Midlife Crisis is a song by the rock band Faith No More. It was released on May 25, 1992, as the first single from their fourth album, Angel Dust. It became their only number one hit on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. Midlife Crisis is an alternative metal song, which incorporates progressive rock and hip hop elements.
Mike Patton has denied that the song is about having a midlife crisis, as he did not know what one would feel like, but says that “it’s more about creating false emotion, being emotional, dwelling on your emotions and in a sense inventing them” and that:
The song is based on a lot of observation and a lot of speculation. But in sort of a pointed way it’s kind of about Madonna… I think it was a particular time where I was being bombarded with her image on TV and in magazines and her whole shtick kind of speaks to me in that way… like she’s going through some sort of problem. It seems she’s getting a bit desperate.
Tracklist:
- Midlife Crisis (The Scream Mix)
- Jizzlobber
- Crack Hitler
- Midnight Cowboy
The video for this song was directed by Kevin Kerslake, who also directed their shoestring video for the song Everything’s Ruined. The version on the Who Cares a Lot?: The Greatest Videos collection is uncensored and contains shots during the bridge which show a man being stretched by four horses (alluding to an old punishment for regicide, known as “quartering”) the censored version uses additional shots of choirboys running to a large cross instead. Singer Mike Patton can also be seen dancing around holding a spade. For the video, the sound mix of this song is slightly different than the album version (on certain promotional releases it is referred to as ‘The Scream Mix’). For the DVD re release of Who Cares a Lot?: The Greatest Videos, the album version of the song is used instead, with the accommodating edits made.
Faith No More
Mike Patton: vocals, samples
Billy Gould: bass guitar
Jim Martin: guitar
Roddy Bottum: keyboards
Mike Bordin: drums
