Harman Patil (Editor)

Big Me

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Released
  
February 25, 1996

Recorded
  
January 1995

Label
  
Roswell/Capitol

Format
  
CD, white vinyl (7")

Length
  
2:13

Genre
  
Alternative rock, power pop

"Big Me" is the fourth single by the Foo Fighters from their self-titled debut album Foo Fighters. Released in the spring of 1996, the song became a crossover hit for the band on pop radio, when it reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay.

Contents

Music video

The song became well known for its music video, which parodies Mentos advertisements, turning them into commercials for "Footos." The concept came from director Jesse Peretz, who had originally pitched the idea to another band, and the Foo Fighters accepted as according to Dave Grohl, "We had some difficulty finding a treatment that would suit the song, which is this short, tongue-in-cheek, ridiculously candy-coated pop tune. We didn't want to make this big, pretentious portrait video. We wanted to make fun of ourselves and the song." The video made its MTV debut on February 14, 1996, and quickly became a Buzz Bin clip.

"Big Me" was nominated for 5 MTV Video Music Awards at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, winning only "Best Group Video". The video, which parodies the Mentos ad campaign, was filmed on location in Sydney, Australia.

The video's success led to many fans throwing Mentos at the band whenever they played the song live. For an extended period of time, the band did not play the song live due to this, as Grohl cited: "We did stop playing that song for a while because, honestly, it's like being stoned. Those little … things are like pebbles – they hurt." The band only started to change its mind after Weezer started performing "Big Me" during the Foozer tour both bands did together.

Singles

CD single
  1. "Big Me"
  2. "Floaty (BBC Evening Session Recording 23 November 1995)"
  3. "Gas Chamber (BBC Evening Session Recording 23 November 1995)" (Angry Samoans cover)
  4. "Alone + Easy Target (BBC Evening Session Recording 23 November 1995)"
7" White Vinyl
  1. "Big Me"
  2. "Floaty (BBC Evenning Sessions Recording 23 November 1995)
  3. "Gas Chamber (BBC Evenning Sessions Recording 23 November 1995) (Angry Samoans cover)
Maxi CD single
  1. "Big Me"
  2. "Winnebago"
  3. "How I Miss You" (features Dave Grohl's sister Lisa on bass and Mike Nelson on drums)
  4. "Podunk"
  5. "Ozone" (Ace Frehley cover)
  6. "For All the Cows" (live at the Reading Festival, August 26, 1995)
  7. "Wattershed" (live at the Reading Festival, August 26, 1995)

Other versions

  • A version recorded at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, Netherlands on November 22, 1999 for the RTL 5/Kink FM 2 Meter Sessions programme was released on the CD1 version of the "Next Year" single.
  • An acoustic version recorded on August 2006 at Pantages Theatre was released on Skin and Bones.
  • A version recorded at the Live Room of Studio 606 West in Northridge, Los Angeles on September 5, 2007 for Walmart's Soundcheck series was released on the Maxi CD version of the "Long Road to Ruin" single. A video version is available on the Soundcheck website.
  • A Muzak version can be heard when Grohl first enters the elevator in the music video for "Monkey Wrench".

    • Covers

  • The song was covered by Sahara Hotnights in 2009 on their album Sparks.
  • After Weezer covered this song often during the 2005 Foozer tour, the band brought it back into their live lineup. It was played during the encore of their Echoes tour. An acoustic version of the song was released on the band's 2006 live CD, Skin and Bones. This version featured Dave singing the song with Petra Haden.
  • Canadian singer Kate Rogers covered the song on her 2005 record Seconds.
  • An easy listening version of the song by The Moog Cookbook was featured in the Grohl-directed video for their song "Monkey Wrench".
  • Mateo Messina composed an arrangement of the song for 2011 film Young Adult.

    • References

    Big Me Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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