| Last Cup of Sorrow | |
| Cover: | FNM - Last Cup Blue.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Faith No More |
| Album: | Album of the Year |
| Released: | August 5, 1997 |
| Recorded: | Brilliant Studios, San Francisco, CA |
| Genre: | Alternative metal |
| Length: | 4:12 |
| Label: | Slash Records |
| Producer: | Roli Mosimann Billy Gould |
| Prev Title: | Ashes to Ashes |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Stripsearch |
| Next Year: | 1997 |
"Last Cup of Sorrow" is the third track from Faith No More's sixth studio album Album of the Year. It was released as a single on August 5, 1997. It placed No. 14 on Mainstream Rock Tracks, No.62 on Australia Top 50, and No. 51 on UK Top 100. The artwork is in a similar style to the original poster art for Vertigo.
When asked about the song, Billy Gould replied:
The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, is based on Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film dealing with acrophobia.[1] Shooting occurred during 1997 in San Francisco, California.[2] It features the lead singer, Mike Patton dressed in the same outfit as James Stewart's character, trailing a blonde played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, respectively dressed the same as Vertigos female lead Madeleine. Many scenes are recreated from the film, 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 the famous Hitchcock Zoom and the psychedelic dream sequence.
The emphasis is mainly on parody, key moments including drummer Mike Bordin sweeping Mike Patton's head in the dream sequence with a broom (presumedly a reference to Vertigos scene where Midge is describing to Scottie that music can clear the cobwebs out of your head like a broom), bassist Billy Gould cross-dressing, Leigh's character being a black wigged sado-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".[3] CMJ called it one of Album of the Years "best pop songs" in July 1997.[4]
The liner notes for the 2003 compilation stated that the song took on "poetic grandeur" following the band's 1998 split.[5]
Consequence of Sound ranked it as the second-greatest Faith No More song in 2015, behind only "Midlife Crisis".[6] In his review for the 2016 deluxe edition of Album 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 from The Twilight Zone."[7]
"Blue Vertigo" cover
"Orange Vertigo" cover
Japanese track listing