Psychology (in) Songs

[phungi]

@Gfactor

Steely Dan:
Everyone’s Gone to the Movies
The Fez

Not sure I get these… child molestation , and religious conviction ?

[Spoke]

@Gfactor

Hyperactive by Thomas Dolby "Tell me about your childhood. . . "

The video drives it home.

Tell me more about your mother…

And then there’s Crazy Mary by Pearl Jam (originally by Victoria Williams).

Off He Goes by Pearl Jam also deals with someone who has some non-specified psychological disorder.

[Gfactor]

@phungi

Not sure I get these… child molestation , and religious conviction ?

Signs of a Sexual Predator

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

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Dont make me do it without the fez on

Then again, some say it’s about condom use: 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.

[Gfactor]

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

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

[OtakuLoki]

Egads, am I the first to mention Bedlam Boys, about living in Bethlehem with all the nuts?

Less well known - Madman Mora Blues, (the version I know is by Boiled in Lead)

[Plynck]

“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.

[Chefguy]

@spoke-

Also “Shadows in the Rain” by The Police, based on the Jungian concept of the shadow.

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” by Garbage.

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. . .

[Spoke]

@Chefguy

Also “Mother”, by The Police, exploring oedipal problems. . .

Oh, well, if we’re talking about Oedipal problems, it would be hard to top The End 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.

[The_Scrivener]

“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.

[Martha_Medea]

19th Nervous Breakdown by the Stones
Crazy by Patsy Cline
**Brain Damage **by Pink Floyd(“the lunatic is on the grass….”)