Day 2 of songs that inspired me to write.

Back in ’98, I would listen to this album daily. I got it as a Christmas gift in 1997 and I would listen to it daily. The atmosphere, the lyrics, it felt like a perfect album and I still think it’s Faith No More’s finest moment.

As I would spend a lot of time commuting, I would daydream ideas for stories. I always felt King for a day, fool for a lifetime could’ve worked as the soundtrack for a story involving an unscrupulous cop (based on Kevin Spacey in LA confidential) against a well-meaning but also unsavory thief (based on Giovanni Ribisi). Get out would start the story, where our thief has to run for his life from a botched job. Kevin Spacey-ish cop is a superfamous cop (Star AD) who secretly is a massive corrupt menace (Caralho Voador). After a bloody gunfight (Ricochet), Spacey cop plant evidence (uhm, Evidence) and goes after our Ribisi thief. A plot involving an exwife for the thief somehow fitted there, but never quite worked.

The thief would have a drinking problem (ugly in the morning) and after finding out the cop was on his track (digging the grave), he would make the choice of blowing the lid on the case (somehow he found evidence of Spacey cop’s crimes). Take this bottle is the song where Ribisi thief says goodbye to the exwife and confront his destiny, which bring us to King for a day.

I never quite wrote -or thought- this story throughout. Perhaps I’ll revisit it one day, removing the mushy “going to heaven” part for the thief (Just a man) and leave it more of a 70s thriller affair. If only Leon didn’t have this same plot, perhaps I could’ve wrote it.

King for a day is perfect. It’s deceptively calm, but goes for the brash sound we all love Faith No More for, and the eerie ending really does feel like the end for someone (or two characters in a thankfully unwritten story).

-Sam J. Valdés López