Audiobooks and Dave Grohl
Right, it was promised that I, Elle, would go back through my clips from Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music and highlight some of the things that touched me personally as I listened to the audiobook. But before I do that, let’s talk about audiobooks for a minute.
In previous episodes we’ve spoken about audiobooks and how these can be a successful way to help meet your reading goals, enjoy a new book or get you out of your reading slump - which is something I regularly find myself in.
We’ve both come to enjoy the experience, listening more specifically to memoirs (although I have dabbled in a few more genres). There’s something about hearing a person’s story in their own voice, it’s almost as if they’re expressing themselves or recounting their anecdotes to you personally, and why wouldn’t you want to hear it directly from the source's mouth? Having stories read to you can be a bonding experience. My friend had the entire Harry Potter series read to her by her sister and Grohl even recounts the time that Joan Jett read bedtime stories to his young daughter (how cool!) It can also help provide context that you might sometimes miss by just reading it… we’ll get to that in our episode on Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People.
However, sometimes you might not always vibe with an audiobook, finding yourself a little disappointed by the experience. For us, we had that with The Storyteller. Please don’t get us wrong, we are massive fans of the Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl but the way the book is structured didn’t quite work for our listening experience and in this case, maybe we were better off reading the book. Not reading the book meant we missed out on the pictures!
Anyway, let’s get back to the clips, because there’s plenty of nuggets of gold here and I did promise to share them with you. So without further ado…
On life as an education - Chapter 6. You’d Better Be Good (02:30:23 - 02:30:53)
“You see the climate and geography change with every state line. These are indeed things that cannot be learned from an old school book under the cold classroom lights. They must be seen, heard and felt in person to be truly appreciated. The education I was getting out here on the road proved to be far more valuable to me then any algebra or biology test I had ever failed, because I was discovering life first hand, learning social and survival skills I still rely on to this day”
Next to this clip I wrote “interesting Will and Dave have the same outlook on education”.
Funnily enough both Will and Dave’s mums were educators placing an importance on academia. Education is a big theme in Will Smith’s memoir Will. However, Smith found that the education he experienced when he pursued a music career after leaving school was much more valuable. Similarly, Dave Grohl dropped out of highschool and views his time on the road in those early years, equally as valuable as any formal education. The school of life often has lessons that cannot be learned in a book.
On parental relationships - Chapter 22, The Daddy Daughter Dance - (09:35:17 - 09:35:47)
“Perhaps I love so fiercely as a father because mine could not…I firmly believe that your understanding or version of love is learned by example from day one and it becomes your divining rod in life, for better or worse. A foundation for all meaningful relationships to stand upon. I surely have my mother to thank for mine. I love my children as I was loved as a child and I pray that they will do the same when their time comes. Some cycles are meant to be broken, some are meant to be reinforced.”
On Taylor Hawkins - Conclusion: Another Step in the Crosswalk (10:05:13 -10:05:43)
"Tearing through the room like an F5 tornado of hyperactive joy was Taylor Hawkins, my brother from another mother, my best friend, a man from whom I would take a bullet. Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we played together. I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical 'twin flame' that still burns to this day. Together, we have become an unstoppable duo, onstage and off, in pursuit of any and all adventure we can find. We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime."
Next to this clip I wrote: I’m not crying, you are!
Other highlights include, a hilarious tale of Grohl getting a criminal record in the land Down Under in Chapter 17: Down Under DUI and a must do activity when you visit New Orleans. (Sorry I can't remember the chapter for that one.)