# Music for when you "snap" mentally? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238 "2003-06-25T05:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/21 "2003-06-25T14:52:53Z")
Why is everyone talking about Gilmour-era Pink Floyd? If you really want music to “snap” to, you have to go back to the 60s-era Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd. He was (and still is, 35 years later, living in obscurity) insane and the music shows it. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/22 "2003-06-25T15:17:25Z")
I usually listen to Seal, Perfect Circle, or Fleetwood Mac. Those always seem to do it for me. Something is that music has an “escapist” quality… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/23 "2003-06-25T15:27:10Z")
Jesus…why does a mental breakdown have to be so melancholy? Here’s what I listen to when it’s time to go off the deep end: House of Pain - Jump Around Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name Franky Goes to Hollywood - Relax ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/24 "2003-06-25T16:38:48Z")
Should I go totally fucking loco-weed, I hope I’d have enough mental presence to listen to John Ashcroft’s rendition of “Let the Mighty Eagle Soar” for 57 times before I go on a rampage. It’s not going to help any, of course, but it would sure present a conundrum to those music-makes-people-kill-other-people people. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Friendly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr\_Friendly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Friendly)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/25 "2003-06-25T19:03:40Z")
blown away- sick of it all thumper- raging speedhorn spit my last breath- blood for blood ngrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaruuurrggghhh!!! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/26 "2003-06-25T19:32:24Z")
The first track off Immortal’s _Sons of Northern Darkness_ is one of the best out there. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/27 "2003-06-25T19:56:14Z")
**The Stooges** – Funhouse I mean, come on. Who better to accompany you into madness than Iggy Pop and his howls and squeals? Coincidentally, this is also a great album to put on when you want to clean your home from top to bottom. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/28 "2003-06-25T19:59:53Z")
“Institutionalized” by Suicidal Tendancies ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/29 "2003-06-25T20:00:58Z")
Depends on whether it’s an introverted snap or an extroverted snap; they come in many flavors. For the former, I like flamenco guitar stuff and/or Simon & Garfunkel. For the latter, it’s Peter Gabriel, “Rhythm of the Heat,” the Verdi _Requiem,_ or pretty much anything loud and dramatic, preferably with lots of brass and/or percussion. ---
**Author:** ![\_ceQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b9bd4f/32.png) [@\_ceQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ceQueen)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/30 "2003-06-26T01:02:37Z")
Eminem & Co “Bitch Please.” Anything by Eminem really. ---
**Author:** ![Shirty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Shirty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirty)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/31 "2003-06-26T05:31:05Z")
Depressed? Bring out the scissors and listen to almost any track from Something for Kate- Beautiful sharks or almost anything by Placebo. For the batshit-mental Marxist: Rage against the machine- Ashes in the fall. Going out of your mind blissfully? They might be Giants- Mink Ka or Particle Man 🙂 “Is he a dot? or is he a speck? When he’s underwater, does he get wet?” ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/32 "2003-06-26T08:10:46Z")
Hmm, there seem to be two schools of thought in this thread; some are saying what music they’d listen to to calm them down, and others are mentioning (as I thought on reading the OP) what music would accompany the hurling-TV-set-through-window scene in their biopic. I’ll take the latter. The first minute or so of “The Sad Punk” by the Pixies; Minor Threat, “Filler”; Tom Waits, that song on _Frank’s Wild Years_ that has the line about the can of beans; **neutron star** has it right with the Barrett-era Pink Floyd (“Interstellar Overdrive” yesyesyes); and the last half of the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony (it’s obvious, I know, but it still kicks ass; it’s not like Erik Satie would be a good answer here). I could go on; I’ve got a deep, abiding love of the berserk music quasi-genre. (Hasil Adkins, “Ugly Woman Blues”!) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/33 "2003-06-26T09:35:06Z")
Doppelganger: by Dory Previn…or for that matter, _anything_ by Dory Previn. If you want ‘Losin’ the Plot’ Music, she’s yer gal! If you want something slightly more mainstream, try ‘Thick as a Brick’ by Jethro Tull. It’s guaranteed to connect with the loonier parts of your psyche no matter WHAT it might contain. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/34 "2003-06-26T09:59:27Z")
**Highway to Hell** - AC/DC Fuck ANYONE who comes near me when I’m in a bad mood and have that bastard on max volume. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/35 "2003-06-26T10:06:06Z")
Aww, \*\*Loaded[/]…I can’t even begin to IMAGINE you in a contentious state, let alone with AckaDacka in reprise. **TLD** in the shits? Nah…don’t think so. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/36 "2003-06-26T10:06:52Z")
“S&M” double album by Metallica. Very loud, until my inner voices stop having a rage. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/37 "2003-06-26T11:33:15Z")
**Scott Walker** ’s more recent stuff like “Climate of Hunter” and “Tilt” sounds like the intimate mental processes of someone not of this reality, and always does the trick for me (although any of his solo stuff would do). Also, the wacky vocal stylings of **Diamanda Galas**. **Patti Smith** , especially “Land”: “Johnny fell on his knees, / started crashing his head against the locker, / started crashing his head against the locker, / started laughing hysterically / When suddenly Johnny gets the feeling he’s being surrounded by / horses, horses, horses, horses / coming in in all directions…” And of course **Daphne and Celeste**. ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/38 "2003-06-26T11:52:20Z")
The Bob Marley album _Legend_ is excellent for calming anxiety, especially the song \* Three Little Birds\*. Don’t worry about a thing Cause every little thing is gonna be all right ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/39 "2003-06-26T12:03:21Z")
“Unwell” by Matchbox 20 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238/40 "2003-06-26T14:42:44Z")
Yeah, I forgot Barrett…but his floyd work is, if anything, more sane than his solo stuff. For going-off-the-deep-end music, I add any of these to the list: Rats Octopus Dolly Rocker [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-when-you-snap-mentally/184238.md?page=3)