Friend Of A Friend

k…this might be a little long, but many explanations I’ve read frustrate me. this song is about the three band members, and what it was like for Dave to be put in a situation like this. he has said that when he first joined the band, he lived with krist. after a while of living with krist, it became too depressing and gross for him, so he moved in with kurt. he would "...stay up till the sun came up and sleep all day" while living with kurt, and eventually began to write songs. this being one of them.

“he needs a quiet room with a lock to keep him in its just a quiet room and hes there”

I think that this first verse has been split into two halves, and this first part is about kurt. Dave observed kurt a lot while living with him, and it didn’t take long for him to be inspired to write a song about the three of them, so it would make sense for such a strong group of lyrics to be about kurt. Not to mention, this sounds like kurt.

"he plays an old guitar with a coin found by the phone it was his friends guitar".

my guess is that the first verse is about dave himself, since he had no guitar, and he was writing songs on one. he said on the skin and bones dvd that he had written that song on the guitar, and seeing as he didn't have a guitar, and lived with kurt, it would've been kurt's.

“hes never been in love but he knows just what love is he says nevermind and no one speaks”

I think this verse is split in half as well, with this half being about kurt. I don’t think that nevermind could’ve been a reference to the record, seeing as how it wasn’t out when this song was written. Kurt had been in one serious relationship by this point, and had some un-official relationships going at this time with a couple of girls. In a biography, it is observed that kurt wanted the kind of family life with a stable relationship and love that is referenced in this verse; but it was often hard for kurt to find this. So maybe when “he says nevermind”, it means that he’s given up.

“he thinks he drinks too much cause when he tells his two best friends i think i drink too much no one speaks”

this verse must be about krist, since krist was a drinker. I think the three band members had a silent friendship, especially with kurt’s personality in the mix, so the “no one speaks” refrain probably refers to this silent assurance that could’ve come from “his two best friends”.

And then the first verse, which like I said is most likely about dave, is repeated, and is a very nice conclusion to an great song. Dave said that writing this song (or maybe marigold) was the first time he ever picked up a guitar to write an acoustic song, and it came out beautifully.

"Yes, I'd just moved in with Kurt. I didn't know anybody. I had a drum set packed in one box and flew up there. I would stay up till the sun came up and sleep all day. Olympia, Washington, is f**king depressing enough and I was living with this person that I didn't know. But he had a four-track so I wrote songs: Marigold and Friend Of A Friend. It was an observation of Kurt and Krist and I." - Dave Grohl

This song is obviously about Cobain...

This song is very haunting...

The music sounds like a slowed-down "Big Me", doesn't it?

So many of these comments seem overly focused on Kurt Cobain and the writers personal opinion of the relationship between Kurt and Dave, or the 'way Kurt was'. This to me is overanalysing. I understand that Dave wrote the song about how it was to join the band but that doesn't mean the song is about Kurt. The lyrics strike me as being autobiographical. 'He' in the song is Dave himself. He describes a feeling a lonliness and isolation while playing a borrowed guitar (Kurt's guitar). The fact that 'no one speaks' when he makes observations of himself could mean that his friends silently agree. It also serves to heighten the lonley mood of the song - there is a lack of connection between him and his friends in the song.

In addition, it seems artificial to apply the lyrics to Kurt in retrospect. Yeah Kurt was tortured but who isn't? Not having been in love but knowing what love is... this line is so personal I cannot buy that it is an observation of Kurt but rather Dave's personal experience with love and lonliness.

this song is found on dave grohls pocketwatch demo's, and is a great little acoustic number. simply speaking i tik its about a guy that plays the guitar when he is lonely.

beaultiful song!You can feel how this guy is lonely, quiet and just want a quiet room, a guitar and a beer... his friends know that doesn't advance to give advices to him beacause he just doesn't care...hehe Dave Grohl is the best...:)

I think I'm right in saying that this will be appearing on the acoustic cd of In Your Honour? I hope it will be a re-recorded one. Not that this one isn't awexome, but you never know if things can be made better..

yup you were right Topato, its on disc 2. what a fantastic song...

I had a feeling when I first heard this song a few years ago that it was about himself, Kurt and Krist. I suppose that makes sense.

According to an interview for IYH, I guess this was the first song that he wrote on the acoustic with lyrics. I'm really happy that it made it onto an album finally after 15 or so years.

great song, I love it.

This is a great acoustic song, very mellow, and it's beautiful. It describes his relationship well with Kurt and Krist. I'm very happy to see this on the new album.