Peak
57
Weeks
20
Score
1,259
Chart Year
2000
The music video was directed by Marcos Siega.[12] In the music video, the band performs on a floor surrounded by fans. Throughout the video, the camera zooms in on some fans near the stage and shows them in places that appear to be their rooms. In their rooms, they appear to be possibly depressed. Though it had apparently been claimed that this is meant to show how people might not look depressed but still are, the purpose was more so to show the people being taken from where they did not want to be to where they did – from lonely despair to the rock show where they could have fun with their friends.[13] There are many posters for radio station 98 Rock. This is the rock station out of Sacramento, California, that the band credits for jump starting their career. Inside the Infest album booklet are thanks to DJs of the radio station.[14] About five hundred people, including local fans, came to the shooting of the music video for "Last Resort".[12] On the MuchMusic version – which utilizes the radio edit – the word "fuck" is completely removed with no replacement. On the MTV and Vevo version, the words "cut", "bleeding", "die", "life" (from the line "if I took my life tonight"), and "suicide" were also muted. After original airings of the video on television, some networks went so far as to additionally censor words such as "suffocation", and even the title of the song itself.
This song is about suicide. It takes the perspective of someone who feels frustrated and confused to the point that ending it all seems like a valid option. In our interview with Tobin Esperance of Papa Roach, he told us that "Last Resort" was so popular because the meaning of the track struck a note with fans: "I think the lyrics had a lot to do with it. Because originally the song was about a friend of ours that we grew up with, and he was going through a rough time in his life. And there was that suicide element to it, just like growing up and the struggles of life and questioning whether or not you want to keep going on, and I think a lot of people connected with that. For the kids who had also gone through those kinds of feelings, those kinds of emotions, the lyrics really helped connect with that song." This was the first major-label release for Papa Roach; they recorded for an independent label for five years before signing with Dreamworks. Esperance says the band did not expect "Last Resort" to be as big as it was: "No one ever thought it was going to be a huge, huge hit, but I guess you never expect anything, really, when you're first starting out." In a 2015 Songfacts interview with Papa Roach lead singer Jacoby Shaddix, he described this song as a "cry for help." It was written for a good friend of the band, but the song took on new meaning when Shaddix fell into despair in 2012; he began drinking heavily and separated from his wife, Kelly. Said Shaddix, "I found myself in that place, where I was like, 'I can't go on this way. I can't do it anymore.'" Jacoby was able to pull himself together and return to his family (he and Kelly have two sons). "Last Resort," a song that helped many people express their darkest thoughts and find a way to overcome their struggles, helped him as well. "That song is timeless and it connects with who we are today and what we do today in a major way," he said. This is almost always the final song Papa Roach plays at live performances. The main riff from this song is similar to the Iron Maiden song "Genghis Khan." You can compare and contrast here. Tobin Esperance told Songfacts that this song was composed on piano: "I've written songs on piano - actually, 'Last Resort' with that whole little riff/melody thing, that's done on the piano." Esperance added, "I was playing something on piano and Jacoby came in and started scatting over it. And we just did our typical mixing of a funky kind of hip-hop groove with a punk rock chorus. And that song just came together like that. Jacoby said, 'That's a cool riff, keep playing that noodle' - we called it a noodle. We did it over and over again, and Jacoby put his lyrics to it, and the song just morphed into what it is now." Do you hear a hip-hop influence in this song? Esperance says they were listening to acts like Wu-Tang Clan and Fugees at the time, and East Coast hip-hop inspired the writing of this song. "We were sampling classical music behind simple pocket grooves," says Tobin. The video was directed by Marcos Siega, who had done "All The Small Things" for blink-182. It was shot at the Cal Expo in Sacramento and featured kids from their hometown of Vacaville, California. It was shot just before they headed out on their first national tour. The kids were real fans recruited online, and shot in their real bedrooms. That footage was then used to transition to scenes of them at the performance. In one of the bedrooms, you'll see posters for the Sacramento radio station 98 Rock, which was the first station to play Papa Roach. The music video was ludicrously censored to appease MTV, omitting not only "f--k," but also the word "suicide" (in the line "I'm contemplating suicide") and all references to self harm, including "cut my arm, bleeding" and "if I took my life tonight." Most radio stations played an edit with "f--k" removed but the rest of the lyrics intact. The song was so popular in part because it does openly discuss suicidal thoughts, but conventional wisdom was that just the mention of it could give kids the idea to try it (after two teens shot themselves in 1985 while listening to Judas Priest, the band was put on trial). It soon became clear that songs like "Last Resort" were more likely to prevent suicide because they give young people an outlet for their dark thoughts and let them know they're not alone. The next year, MTV played the System Of A Down video for "Chop Suey," with the line "trust in my self-righteous suicide," unedited. That video was also directed by Marcos Siega. Papa Roach dropped an updated version on January 27, 2021 recorded with TikTok star Jeris Johnson. "Last Resort (Reloaded)" features new lyrics written and sung by Johnson, who came to Papa Roach's attention after he posted his own remix of the 2000 nu-metal classic. "I wanted to just blend the original vibe and channel some things that I went through in my childhood," he explained to ABC Audio. "And then come out on the other end of them with some fun, confident lyrics about how f---ing awesome life is and how cool this moment is, and just, like, some positivity on the other end of it." Pop singer Emma Zander covered "Last Resort" for the soundtrack of the 2022 sci-fi dramedy movie I'm Totally Fine. Her version transforms it into a slow-burning pop tune.
Cut my life into pieces This is my last resort Suffocation No breathing Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm, bleeding This is my last resort Cut my life into pieces I've reached my last resort Suffocation, no breathing Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm, bleeding Do you even care if I die bleeding? Would it be wrong? Would it be right? If I took my life tonight Chances are that I might Mutilation outta sight And I'm contemplating suicide 'Cause I'm losing my sight Losing my mind Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine Losing my sight Losing my mind Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine I never realized I was spread too thin 'Til it was too late And I was empty within Hungry Feeding on chaos And living in sin Downward spiral where do I begin? It all started when I lost my mother No love for myself And no love for another Searching to find a love up on a higher level Finding nothing but questions and devils 'Cause I'm losing my sight Losing my mind Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine Losing my sight Losing my mind Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine Nothing's alright Nothing is fine I'm running and I'm crying I'm crying I'm crying I'm crying I'm crying I can't go on living this way Cut my life into pieces This is my last resort Suffocation No breathing Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm, bleeding Would it be wrong? Would it be right? If I took my life tonight Chances are that I might Mutilation outta sight And I'm contemplating suicide 'Cause I'm losing my sight Losing my mind Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine Losing my sight Losing my mind Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine Nothing's alright Nothing is fine I'm running and I'm crying I can't go on living this way Can't go on Living this way Nothing's alright
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 29, 2000 | 75 | 51 |
| 2 | Aug 5, 2000 | 71 | 55 |
| 3 | Aug 12, 2000 | 69 | 57 |
| 4 | Aug 19, 2000 | 69 | 57 |
| 5 | Aug 26, 2000 | 66 | 60 |
| 6 | Sep 2, 2000 | 64 | 62 |
| 7 | Sep 9, 2000 | 61 | 65 |
| 8 | Sep 16, 2000 | 61 | 65 |
| 9 | Sep 23, 2000 | 66 | 60 |
| 10 | Sep 30, 2000 | 64 | 62 |
| 11 | Oct 7, 2000 | 63 | 63 |
| 12 | Oct 14, 2000 | 60 | 66 |
| 13 | Oct 21, 2000 | 65 | 61 |
| 14 | Oct 28, 2000 | 66 | 60 |
| 15 | Nov 4, 2000 | 62 | 64 |
| 16 | Nov 11, 2000 | 66 | 60 |
| 17 | Nov 18, 2000 | 64 | 62 |
| 18 | Nov 25, 2000 | 64 | 62 |
| 19 | Dec 2, 2000 | 57 | 69 |
| 20 | Dec 9, 2000 | 72 | 54 |