Foo Fighters have released ‘The Teacher,’ the final single from their upcoming album, But Here We Are, and have dropped an epic short-film alongside it.
‘The Teacher’, like the rest of the album, is dedicated to Grohl’s mum Virginia and the band’s late drummer Taylor Hawkins. But this song in particular feels like it’s slightly more focused on paying tribute to Virginia, who was a school teacher for over three decades.
The song feels like a journey of Grohl grappling with grief and learning how to say goodbye, with lyrics like:
“You showed me how to need, but never showed me how to say goodbye / You showed me how to grieve, but never showed me how to say goodbye / Every page turns, it’s a lesson learned in time.”
The last lyrics of the song poignantly say, “Try and make good with the air that’s left / Counting every minute / Living breath by breath/ Goodbye.”
The ten-minute single is the longest the Foos have ever recorded, and begins with a humble guitar intro from Grohl, before the song slowly builds into an intense, raw, and experimental masterpiece.
The accompanying short film was directed by multimedia artist Tony Oursler and features old home videos from the band, along with emotive and psychedelic imagery.
“Full body goosebumps. What a beautiful masterpiece, and an epic tribute to Virginia,” one fan commented on the short film.
Another commented, “Only Dave could take the unimaginable grief he and the band have gone through in the last year and come out with something this beautiful, sad, cathartic and yet, ultimately, hopeful.”
A third wrote, “Definitely their most ambitious release in decades. This is sick.”
'The Teacher' follows the previously released 'Show Me How,' ‘Rescued’ and ‘Under You,’ with the full album arriving This Friday (June 2) - have a watch of 'The Teacher' short film up top.
Plus, you can pre-order But Here We Are now.
