“Chasing Birds” by Foo Fighters

This is another track which, like “Love Dies Young“, is partially based on heartbreak. But unlike that particular outing, this time around the Foo Fighters are not using the state of being heartbroken as a conclusion but rather more like a premise. For the singer’s heart being “six feet underground” – as in he being in some type of depressed, perhaps even loveless state –  is the same reason why he now finds himself “chasing birds to get high”. And once he does get there, he never wants to ‘come down’.

Now in terms of this sensation of ‘getting high’, honestly it does not read as if he is talking about being wasted on drugs. Rather the chorus gives us a further glimpse into his depressed or repressed mind state. For instance, we see that he is on “the road to hell”. Again, this comes off as the type of figurative language which the Foo Fighters have utilized throughout their “Medicine at Midnight” album.

In other words, we don’t take it as if he is referring to the underworld. Rather that “road to hell” would be symbolic, once again, of his depression. And then we can see that he perceives himself as being an innocent victim of this fate. That is to say that it was actually “good intentions” and a “bleeding heart” which led him to this place.

But more to the point isn’t the fact that he’s in an emotional hell but rather his desire to get out of it.  That’s what the phrase “chasing birds” is ultimately meant to represent, his attempt to overcome this woefully downtrodden state.

Facts about “Chasing Birds”

All of the members of the Foo Fighters are credited as writers of this song. And at the time the crew consists of six musicians. They are frontman Dave Grohl buttressed by the following instrumentalists:

• Pat Smear
• Chris Shiflett
• Nate Mendel
• Rami Jaffee
• Taylor Hawkins

This is the eighth and penultimate track on the playlist of “Medicine at Midnight”, the album the Foo Fighters put out on 5 February 2021. And they did so via the collaborative efforts of RCA Records and Roswell Records.

The track was produced by hitmaker Greg Kurstin, having done so alongside the Foo Fighters themselves.