YouTube, @Foo Fighters.

It’s one of the greatest songs in music history, with over 452 million spins on the most popular streaming app alone. We’ve all heard it, and many of us love it. But do you know the story behind the Foo Fighters‘ classic, “Everlong“?

Dave Grohl talked recently about how the song came about in a cool behind-the-music video. He thinks it was written during the winter of 1996, which was when the Foos were making their second album, The Colour and the Shape. He had some down-time during a studio session and was noodling on a chord that he doesn’t know the name of, but it reminded him of Sonic Youth. It ended up being the opening chord of “Everlong”. He was in the middle of a break-up, and in an emotional state, so the lyrics were deeply personal and real. Dave also provides a bit of insight into his guitar-writing process, and how he crafts songs and riffs. Since he’s a drummer, he sees the guitar similar to how he sees a drum set. There are upper parts vs. lower parts of a guitar, which his brain sees as parallel to a high hat vs. snare drum. And when he plays different notes or chords on the guitar, his brain processes them like different drums on a drum set. Very interesting!