| "Last Cup of Sorrow" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byFaith No More | ||||
| from the albumAlbum of the Year | ||||
| Released | August 5, 1997 (1997-08-05) | |||
| Genre | Alternative metal | |||
| Length | 4:12 | |||
| Label | Slash | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| Faith No More singles chronology | ||||
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"Last Cup of Sorrow" is the third track fromFaith No More's sixth studio albumAlbum of the Year. It was released as a single on August 5, 1997. It placed No. 14 onMainstream Rock Tracks, No.62 onAustralia Top 50, and No. 51 onUK Top 100. The artwork is in a similar style to the original poster art forVertigo.
When asked about the song,Billy Gould replied:
Mike can do a lot of wild things with his voice, for one. But, yeah, he sang through an oldTelefunken tube mic, and we compressed the living shit out of it.[2]
The idea for the music video originated from directorJoseph Kahn, and is based onAlfred Hitchcock'sVertigo, a film dealing withacrophobia, which the band were fans of.[3] In a June 28, 1997 issue ofBillboard, Kahn said "I always thoughtVertigo had an interesting music-video feel to it because of the rich graphics in the film."[4] Kahn was chosen from a list of directors who had submitted ideas to the band. In a July 6, 1997 interview onMTV's120 Minutes program, bassistBilly Gould said that Kahn's ideas for the video were similar to ideas that they had.[5]
Shooting occurred during mid-1997 inSan Francisco,California.[6] It features the lead singer,Mike Patton dressed in the same outfit asJames Stewart's character, trailing a blonde played by film actressJennifer Jason Leigh, respectively dressed the same asVertigo's female lead Madeleine. The band didn't know Jennifer Jason Leigh, and she appeared in the video since they heard she wanted to be in it, with the band meeting her for the first time during the day of the shoot.[5] Kahn said in the June 1997Billboard interview that "the idea of Mike Patton playing Jimmy Stewart seemed funny to me. Basically you're taking this really subversive person and putting him in this clean, sterile, technicolor '50s world, yet pieces of the subversiveness of his persona keep coming through this world. It's like blending an old film with this totally weird '90s type of guy."[4] Many scenes are also recreated from theVertigo, such as the opening rooftop sequence, Madeleine's plunge into San Francisco bay, Mike moving up and down a stepladder, the belltower sequence complete with thefamous Hitchcock Zoom and the psychedelic dream sequence.
The emphasis is mainly on parody, key moments including drummerMike Bordin sweeping Mike Patton's head in the dream sequence with a broom (presumedly a reference toVertigo's scene where Midge is describing to Scottie that music can clear the cobwebs out of your head like a broom), bassistBilly Gould cross-dressing, Leigh's character being a black wiggedsado-masochist, and Leigh fainting when she sees a shadowy figure in the tower, which ends up being drummer Mike Bordin, who at the end of the video casually starts eating a bagel.
NME said in June 1997 that the song had "robo-vocals" and "funk-spikiness".[7]CMJ called it one ofAlbum of the Year's "best pop songs" in July 1997.[8]
The liner notes for the 2003 compilationThis Is It: The Best of Faith No More stated that the song took on "poetic grandeur" following the band's 1998 split.[9]
Consequence of Sound ranked it as the second-greatest Faith No More song in 2015, behind only "Midlife Crisis".[10] In his review for the 2016 deluxe edition ofAlbum of the Year, MXDWN's Sean Hall called the song a "roller coaster ride", remarking, "a bell section that sounds surprisingly like wind chimes functions as a lifesaver to which the listener clings to get themselves through the aggressive guitars, dark bass and creepy vocals, which sound as if they are coming through a radio fromThe Twilight Zone."[11]
"Blue Vertigo" cover
"Orange Vertigo" cover
Japanese track listing
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[12] | 66 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] | 32 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[14] | 51 |
| USMainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] | 14 |
