Monkey Wrench | Chords + Lyrics (drop D tuning)
Intro
||: B | B F#5 | E | E (D5) N.C :|| N.C |
Verse 1
||: B5 | B5 F#5 | E5 | E5 (D5) N.C :||
What have we done with innocence?
It disappeared with time, it never made much sense.
Adolescent resident.
Wasting another night on planning my revenge.
Bridge 1
| E5 | E5 (D5) N.C |
One in ten.
| E5 | E5 (D5) N.C |
One in ten.
| E5 | E5 |
One in ten.
Chorus 1
||: B5 | G#5 | F#5 E5 | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C5 :||
Don’t wanna be your monkey wrench.
One more indecent accident.
I’d rather leave than suffer this.
I’ll never be your monkey wrench.
Instrumental 1
| B | B F#5 | E | E (D5) |
| B | B F#5 | E | E (D5) N.C |
Verse 2
All this time to make amends,
what do you do when all your enemies are friends?
Now and then I’ll try to bend,
under pressure, wind up snapping in the end.
Bridge 2
||: One in ten :|| x3
Chorus 2
Don’t wanna be your monkey wrench.
One more indecent accident.
I’d rather leave than suffer this.
I’ll never be your monkey wrench.
Middle 8
||: G#5 E5 B5 | G5 | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 :|| x3
||: Temper :|| x3
||: G#5 E5 B5 | G5 | F#5 E5 | F#5 E5 |
| F#5 E5 F#5 E5 | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C5 |
Verse 3
One last thing before I quit, I never wanted any more than,
I could fit into my head, I still remember every single,
word you said and all the shit that somehow came along with it, still,
there’s one thing that comforts me, since I was always caged and now I’m free.
Instrumental 2 (as bridge)
||: E5 | E5 (D5) N.C :||
| E5 | E5 |
Chorus 3
Don’t wanna be your monkey wrench.
One more indecent accident.
I’d rather leave than suffer this.
I’ll never be your monkey wrench.
Outro
||: B5 | B5 F#5 | E5 | E5 (D5) :|| x3
||: Don’t wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out). :|| x3
| B5 | B5 F#5 | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C5 | B5 N.C |
Don’t wanna be your monkey wrench.
Monkey Wrench Chords: How Tritone Substitution and Drop D Drive the Foo Fighters Classic
First of all, drop the low E string to a D (you can use my free online tuner for this).
The intro, verse, instrumental 1, and outro sections all revolve around a riff that moves from B5 (chord I) to E5 (chord IV). Just before the E5, we hit an F#5 on beat 4, then move between E5 and D5.
In the chord and lyric chart above, it’s not obvious that the F#5 lands on beat 4, to clarify the movement of the D5, I’ve put it in brackets like this:
||: B5 | B5 F#5 | E5 | E5 (D5) N.C :||
There’s a stop before looping this riff—except during the outro, where it plays continuously.
The bridge and instrumental 2 section reuse the final two bars of that riff:
||: E5 | E5 (D5) N.C :||
| E5 | E5 |
The chorus introduces new chords. Using Roman numerals, it looks like this:
||: B5 (I) | G#5 (VI) |
| F#5 (V) E5 (IV) | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C5 (bIIx) :||
That final C5 is a tritone substitution. I’ve labelled it bIIx, as that’s the most straightforward way to represent its function.
Next is the middle 8, which is mostly instrumental. The chords are:
||: G#5 (VI) E5 (IV) B5 (I) | G5 (bVIx) | F#5 (V) E5 F#5 E5 :|| x4
| F#5 E5 F#5 E5 | F#5 E5 F#5 E5 C5 (bIIx) |
There’s plenty of tension here—especially from the bVIx chord, which holds for a full bar. This kind of extreme tension works similarly to chords like bVIIx and bIIIx.
Finally, the outro mirrors the chorus but uses the verse progression instead.
The video guitar lesson above breaks down the key riffs from Monkey Wrench. Memorise those first, then use the lyrics, chords, and chord chart below to navigate through the full arrangement.
Monkey Wrench Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
You can download my chord chart as a PDF, or if you wnat to mess with the layout, use the iReal Pro format.
Foo Fighters is the only major band where the guitar riffs are written by a drummer
Monkey Wrench was released as a single from the band’s second album, The Colour and the Shape.
The tight, rhythmically driven guitar riffs lock in seamlessly with the drums, propelling the song forward. This style of arrangement highlights Dave Grohl’s genius for writing rock riffs—even though he’s best known as a drummer.
It’s worth comparing this approach to bands like Rage Against The Machine, Blink-182, and Green Day—all of whom write from a guitarist’s perspective.
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