This is a song with layers. We all play different roles in life, but that doesn’t mean we’re phony. Most of us have to be fake at work when dealing with difficult people. We have our roles in the family. Our roles as friends. Neighbors. Customers. Whatever our role, we often don’t feel like we can completely be ourselves.
“Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” is about that sort of stuff to an extent. But since it was recorded in 1969 there are also racial and social connotations that are evident upon examination of the lyrics. The first stanza is about police violence, or white supremacist violence in general.
October 22, 2002: I will always remember exactly what happened on that day. I had been a Foo Fighters superfan for three years by then, and I was ridiculously excited to buy their new album, One By One. In September the first single, “All My Life,” was released; this was in the days before new music was leaked online, so you actually had to wait to hear it on the radio. I was working at an adult store when I first heard “All My Life,” and I knew from the first guitar chord that it was the new Foo! I loved it right away.
Great artists—whether they’re involved in music, painting, sculpting, whatever—should make other artists think, Damn, I have to live up to that? And they should make kids think, That’s what I want to do when I grow up. This is what comes to mind when I hear Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
