"(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" is a song by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band

TISM TISM (an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist Eu ...

, released in June 1995 as the second single from their third studio album, '' Machiavelli and the Four Seasons''. The song peaked at number 23 on the ARIA Charts, becoming the band's highest charting single and polled at number 9 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1995 The band performed the song on the

RMITV RMITV is a not-for-profit, community access television production facility based at RMIT University City Campus in Melbourne, Australia. It is a full member of the Melbourne Community Television Consortium, a not-for-profit consortium that ...

show

Under Melbourne Tonight ''Under Melbourne Tonight'' was a weekly live variety hour television program produced by RMITV that broadcast on C31 Melbourne. Reaching a weekly viewership of 55,000 people each week, the show was reviewed in ''The Age''s Green Guide by Jim Sch ...

in April 1995. The track is a brutal takedown of celebrity worship, using the then-recent passing of

River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He ...

as its focus and contains the opening line, "I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix". Controversy surrounded the release of this track.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

' Australian-born bassist

Michael "Flea" Balzary Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), known professionally as Flea, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He is a founding member and bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea was born in Melbourne, Victoria; his f ...

(a close friend of Phoenix) reportedly left "wanting to kill" TISM. TISM addressed this controversy in 2004: "By the same token, Hitler-Barassi says, 'I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix', the line that famously enraged Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, 'wasn't about River Phoenix at all. That song was about fame, and the people listed in it weren't even real celebrities." The single was issued with a second "pills" cover after a version depicting a mockup of Phoenix's tombstone was withdrawn.

Track list

CD single (G003) # "(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" - 2:25 # "Abscess Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" - 2:47 # "Dicktatorship" - 2:00

Personnel

Damian Cowell Damian ( la, links=no, Damianus) may refer to: *Damian (given name) *Damian (surname) *Damian Subdistrict, in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China See also *Damiani, an Italian surname *Damiano (disambiguation) *Damien (disambiguation) *Dam ...

- lead vocals (choruses) *

Peter Minack Peter Carl Minack (born in 1961 or 1962) is an Australian teacher of English. He was known by his stage name Ron Hitler-Barassi when he was the vocalist for the alternative rock band TISM between 1983 and 2004. Under his own name he published ...

- lead vocals (verses) * Jack Holt - bass * James Paull - electric guitar * Eugene Cester - keyboards

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River 1995 singles TISM songs Songs about death Songs about heroin 1995 songs Satirical songs