 As the acoustic tour made Grohl realize " we were making music worth listening to , rather than music made for pummelling the person next to you " he decided to give more importance to the lyrics and " have a connection with the crowd in front of us " , considering that among the many compositions the band made on pre @-@ production " the ones that stand out are the ones that say something " . So for the first time the lyrics started being written before recording begun , with Grohl stating that he " sat in the back of the studio and just wrote every day for about 14 hours a day . " Most of the lyrics of the album deal with themes of birth , death and life , which Grohl attributed to the birth of his daughter Violet , considering that having a child " changes your entire outlook on the world " , and that he was suddenly more emotional - " So when you 're writing music with that in mind or that in your heart , everything just blooms into this fucking incredibly colourful , colourful feeling . " Helped by the extensive lyrical preparation , the lyrics also tried to show more of Grohl 's feelings , " those things that you 've always wanted to do or always wanted to say " , with Hawkins adding that he could not listen to " Stranger Things Have Happened " as " I 'm one of his best friends , and the last thing I want to do is read a love letter to his wife or whoever it is . " 
