Foo Fighters Lucid Dream Through One Of Michel Gondry’s Best On ‘Everlong’
I’ve written before about how director Michel Gondry is one of the defining music video directors of his generation for how he is able to execute on these larger than life dreamscapes that tow the line between reality and the absurd. Never truly spilling over into a big enough parody that the ideas are ever too unbelievable or that you are unable to buy into them. One of Gondry’s biggest hits was his video for the 1997 Foo Fighters song ‘Everlong’.
There are people out there who see Foo Fighters as everything from an unlikely success story, having essentially spun-off from one of the biggest bands ever in Nirvana, to the darlings of Modern Rock radio (complement & pejorative). But what can’t be denied is that when they land on a hit song, they have all the tools to knock it out of the park. There’s a reason even most detractors have to just take the L and admit that ‘Everlong’ deserves every bit of praise it’s received over the years.
The fact that Gondry felt inspired to turn in some of his finest work here is no coincidence. ‘Everlong’ chugs along with a certain type of energy that ramps up and back down in a way that perfectly compliments Gondry’s core idea of the band being caught up in some kind of lucid dream.
Because Michel Gondry loves a good juggling act, we get both Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (playing Grohl’s girlfriend) sleeping in a bed together, in black & white. Meanwhile, we see both of them in Grohl’s dream, dressed as Sid & Nancy (of Sex Pistols fame) as Hawkins is hassled by some British Teddy Boys. We also cut away to Hawkins’ dream, where they are alone in a cabin about to be attacked by the intruding Teddy Boys from Grohl’s dream, as Dave is collecting firewood in the forest.
Somewhere in the middle, we have Dream Grohl climbing into a giant telephone, waking up in the real world and getting a phone call from Hawkins in their dream. Grohl going back in his dream to save them, and merging into Hawkins’ dream via a truly great dissolve effect of legs on a bed dissolving into a pile of firewood (which then turn into nunchucks).
It’s details like objects appearing larger in the dream world or great transition effects that truly sell Gondry’s idea of a completely lucid, connected dream.
There’s another great bit of dream logic where, at separate points in the video, Grohl realizes he’s in a dream and can do whatever he wants. So he makes his hand grow ten times its size and beats up the bad guys. He could have done anything. But it’s Gondry’s affection for the surreal that saves the day.
Credit to Foo Fighters for always seeming up for a great idea. Many times that willingness to be silly results in a video that is just as wacky. But Michel Gondry knows just the right tone to settle in on to turn what could have been something a bit too ridiculous and end up with something in ‘Everlong’ that provokes just as much emotion as the song itself.
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