"Midlife Crisis" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

. 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.

Music and lyrics

"Midlife Crisis" is an

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

song, which incorporates

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

elements. Mike Patton has denied that the song is about having a

midlife crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 45 to 65 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...

, 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"Q30 on the FAQ
on the

website and that:

Production

During production, the song was given the working title of "Madonna"; this title was later maintained as a

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

name during live performances. The drum track for the song contains a sample of the first bar of the song "

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for g ...

", as performed by

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

, repeated throughout.Q40 on the FAQ
on the

website The bridge features a sample of "

Car Thief Motor vehicle theft or car theft (also known as a grand theft auto in the United States) is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle. In 2020, there were 810,400 vehicles reported stolen in the United States, up fro ...

" by the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

Music video

The video for this song was directed by

Kevin Kerslake Kevin Kerslake is an American filmmaker, photographer, and music video director. He has directed documentaries on Joan Jett ('' Bad Reputation''), DJ AM (''As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM''), The Ramones ('' We're Outta Here!''), Nirvana ...

, who also directed their shoestring video for the song "

Everything's Ruined "Everything's Ruined" is a song from American rock band Faith No More's fourth studio album, ''Angel Dust (Faith No More album), Angel Dust'' (1992), and the final single to be released from the album's original track listing. The single was rel ...

". 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 Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

, known as " quartering") – the censored version uses additional shots of choirboys running to a large cross instead. Singer

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock bands Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. He has also fronted and/or played with Tomahawk, The ...

can also be seen dancing around holding a

spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...

. 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.

Appearances and covers

"Midlife Crisis" has featured on the soundtrack for the videogames ''

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'' is a 2004 skateboarding video game from Activision, the sixth entry in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series after ''Tony Hawk's Underground'' (2003). It was developed by Neversoft released on October 4, 2004 in the U.S. for the ...

'' and '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' on the fictional radio station Radio X. It is a master track song on ''

Rock Band 3 ''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, on October 26, 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on Novembe ...

'', with the fade-out ending edited for gameplay reasons. The song has been covered on

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band

Bile Bile (from Latin ''bilis''), also known as gall, is a yellow-green/misty green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water, is pro ...

's 2002 album '' The Copy Machine''. It was covered by American rock band

Disturbed Disturbed may refer to: Books * ''Disturbed'', a 2011 novel by Kevin O'Brien (author) Film and TV * ''Disturbed'' (film), a 1990 film starring Malcolm McDowell * "Disturbed" (''Numb3rs''), a 2009 episode of ''Numb3rs'' * "The Disturbed", a 20 ...

twice: the first time for a Faith No More tribute album, which was instead released through the Internet; the second time as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their fourth studio album '' Indestructible''. This re-recorded version was released on ''

Covered, A Revolution in Sound ''Covered, A Revolution in Sound'' is a tribute album produced and released by Warner Bros. Records to commemorate its 50th anniversary as a record label. The album consists of some of the greatest hits from previous and current artists from th ...

'' and remastered for a third release on their B-side compilation album '' The Lost Children''. In 2021, ex-

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

drummer

David Silveria David Randall Silveria (born September 21, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the original drummer for nu metal band Korn from 1993 until leaving the band in 2006. He then became the drummer for Infinika, which was formed in 2012 and ...

's band Breaking in a Sequence included a cover of "Midlife Crisis" on their debut EP.

Track listings

Personnel

– vocals, samples *

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Gould was born on April 24, 1963, in Los Angeles, and he is of Scottish and Hungarian desce ...

– bass guitar * Jim Martin – guitar *

Roddy Bottum Roswell Christopher Bottum (born July 1, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist for the San Francisco alternative metal band Faith No More. He is also guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the pop group Imperial Teen, best know ...

– keyboards *

Mike Bordin Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...

– drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

cassette single page* AllMusic CD single page {{Authority control 1992 singles Faith No More songs Songs written by Billy Gould Songs written by Roddy Bottum Songs written by Mike Patton Songs written by Jim Martin (musician) Songs written by Mike Bordin 1992 songs Slash Records singles Fiction about midlife crisis Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake