Times Like These

The Foo Fighters almost broke up making One By One. “Times Like These” is the sound of them deciding not to.

The story is well-documented: a disastrous first recording session, a scrapped album, band members at each other’s throats, Dave Grohl questioning whether any of this was worth continuing. They eventually retreated to his basement, stripped the songs down to their essentials, and recorded again. What emerged was rawer, more desperate, and—in the case of “Times Like These”—almost unbearably hopeful.

“I am a new day rising.”

Grohl wrote that line while everything was falling apart. It’s not a statement of fact—it’s a declaration of intent. A promise to himself that the darkness was temporary. The song builds from acoustic guitar to full-band catharsis, the arrangement mirroring the emotional journey from despair to something that might be hope.

The genius of the Foo Fighters has always been their refusal to be cynical. In an era when irony was the default mode, Grohl kept writing songs that meant exactly what they said. “Times Like These” is earnest to the point of vulnerability. It’s also undeniably true.

“It’s times like these you learn to live again.”

I’ve reached for this song more times than I can count. The bad diagnosis. The divorce papers. The 3 A.M. moment when everything feels impossible. Grohl isn’t offering solutions—he’s offering companionship. The acknowledgment that falling apart is part of the process, that the new day rises whether you’re ready for it or not.

Some songs help you get through things.

This one helped the band that wrote it.