The album is named after Henri Michaux's description of the feeling of using mescaline in Miserable Miracle.

[citation needed] The song proper is performed in a reggae hymn style, inspired by Herbie Hancock's Speak Like a Child album.

"The End of Asia" uses the same melody as Haruomi Hosono's "Worry Beads" from Paraiso (though Sakamoto has claimed that the use was entirely coincidental) and the coda uses the melody of "The East Is Red", the national anthem of the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution.

"Thousand Knives" is a staple of Sakamoto's repertoire, being rearranged for his synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1980 for their BGM album; as a classical trio for 8/21/1996; and for a piano duet on /05.

"The End of Asia" would also regularly appear during YMO shows, with a drastically different studio version included on their X∞Multiplies album.