# Psychology (in) Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308 "2008-01-28T14:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/1 "2008-01-28T14:47:23Z")
I’m looking for songs that mention or are about psychological theories, disorders, issues, etc. Examples: “Brian Wilson” _Barenaked Ladies_: Learning/Conditioning > [@](#): > > It’s a matter of instinct, it’s a matter of conditioning, it’s a matter of fact. > You can call me Pavlov’s dog. Ring a bell and I’ll salivate. How’d you like that? “…Frontal Lobotomy” _Monty Python_: Psychosurgery/Disorders > [@](#): > > Jimmy and I were brothers. We went down different paths. > Jimmy always listened to my mother, And me, I never like to take a bath. > As we grew and tumbled through adulthood The pressure caused emotional drain. > So now I’m slowly dying in the bottle and Jimmy has to live with half a brain. > > Yes, me, I’ve got a bottle in front of me, and Jimmy has a frontal lobotomy. > Just different ways to kill the pain the same. “Top” _Live_: Therapy > [@](#): > > Pyramids, healing wires, analysts with fame > I haven’t got your degree > And I forgot your name Whatcha got? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/2 "2008-01-28T14:59:38Z")
_I Wanna Be Sedated_ (The Ramones, duh!) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/3 "2008-01-28T15:16:03Z")
“Synchronicity” by the Police, about Jungian theory. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/4 "2008-01-28T15:51:21Z")
How about one of my favorites from the Stones, [“Mother’s Little Helper”](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/mothers+little+helper_20117873.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/5 "2008-01-28T16:02:30Z")
David Bowie’s _All the Madmen_ is sung from the POV of a patient in a mental hospital. \* 'Cos I’d rather stay here, With all the madmen Than perish with the sad men roaming free. Yes I’d rather play here, With all the madmen 'Cos I’m quite content they’re all as sane as me.\* ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/6 "2008-01-28T16:12:55Z")
Joy Division, She’s Lost Control Again Buzzcocks, Mad, Mad, Judy Fiona Apple, I Need You Like a Drug (somebody else’s song, I think) ETA: LOu Reed, Kill Your Sons (about getting ECT as a teen) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/7 "2008-01-28T16:27:25Z")
I’ve been on a bit of a King Crimson tear lately, so this is what came to mind first: “Thela Hun Gingeet” by King Crimson [early 1980’s lineup] – the narrator is a nervous member of a band who gets mugged one day, who repeats himself when he’s distressed (and says so, several times). This to me suggests OCD tendencies, perhaps with a dose of magical thinking. “Elephant Talk” – the narrator is thoroughly disgusted with and alienated by humanity, so much so that he dismisses all means of human communication (beginning with the letter A and running up to “elephant talk”) as worthless, and ultimately, no more meaningful than animal noises. “Neurotica” – takes the alienation of “Elephant Talk” and kicks it up a couple of notches, to where the narrator walks the streets of a city, while hallucinating it’s a hostile tropical jungle, with all humanity stripped from its denizens. Perhaps he’s just being sardonic, but the furious, frenzied music seems to undermine any putative sanity left in him. “The Howling” – the lyrics are tough to pin down, but it seems to be a more elusive, metaphysical extension of the “urban jungle” theme, with perhaps the evil impulses in the city taking on a more disembodied form…? Also: “Psycho Killer” – Talking Heads. Part subjective rambling with pretentious Frenchisms, part Otis Redding spoofery. It’s a portrait of a young murderer as narcissist and fop, played for laughs. “Hospital” and “She Cracked” – The Modern Lovers. Narrator is a decent young man whose girlfriend or friend is in a mental hospital for her suicidal tendencies/had a breakdown. “Astral Plane” – The Modern Lovers. Narrator is a horny young guy who’s masturbating in bed while fantasizing he and the object of his desire are together in a spiritual or metaphysical way, “on the astral plane”. Fantasy, wish fulfillment, mysticism, maybe hallucination. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/8 "2008-01-28T16:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=The Scrivener] I’ve been on a bit of a King Crimson tear lately. [/QUOTE] Also: _Three of a Perfect Pair_, _Frame by Frame_, and _Indiscipline_ The entire Discipline album is about relationships (and the band) and their inability to maintain time and space - the picture on the cover is a microcosm for their music, for the song indiscipline… ---
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/9 "2008-01-28T17:02:19Z")
The entire album _Electro-Shock Blues_ by the Eels. Alternatively, basically everything the Eels have ever done. Of course, you won’t be straying too far from the concept of depression with that. From the title track: \*Feeling scared today Write down I am okay A hundred times the doctors say I am okay I am okay I’m not okay\* _Cocoon_ by Assemblage 23 seems to be about bipolar disorder: _Even though I know it’s only chemical, these peaks and valleys are beginning to take their toll. Tryin’ to convince myself that all it takes is time, but the most derisive voice I hear is mine._ ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/10 "2008-01-28T17:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] _I Wanna Be Sedated_ (The Ramones, duh!) [/QUOTE] And don’t forget “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/11 "2008-01-28T17:16:03Z")
A couple of quick-'n-dirty references (in-depth song researches extra!): Syd Barrett: this original member (and songwriter) of Pink Floyd ended up in a mental hospital… for life. Barrett’s perhaps the epitome of the '60’s acid casualty, but lots of people did a lot of acid without ending up in the nuthouse. You might want to check out a solo album of his, **The Madcap Laughs**. I’m not familiar enough with his music to know whether his songs are at all about mental illness or rather manifestations of mental illness (however reductive that formulation is). Roky Erickson & the 13th Floor Elevators – similar issues with mental illness and drug use, with the added elements of Satan-worship (at least for Roky himself) and liberal use of the water jug as a musical instrument. '60’s Texas psychedelia was never more complex – or delightfully strange – than this. No particular songs to recommend OTTOMH, though. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/12 "2008-01-28T17:34:12Z")
From the Kinks, there’s “[Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues](http://kinks.it.rit.edu/discography/showsong.php?song=2)” and “[Destroyer](http://kinks.it.rit.edu/discography/showsong.php?song=78).” “[Jung and the Restless](http://www.sockheaven.org/music/albums/ip1990/07.html)” by Steve Taylor ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/13 "2008-01-28T17:54:53Z")
The classic **Institutionalized** by Suicidal Tendencies. But he wasn’t crazy. [All he wanted was a Pepsi](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Institutionalized-lyrics-Suicidal-Tendencies/A7752BCECA75E6F648256C7E002CEAAE) . ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/14 "2008-01-28T17:59:57Z")
“Stuart” by The Dead Milkmen – the narrator, who lives in a trailer park, rants and raves to his [friend? nephew?] about… oh, various things. The whole song consists of his bizarre conspiracy theories. What’s clear is that he’s a raving nutjob, paranoid, homophobic, and unintentionally hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/15 "2008-01-28T18:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] And don’t forget “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment.” [/QUOTE] And Psycho Therapy and Teenage Lobotomy. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/16 "2008-01-28T18:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=The Scrivener] Syd Barrett: .. I’m not familiar enough with his music to know whether his songs are at all about mental illness or rather manifestations of mental illness… [/QUOTE] In a similar vein, Throwing Muses has some music that plays with the fringes between sanity and the alternative(s). Not all their music is _about_ mental illness, but some of it could potentially _cause_ mental illness. 😃 Nick Cave has a song called, Christina the Astonishing, about the saint. She had some issues! ---
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/17 "2008-01-28T18:20:41Z")
How on earth has this thread gone on so long without mentioning “Manic-Depression” by Jimi Hendrix? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/18 "2008-01-28T18:33:44Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] How on earth has this thread gone on so long without mentioning “Manic-Depression” by Jimi Hendrix? [/QUOTE] Along a similar line is “Behind Blue Eyes” by The Who. There’s also “Whiskey Man” which is about a man whose best friends is an alcohol-induced hallucination. For depression, pick one of many songs by Nick Drake. And, there’s Elton John’s “Madman Across the Water.” ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/19 "2008-01-28T18:34:24Z")
…or “Crazy Train” ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/20 "2008-01-28T18:34:31Z")
_Hyperactive_ by Thomas Dolby "Tell me about your childhood. . . " _Till it Shines_ by Bob Seger, which was featured in the movie \*Mumford \*, which was about a new psycholigist in a small town. _Suite: Judy Blue Eyes_ by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Steely Dan: Bad Sneakers Dr. Wu Everyone’s Gone to the Movies The Fez [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308.md?page=2)