Stacked Actors

"Stacked Actors"
Single by Foo Fighters
from the album There Is Nothing Left to Lose
Released January 17, 2000
Format CD
Recorded 1999
Genre Hard rock, grunge, alternative metal
Length 4:16
Label Roswell/RCA
Writer(s) Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel and Taylor Hawkins
Foo Fighters singles chronology
"Learn to Fly"
(1999)		 "Stacked Actors"
(2000)		 "Generator"
(2000)

"Stacked Actors" is a Foo Fighters song which was released as a single from their third album There Is Nothing Left to Lose in 2000. It was only released as a limited edition commercial single in Australia exclusively, however radio promotional singles were released in other countries for radio airplay.[1]

The song is a playable track in the game Guitar Hero: Metallica and as downloadable content for Rock Band 3.

Background

Having spent recent years living in Hollywood, Dave Grohl retreated home to his native Virginia to write and record the band's new album in a more relaxed environment. The resulting album, and "Stacked Actors" in particular, emerged as a reaction against the fakeness of the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle.

Composition

Unlike many of the songs from that album, the song is very abrasive, sharp and distorted. The song is written in the key of A minor and uses an alternative version of Drop A tuning (AADGBE for the guitars and AADG for bass guitar). This tuning was later re-used on "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I", "Caligulove" and "Warsaw Or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up" by Them Crooked Vultures.

Lyrics

Dave Grohl on the song:

"'Stacked Actors' is a response to living in Hollywood for about a year and a half, and my disdain and disgust of everything plastic and phony, which is the foundation of that city. And I just hated it. I had a lot of fun, but I had a lot of fun hating it."[2]
"I wrote 'Stacked Actors' about everything that is fake and everything that is plastic and glamorous and unreal, so if that pertains to anyone that comes to mind then there you go."
"It's about having nothing better to do than trying to be other people, it really grossed me out. Actors, just in general make me fucking sick."
"Living in Hollywood always seemed transitional to me. Truth be told, I fucking hated Hollywood, hated the whole life, hated most of the people we met. That's what I'm saying in 'Stacked Actors'."[3]

On The Howard Stern Show, December 9, 1999, Courtney Love claimed the song was written about her.

Live performances

On September 3, 1999, the Foo Fighters played a secret gig at the Troubador in Los Angeles playing using the pseudo band name Stacked Actors.[4] The gig was intended as a warm up for the band's newly recruited guitarist Chris Shiflett.

"Stacked Actors" was one of the band's live staples, being played at virtually every gig up until about 2012. The live version is usually quite a bit longer than the album, due to a lot of improvisation.

Track listing

  1. "Stacked Actors"
  2. "Ain't It the Life" (Live Acoustic at 2 Meter Session 22 Nov 1999)
  3. "Floaty" (Live Acoustic at 2 Meter Session 22 Nov 1999)

Other Versions

Chart positions

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[7][8] 82
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[9] 9
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[10] 25

References

  1. ↑ "Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  2. ↑ "Foo Fighters: New Guitarist, New Album". SwayMag.com. 1999.
  3. ↑ "There Is Nothing Left To Lose : Dave Grohl's Guide To Every Song". Foo Archive. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  4. ↑ "Dave Grohl: "Foo Fighters", "Nirvana" and Other Misadventures ". by Martin James, Independent Music Press (September 29, 2003).
  5. ↑ "Foo Fighters - Generator (Exclusive Australian EP)". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  6. ↑ "Foo Fighters - Everywhere But Home". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  7. ↑ "ariaNET The Chart! Top 100 Singles – Week Commencing 7th February 2000". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  8. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  9. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Foo Fighters. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Foo Fighters – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Foo Fighters. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
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