Go on and wring my neck
Like when a rag gets wet
A little discipline
For my pet genius
My head is like lettuce
Go on dig your thumbs in
I cannot stop giving
I'm thirty-something

Sense of security
Like pockets jingling
Midlife crisis
Suck ingenuity
Down through the family tree

You're perfect yes, it's true
But without me you're only you
Your menstruating heart
It ain't bleedin' enough for two

It's a midlife crisis...

What an inheritance
The salt and the kleenex
Morbid self attention
Bending my pinky back
A little discipline
A donor by habit
A little discipline
Rent an opinion

Sense of security
Holding blunt instrument
Midlife crisis
I'm a perfectionist
And perfect is a skinned knee

You're perfect yes it's true
But without me you're only you
Your menstruating heart
It ain't bleedin' enough for two

It's a midlife crisis...



Lyrics submitted by jt

Track duration: 04:20


Midlife Crisis song meanings
Add your thoughts

49 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:you douchebags who think this song is about wacking off got it all wrong. Just because FNM wrote one song about masterbation doesn't mean all their songs mean that in some way. The same can be said for songs from other groups like Green Day for example. When you get to be 30yrs old, you find yourself with family and dependants and a wholedont have new world right in front of you that you gotta face, no choice about it. Sense of security? only when you feel you have a little money left over from working your ass off to support your family, even if its just change in your pocket. Holding blunt instrument? Just when you feel youre losing it you might have a suicidal thought now and then, and since youre not really serious about killing yourself and dont have a gun, you may find something like a kitchen knife and make the considerations. A little dicipline? That's what you tell yourself you need after the previous thoughts and mindset. My pet genius? --Convince yourself youre smart enough to figure it all out. Not bleeding enought for two is self explanatory, being the sole provider in a family it could get hard to keep up and still earn a living. It's even worse when you have kids involved because they can be quite expensive. Suck ingenuity down through the family tree? Really simple here: Youre gonna ask your parents, brothers, sisters, etc. for help and money and help get you out of this mess. You need their smarts, wisdom, experience, etc. to do it, you just cant do it on your own. And about that inheritance- the salt and the kleenex- very simple: You never got shit handed to you. You have to do everything for your own food and feed your family. The salt was just your gift to you to season your food (or keep it fresh as to not let it go to waste) and the kleenex was also given to you to help you compensate for all the crying and tears a midlife crisis brings to you known only by others who have gone before you and survived. Good Luck! -Phantomfighter
    Flag phantom27on January 12, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:even after thinking over what everyone else is saying i still find that it is like family troubles. alot of the lyrics seem to be like what parents yell at each other.
    Flag KillerKwean13on November 20, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:I think Mike Patton was just reaching for something really quick when he said this song was about Madonna. In the quotes, he doesn't sound too sure about what it's about. This song makes the most sense when you approach it as Satan talking to God. The context makes a little more sense this way. The same goes with the song "Small Victory." One would have to delve deep into theology and not just study all of the fundamentalist garbage that people like Joel Osteen try to shove down our throats, though. That's just my opinion. I don't expect anyone else to agree.
    Flag brokenimage77on December 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:The "clinging onto passing youth" concept is entirely spot-on for the general meaning of this song. This song is not about jerking off. Anyone who thinks that think ALL songs are about jerking off, no offense, shit happens.

    Mike said that he kept being bombarded so to speak with Madonna on television and radio so constantly that he began to analyze her as a person after pondering the idea. I assume that this song is primarily about materialism and how it changes people and causes them to make often times questionable decisions. Let's not forget; Madonna was the "Material Girl" -- a 'goddess' so to speak, someone whom portrayed herself as being super desirable and materialistic. To a lot of people, she was desirable, and this song is basically poking fun at the whole idea of a 30-something aging woman prancing around dressed like a 17 year old sex symbol spouting innuendo and relationship involved ultimatums at people as a 17 year old girl would.

    The lines about the skinned knee, morbid self attention and sense of security/holding blunt instrument refers to someone in denial about their own flaws and insecurities and unwittingly putting a guard up, or a front to hide their true feelings about themselves. They become self-involved and desperate for attention enough to make really odd choices to modify their appearance and personality.

    The lines about the family tree, bleeding heart, donor by habit, kleenex and salt, (a reference to crying), "you're perfect, yes it's true -- but without me, you're only you" and etcetera refer to her habits of philanthropy and involving herself in world causes and adopting foreign children in her real personal life, despite putting on the whole 'material girl' image that portrayed her as an unapproachable Diva in her artistic life.

    To Mike, it must have seemed that she was merely acting like a caring individual whom was genuinely interested in and concerned about these things as a business and personal measure, presumably to gain positive attention from people who may have never given her that and make herself seem like a 'good guy'... meanwhile possibly affecting others lives negatively as a result of her decisions. It also alludes to the idea of her philanthropic behavior as being an inconvenience to her despite her efforts -- a contradiction, or crisis if you will.
    Flag dean-ialon October 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Patton said it was about Madonna particularly, but in general the title conveys the meaning entirely; it's the description of a midlife crisis. Grasping for straws to try to cling to the youth that you are realizing is slipping away from you.
    Flag Reaverboton February 03, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I don't get a masturbation vibe out of this song at all.

    Jesus. Alice in Chains don't write every song about drugs, and Faith No More don't write every song about masturbation!

    What an interesting band concept that would be, though...
    Flag The Honest Liaron January 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm pretty sure this is (yet another) Faith No More song about Masturbation.

    "Wring my neck"
    If that's not obvious, I'm not spelling it out for you.
    There's also a bit about a rag, which is also obivous, and I don't much feel like scrolling to the top to copy and paste it.

    Furthermore I think what Mike Patton meant when he said it was about Madonna is that's who he was masturbating over while writing this song.

    The bit about family trees?
    That's a sperm reference.
    Flag Humorboton November 20, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:k thanx for the info :)

    and yes i agree that its about madonna


    madonna my ass. i hope your balls drop off and your menstruating heart bleeds to death
    Flag mahapanon June 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yeah, this is on San Andreas, on Radio X.

    Mmmm. Radio stations.


    YEAH I AGREE. HEARD THIS THERE.
    Flag mahapanon June 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:kickass song
    Flag mahapanon June 22, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain