Midlife Crisis

"Midlife Crisis" is an alternative metal song,^[1] which incorporates progressive rock and hip hop elements.^[2]

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"^[3] 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.^[3]

During production, the song was given the working title of "Madonna";^[4] this title was later maintained as a setlist name during live performances.^[5] The drum track for the song contains a sample of the first bar of the song "Cecilia", as performed by Simon and Garfunkel, repeated throughout.sample^ⓘ[6] The bridge features a sample of "Car Thief" by the Beastie Boys.

The music video for "Midlife Crisis" 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.

It was covered by American rock band Disturbed 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 to their fourth studio album Indestructible. This re-recorded version was released on Covered, A Revolution in Sound and remastered for a third release on their B-side compilation album The Lost Children.^[7]

In 2021, ex-Korn drummer David Silveria's band Breaking in a Sequence included a cover of "Midlife Crisis" on their debut EP.^[8]

• Mike Patton – vocals, samples
• Billy Gould – bass guitar
• Jim Martin – guitar
• Roddy Bottum – keyboards
• Mike Bordin – drums

• Number-one modern rock hits of 1992