Brompton Cocktail

Album: Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song tells the story of a terminally ill patient who wants to die. He asks his doctor to administer a lethal injection known as a "Brompton Cocktail" - a mix of morphine, heroine and cocaine. The song raises the issue of a person's right to die. By this time, assisted suicide was legal in some states, but not many.

Comments: 8

  • Branden from Orange Park, Fl Brompton's cocktail — is an elixir meant for use as a pain suppressant, and dosed for prophylaxis. Made from morphine or diacetylmorphine (heroin), cocaine, highly-pure ethyl alcohol (some recipes specify gin), and sometimes with chlorpromazine (Thorazine) to counteract nausea, it was given to terminally-ill individuals (especially cancer patients) to relieve pain and promote sociability near death. A common formulation included "a variable amount of morphine, 10 mg of cocaine, 2.5 mL of 98% ethyl alcohol, 5 mL of syrup BP and a variable amount of chloroform water.
    basically what everyone is saying it was a overdose. rev was family to a7x because rev wrote most of the nightmare album. In my opinion he was the best drummer for avenged sevenfold but I am proud to say they did a amazing job continuing without him... RIP JIMMY "THE REV" A7X4LIFE!
  • Jessi from Detroit, MiMallory- He did die from an overdose of drugs and alcohol. The drugs were mix of pain and stress relievers, which he took with alcohol. It is true that he had an enlarged heart, but not all the drugs he overdosed were part of his prescription. My personal opinion is that he committed suicide, after listening to the song "Death", later renamed "Fiction". He wrote and did a demo for this song, two days before his death.
  • Mallory from Hunington Beach , Ca@katharine No, He did not die from overdose and alcohol. When he was born he had an enlarged heart. Before his death he had surgy on his eyes and was taking the right amount of medicine for it. The medicane was to much for his heart and it stopped beating.
  • Jeff from Philadelphia, PaSounded more to me like a song about a "suicide doctor"
  • Katharine from Kent, United KingdomJay- nope, he died from overdose of prescription drugs mixed with alcohol. But that doesnt really matter.
    I love this song, even my mum likes it, we were listening through the album and she didnt like it very much and then brompton cocktail came on and she thought it was awesome, of course its awesome, The Rev wrote it!
  • Jay from Atlanta, GaThe ingredients to a Brompton Cocktail are eerily similar to the Rev's Toxicology report
  • Justin from Lawrincville, Gatruly an amazing song when u read word for word of it
  • Alan from The Meadow Of Rainbows, United KingdomThis is quite a good song but not their best.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

U2

U2Fact or Fiction

How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up Musicians

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up MusiciansSong Writing

Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.

Gary Louris of The Jayhawks

Gary Louris of The JayhawksSongwriter Interviews

The Jayhawks' song "Big Star" has special meaning to Gary, who explains how longevity and inspiration have trumped adulation.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.