The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

“This wasn’t divine intervention. This was flesh and blood.”

One of the memoir’s central themes is the music inside the musician. This is clear from the first chapter, when Grohl relays the anecdote of his daughter’s first introduction to playing the drums and how much it reminded him of his own time learning the drums at her age. Grohl believes that passion for music is something that comes from within the person. He finds evidence for this belief in his children, himself, and in the many musicians he admires and meets over the years.

“It dawned on me that maybe my guitar was the love of my life after all.”

After Grohl experienced his first breakup, he was sent down a teenage spiral of self-pity and hopelessness. However, it was not long before music put light back into his life. Grohl had a dream in which he was playing in front of a massive, sold-out crowd of adoring fans. He woke with a newfound drive to realize this dream. To this day, he finds that music keeps him going in both difficult times and uplifting times.

“This band, born from the heartbreak and tragedy of our broken past, was a celebration of love, and life, and the dedication to finding happiness in every next day. And now, more than ever, it represented healing and survival.”

For Grohl and his bandmates, the Foo Fighters represent the light, joy, and healing of power of music. With each song he writes, Grohl hopes to vindicate those who feel voiceless and misunderstood as he once felt.