# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**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 29, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/41 "2008-01-29T17:23:29Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] Steely Dan: Everyone’s Gone to the Movies The Fez [/QUOTE] Not sure I get these… [child molestation](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/steely-dan/everyones-gone-to-the-movies.html) , and [religious conviction](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/steely-dan/the-fez.html) ? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/42 "2008-01-29T17:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] _Hyperactive_ by Thomas Dolby "Tell me about your childhood. . . " [/QUOTE] [The video drives it home.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5XVd5mwBZM&feature=related) _Tell me more about your mother…_ And then there’s [Crazy Mary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ziGoJBLnRA) by **Pearl Jam** (originally by **Victoria Williams** ). [Off He Goes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4n6LP_VReM) by Pearl Jam also deals with someone who has some non-specified psychological disorder. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/43 "2008-01-29T17:51:32Z")
[QUOTE=phungi] Not sure I get these… [child molestation](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/steely-dan/everyones-gone-to-the-movies.html) , and [religious conviction](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/steely-dan/the-fez.html) ? [/QUOTE] [http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/explaining-pedophilia](http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/explaining-pedophilia) The fez suggests OCD or drug addiction. I’ve never taken the “holy man” bit literally. > [@](#): > > No Im never gonna do it without the fez on > Oh no > > * * * > > Thats what I am > Please understand > > * * * > > Dont make me do it without the fez on Then again, some say it’s about condom use: [http://cordmeyer.spymac.com/](http://cordmeyer.spymac.com/) There are plenty of other Steely Dan songs about drug addiction or use (e.g., Here at the Western World, Kid Charlemagne) or general nuttiness (pretzel logic) so I’ll gladly retract The Fez. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/44 "2008-01-29T18:02:17Z")
There’s also the subcategory of uncoupling songs. They often talk about psychological stuff. For example, _Heart of the Matter_: > [@](#): > > I’m learning to live without you now > But I miss you sometimes > The more I know, the less I understand > All the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again > I’ve been tryin’ to get down to the Heart of the Matter > But my will gets weak > And my thoughts seem to scatter > But I think it’s about forgiveness > Forgiveness > Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore [http://www.lyricsdomain.com/4/don\_henley/the\_heart\_of\_the\_matter.html](http://www.lyricsdomain.com/4/don_henley/the_heart_of_the_matter.html) or _Southern Cross_: > [@](#): > > So we cheated and we lied > And we tested > And we never failed to fail > It was the easiest thing to do. > You will survive being bested. > Somebody fine > Will come along > Make me forget about loving you. > At the Southern Cross. > **[Southern Cross Lyrics by Crosby Stills & Nash](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/crosby-stills-nash/southern-cross.html)** > > Southern Cross Lyrics by Crosby Stills & Nash at the Lyrics Depot ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/45 "2008-01-29T18:05:14Z")
Egads, am I the first to mention [Bedlam Boys](http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Bedlam_Boys.shtml), about living in Bethlehem with all the nuts? Less well known - Madman Mora Blues, (the version I know is by [Boiled in Lead](http://www.lyrics007.com/Boiled%20In%20Lead%20Lyrics/Madman%20Mora%20Blues%20Lyrics.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/46 "2008-01-29T18:28:01Z")
“What Do You Hear in These Sounds” by Dar Williams and a lot by Lucy Kaplansky, who has a doctorate in psychology and is a trained therapist. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/47 "2008-01-29T19:04:01Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Also **“Shadows in the Rain”** by **The Police** , based on the [Jungian concept of the shadow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_(psychology)). And from **“Bitch”** by **The Rolling Stones** : _Yeah when you call my name I salivate like a Pavlov dog_ Oh yeah, and [“I Think I’m Paranoid”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMmoXoJkojA) by **Garbage**. [/QUOTE] Also “Mother”, by The Police, exploring oedipal problems: > [@](#): > > Well the telephone is ringing, > Is that my mother on the phone? > Telephone is ringing, > Is that my mother on the phone? > The telephone is screaming, > Won’t she leave me alone? > The telephone is ringing, > Is that my mother on the phone? > > Well every girl that I go out with > Becomes my mother in the end. > Every girl I go out with > Becomes my mother in the end. > Well I hear my mother calling, > But I don’t need her as a friend. > Well every girl I go out with > Becomes my mother in the end. > > Oh, Oh mother > Oh mother dear please listen > And don’t devour me. > Oh mother dear please listen > Don’t devour me. > Oh women please have mercy > Let this poor boy be. > Oh mother dear please listen > And don’t devour me. > Oh mother… I’m seeing a pattern here. . . ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/48 "2008-01-29T19:29:45Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Also “Mother”, by The Police, exploring oedipal problems. . . [/QUOTE] Oh, well, if we’re talking about Oedipal problems, it would be hard to top [The End](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_(The_Doors_song)) by The Doors: > [@](#): > > The spoken-word section of the song includes the lines “Father/ Yes son?/ I want to kill you/ Mother, I want to…fuck you,” (with the last two words screamed (almost) unintelligibly). This is often considered a reference to Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, a production of which Jim Morrison worked on while at Florida State University. ---
**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 29, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/49 "2008-01-29T20:33:08Z")
“The Plan” by Richard Hell & the Voidoids – the narrator tells how he has briefly reunited with his ex so that she can conceive a daughter… who will take her place, sexually, with him when they’re all older (but how much older exactly? who knows?). Psych issues: shared psychopathology, likely dom/sub issues, plus the anticipated incest and likely pedophilia or ephebophilia. My theory about this song, which is surprisingly lovely musically, is that Hell must’ve accepted a bet with someone to see who could write the most repellant, disgusting song of all time. I hope he won. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308/50 "2008-01-30T02:16:01Z")
**19th Nervous Breakdown** by the **Stones** **Crazy** by **Patsy Cline** \*\*Brain Damage \*\*by **Pink Floyd** (“_the lunatic is on the grass…_.”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychology-in-songs/435308.md?page=2)