# accurate depictions of mental disorders in music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263 "2009-11-20T05:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/1 "2009-11-20T05:34:52Z")
The other day, ‘‘Brian Wilson’’ by Barenaked Ladies came on the radio. I’m always struck by how accurately that song depicts depression without glorifying it. I know there is a bunch of teenybopper shit out there that puts a glamorous spin on being depressed and usually totally misses the mark. I’ve always felt that Green Day’s song ‘‘Longview’’ deserves the ultimate award for Best Depiction of What It’s Like To Be Depressed. That whole song is one giant nasty opus to living with depression. [QUOTE=Longview] Sit around and watch the tube,but nothing’s on Change the channels for an hour or two Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit I’m sick of all the same old shit In a house with unlocked doors And I’m fucking lazy [/QUOTE] [Rest of lyrics here.](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/greenday/longview.html) What songs do you know that depict mental illness accurately? If that’s too narrow a topic, what songs do you know that depict typically glorified/misunderstood things accurately? ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/2 "2009-11-20T08:46:10Z")
Many [outsider musicians](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_music#Types) have made songs that accurately depicts (or illustrates) mental illness. [Daniel Johnston](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Johnston) is one of the most well-known. If you don’t mind wading through a bit of spoken word and other oddities you will find many examples of great portrayals of mental illness in [ubuweb’s project 365](http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/index.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/3 "2009-11-20T10:53:19Z")
Yeah Daniel Johnson for sure. Similarly, the late Wesley Willis had chronic schizophrenia and his song _Chronic Schizophrenia_ is presumably pretty accurate. He had a lot more songs about his mental illness as well as other topics like bestiality, Kirk Cobain and riding buses. > [@](#): > > Riding in the streets with no music sucks > Everywhere I go, I cruise the streets being called an asshole > Plus I’m being ridiculed and called a bum and called stupid [Chronic Schizophrenia lyrics](http://www.lyricstime.com/wesley-willis-chronic-schizophrenia-lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/4 "2009-11-20T11:13:24Z")
**Steely Dan’s Don’t Take Me Alive** traces the steps of a lone-nut gunman trekking up to the watch tower to pick off the innocent standers-by. Becker and Fagen present their guy as deeply troubled rather than a raving lunatic. The second stanza, from memory: > [@](#): > > Can you hear the evil crowd? > The lies and the laughter. > I hear my inside. > The mechanized hum of another world. > Where no sun is shining. > No red light flashing. > Here in my darkness, > I know what I’ve done, > I know all at once who I am. The fact that the song’s intro kicks in with a ripping guitar solo makes a great song that much better. I’d provide a sound link but can’t from work. Frickin’ management always wanting employees to be productive. One of these days I tell you… ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/5 "2009-11-20T11:15:29Z")
Wow, I never thought I’d see someone cite that song (one of my favorites) in any context at all. Excellent call! I would say Pink Floyd’s music captures the alienation, confusion and fear of mental illness or drug addiction pretty masterfully. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/6 "2009-11-20T11:27:54Z")
I always thought Bright Eyes covered depression with a side of self-medication very well. “Something Vague” is probably the best example. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/7 "2009-11-20T11:41:59Z")
[_Black-eyed Dog_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDnDxvVjBic) (ignore the irrelevant video) by Nick Drake is the most powerfully musical, and lyrically minimalist, depiction of depression I have ever heard. Written like had got to the end of everything, and there was nowhere else to go. He was only 26 when he recorded it, and he killed himself a few months later. ---
**Author:** ![Random\_Design](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Random\_Design](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_Design)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/8 "2009-11-20T12:18:02Z")
Six degrees of inner turbulence by Dream Theater. Musically and lyrically quite a presentation. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/9 "2009-11-20T12:30:57Z")
I’ve never been psychotic but I’ve sort of figured it was like this: [Psychosis Safari](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRJ2fChqClE) by The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster > [@](#): > > I’ve got my limbs tied up and a blindfold across my eyes > A feelin’ I know that I’m gonna have to tell a lie > My hearts in my mouth, but my minds in a furry cup > A feeling you know that I’m dreaming, I can’t wake up ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/10 "2009-11-20T12:39:40Z")
Joy Division - songs like _Digital_, _Something Must Break_, _Dead Souls_, _Insight_ cover depression quite well. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/11 "2009-11-20T13:00:53Z")
"It was one morning when I woke up, and then I found out that they’d signed some papers, and then I was…I was gonna be kept in a bed… owing to the state of me mind. And then I found out that the uh…that the authorities had said, um, that I’d gotta’ ave special food fed to me for me thoughts… um, and I think it’s because… well, because I was going off my… Heaaaaaaaad…" From **The Move** ’s [Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi94--us7-U) ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/12 "2009-11-20T13:39:26Z")
Bonnie Prince Billy’s ‘ **I see a darkness** ’ album as a whole is the best I’ve heard at describing depression, as well as being one of the best albums I’ve heard full stop. Dealing with depression would be a better way of putting it, as a lot of the songs are uplifting. So whilst the sonic range of the album is rather narrow, the emotional range is magestic. Tracks like ‘Today was another day full of dread’, ‘Death to everyone’ and the title track are just outstanding examples of dealing with the dark thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/13 "2009-11-20T14:34:33Z")
> [@Random\_Design](#): > > Six degrees of inner turbulence by Dream Theater. Musically and lyrically quite a presentation. I also love their take on panic attacks in…um…Panic Attack. One of my favorite songs to sing on Rock Band. ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/14 "2009-11-20T19:13:00Z")
> [@Random\_Design](#): > > Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence by Dream Theater. Musically and lyrically quite a presentation. Came in here to say this. I also like, although it’s not precisely what the OP asked for (it fits the wider category asked for at the end of the post better), the song “Paradise” from _The Rising_, the album Bruce Springsteen wrote (mostly) after and in response to 9/11. It’s haunting. It describes a suicide bombing from the point of view of the bomber. He/she has lost a significant other, apparently in the 9/11 attacks or some other terrorist attack, and is looking to get revenge and meet the departed on the other side. It’s pretty amazing. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/15 "2009-11-20T19:14:16Z")
Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” is a pretty accurate view of depression as well. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/16 "2009-11-20T19:42:39Z")
YMMV but I think The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” gives the listener a pretty good idea of what being bi-polar (or manic-depressive) is like. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/17 "2009-11-21T05:19:16Z")
MC Frontalot - “You’ve Got Asperger’s”: > [@](#): > > You got Asperger’s, this ain’t a barbecue. > It’s your whole afternoon though, lost down a rabbit hole, > looking for a timepiece, wonder when your date’s at, > wonder if she’ll visit you at all today — relax. > Wonder how many ribbons to expect in her hair — > to deflect talk of triplets in respect for the pair > or to stare at the bow made of four different colors — > didn’t notice someone talking to you: there were others > in the room, out in the gloom of the periphery. > To shift your focus for a moment is to give the ribbons liberty, > and that’s to suggest they make escape. > This is a secret from the future: can’t rewind like a tape. > Got to make the best and the most of each moment as it happens, > got to keep your eyes on those bows, got to trap in > your vision all four of them ‘cause this is a first: > she might have noticed last time that you like ribbons that are hers. [Full lyrics](http://www.lyricstime.com/mc-frontalot-you-got-asperger-s-lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/18 "2009-11-21T06:59:03Z")
Fade to Black by Metallica is a good look at a person so depressed he is contemplating suicide… > [@](#): > > Life, it seems, will fade away > Drifting further every day > Getting lost within myself > Nothing matters, no one else > > I have lost the will to live > Simply nothing more to give > There is nothing more for me > Need the end to set me free > > Things not what they used to be > Missing one inside of me > Deathly lost, this can’t be real > Can’t stand this hell I feel > > Emptiness is filling me > To the point of agony > Growing darkness taking dawn > I was me, but now he’s gone > > No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late > Now I can’t think, think why I should even try > > Yesterday seems as though it never existed > Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/19 "2009-11-21T07:08:15Z")
\*As a baby in my mother’s arms She would croon and I’d see pink And when she’d bathe me in the sink The radio would play red or green or lavender When the Beatles sing it’s a yellow thing Yeah, the Stones are always purple Every melody that I hear Fills my mind with colors bright and beautiful SYNAESTHESIA If everyone could see the things that I hear SYNAESTHESIA A giant box of Crayolas in my ear …\* I’d never heard of synaesthesia before hearing that song. Not sure how accurate it is, but I found it posted (with permission) on a [page](http://home.comcast.net/~sean.day/Synesthesia.htm) with other synaesthesia resources. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263/20 "2009-11-21T07:45:39Z")
The best Drug description song for me was the song “[Celebration of the Lizard](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Celebration-Of-The-Lizard-lyrics-The-Doors/4FA3B9F75751733348256D8F0026E11E)” by The Doors Just… so vivid and the way he sings the various poems. It’s mindblowingly cool. \*The snake was pale gold Glazed and shrunken We were afraid to touch it The sheets were hot dead prisons And she was beside me Old, she’s no, young Her dark red hair the white soft skin Now, run to the mirror in the bathroom Look!\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accurate-depictions-of-mental-disorders-in-music/518263.md?page=2)