Last Cup Of Sorrow

Album: Album Of The Year (1997)
Charted: 51
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The overall theme is to let go of conflicts or problems of the past and just "Get on your way." It could also imply that hanging on to your past sorrows like divorce, breakups, materialism, and unrealized goals can eventually leave you in a crippled state of confusion later in life; hence the verse, "Everything you know and never knew... will run through your fingers just like sand." Finishing your "last" cup of sorrow is a way of moving into the future and leaving your problems where they should be - in the past.
  • The video, in many ways, is very different from the song's contents. Directed by Joseph Kahn, it features lead singer Mike Patton dressed as a private investigator who's hired to shadow a beautiful blonde played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. The video is based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie Vertigo, and features a scene in which Leigh's character has the bejesus scared out of her upon seeing the band's drummer coming into the bell tower of a cathedral. In the movie, the original character sees the silhouette of a nun in the bell tower, mistakenly taking it for a ghost or apparition, and jumps to her death. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Dylan - Meridian, NE, for above 2

Comments: 2

  • Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganAn...oddly inspirational tune from Patton and the boys. I love it!
  • Jake from Sydney, Australiathe "cup of sorrows" is a tarot card
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Eagles Lyrics Quiz

Eagles Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Lots of life lessons in these Eagles lyrics - can you match them to the correct song?

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.