, very interesting stuff!
   
   Foo Fighters - Shiny metallic-like spheres spotted during World War II by military personnel. After the war, neither side claimed ownership of the Foo Fighters. The name Foo Fighters comes from a comic strip phrase "where there's foo their's fire."
   
   Lear, John - Creator of the Lear Hypothesis, or the Dark Side Hypothesis. Basically and briefly, his hypothesis is that the government has collected all the crafts from UFO crashes and has tried to reverse engineer them. The US government then made a deal with the aliens which stated that the aliens could be in control of a section of S-4 and abduct as many people as they want, in return for a list of the abductees and their technology. In 1978/79, the aliens killed 44 scientists and most of a Delta Force strike team sent in to rescue them. The deal being broken, the aliens were abducting about 1 in 10 humans, mutilating them, then replacing them with androids they manufactured in underground factories. Then in the 1980's, he said that the aliens and the government struck another bargain for more technology. Lear claims that these abductees have implants in them to control them and be the ideal drone army if the time should come.
   
   Maybe Dave Grohl is one of these people and is tired of being under the aliens control. Look at the lyrics, it's all in there.
6. anonymous

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   May 30th 2008 !⃝

   No it's not about Bush. It was put out in 1995. A monkey wrench is an adjustable wrench that can be made larger or smaller depending on the bolt. I would say whatever he's in he feels like he's being used and adjusted to meet the circumstances of the situation. As someone above me said it doesn't have to be about a relationship it could be about anything...

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7. anonymous

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   May 27th 2008 !⃝

   I think it's about reaching out from the norm "one in ten".
   
   It means that the lifestyle society established may not be right for him. This is backed up with the music video. If you watch it, you'll understand. The term "monkey wrench" is pretty much an innuendo for a social tool. He's simply stating he doesn't want to be society's tool.

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8. anonymous

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   Feb 27th 2008 !⃝

   Well I really think its more about politics
   and how he doesn't want to be bush's "monkey wrench"
   with the war and all....
   and how he doesn't want to fix bush's accident
   or be in any part of it....
   just saying
   but I don't think we can judge because well we didn't write it.
   =]

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9. anonymous

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   Jan 1st 2008 !⃝

   I think it is about not wanting to be used by someone who abandoned you the first time.
10. vholton

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    Oct 25th 2007 !⃝

    Levi2thextreme is right. Dave says "This is a song about realising that you are the source of all of the problems in a relationship and you love the other person so much, you want to free them of the problem, which is actually yourself." on the foo archives
11. anonymous

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    Jul 3rd 2007 !⃝

    A monkey wrench, informally, is a disruptive and undesirable impact on a set of plans. The song, to me, revolves around somebody who has been in a relationship where they either been accused of being a monkey wrench in the partners life or made to feel that way. The song is their way of saying they will never be/never was a bad effect on their partners life and that they are moving on.
12. anonymous

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    Apr 3rd 2007 !⃝

    Why does everything always have to be about a relationship? I'm not saying this song is, it could be but in general he is obviously being used and wants to get out of whatever he's doing (a relationship or a job or something)
13. anonymous

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    Nov 6th 2006 !⃝

    Pearl jam had a radio show called monkey wrench....

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14. plasticcup_politics

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    Apr 3rd 2006 !⃝

    Well I figured it was more about being used in a ralationship whether is a romantic one or not. The line'i don't wanne be your monkey wrench' suggests that he's being used as a tool(a monkey wrench)to do ther other persons dirty work or just used in general.
15. anonymous

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    Jan 20th 2006 !⃝

    Isn't rather about being in a relationsip where you realise you're being used and how you just want to get out of it? Where the other person is dragging you down or causing you pain? I see it as a song where you realise the relationship you're in is wrong and you want out.

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