Last Man on Earth

Album: Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Welcome 2 My Nightmare was recorded with longtime Alice collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original Welcome To My Nightmare album in 1975 as well as 10 other albums in the rocker's catalog. Ezrin and the veteran rocker also wrote this track together.
  • Cooper told the story of the song in an interview with Classic Rock Revisited: "Bob and I learned a long time ago that when you start writing a song, and it starts developing it's own personality; you just have to let it be what it is. You can't try to force a round peg in a square hole. Just write the song, see what it ends up being and then see if it works. You can't start trying to twist it into what you want it to be. Bob and I started writing this song, "Last Man On Earth" and it ended up being a Tom Waits song – I sing it somewhere between Tom Waits and Jimmy Durante. When I saw Tom at the Hall of Fame I said, 'Tom, this is going to sound weird, but I've always been a big fan of yours. I have written a new song that, coincidentally, is a tip of the hat to you. When you hear it, you will know which song I am talking about.'

    That song really ended up coming out well and it really fit the story line well. It reminds of that old Twilight Zone with Burgess Meredith where he ends up in the basement because of an atomic explosion. When he finally goes upstairs, he's now got all of the books in the world but he then breaks his glasses and now he can't read them. That was kind of this idea. Alice is the last man on earth. He can stink, he can swear and he can do anything he wants to do because there is no one there to tell him 'yes' or 'no'."

Comments: 1

  • John from Pittsburgh, Pathere's also a horror movie called this name... one of the best in the 60's.. thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2012/09/top-horror-films-1960s-0
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Melanie

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.

Yacht Rock Quiz

Yacht Rock QuizFact or Fiction

Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.

Sugarland

SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Meet the "sassy basket" with the biggest voice in country music.

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.