# Songs About Mental Illness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252 "2019-12-22T20:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/1 "2019-12-22T20:09:04Z")
If you can think of examples of songs about mental illness by those who were mentally ill, even better, since its coming from a familiar place, as opposed to someone writing about something they don’t know. Pink Floyd - Brain Damage I think Roger is intelligent and was troubled, but he had it under control… Someone like Jim Morrison did not have control. Perhaps “Break on Through” is one of many, since many of his lyrics are surreal and can be interpreted differently, where Roger is very direct. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/2 "2019-12-22T20:15:40Z")
I don’t think Willie Nelson was really Crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/3 "2019-12-22T20:41:26Z")
Fire and Rain by James Taylor is about his depression and drug abuse and a friend who killed herself. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/4 "2019-12-22T21:39:21Z")
Alice Cooper’s “From the Inside” is a whole concept album inspired by the time he spent in a sanitarium for alcoholism, and the people he met in there. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/5 "2019-12-22T21:47:53Z")
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” by Napoleon XIV is pretty mental. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/6 "2019-12-22T22:13:38Z")
“ **Twisted** ”, written in 1952. It was covered by many and found on Joni Mitchell’s \*\*Court and Spark \*\*album. > [@](#): > > _I had a brain > It was insane > Oh, they used to laugh at me > When I refused to ride > On all those double decker buses > All because there was no driver on the top_ ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/7 "2019-12-22T22:22:08Z")
Syd Barrett - Vegetable Man [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I7e1RUXUx7o/hqdefault.jpg "Pink Floyd - Vegetable man") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7e1RUXUx7o) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/8 "2019-12-22T22:24:26Z")
John Conlee’s _I Don’t Remember Loving You_: “…But everyone who’s living in this place is very strange. If you hand me my crayons, I’ll be glad to take your name, In case I come across the guy you knew… But I don’t remember loving you” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/9 "2019-12-22T22:26:28Z")
“Alone Again (Naturally)” That guy is definitely having a breakdown. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/10 "2019-12-22T22:33:34Z")
“Veteran Of The Psychic Wars” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/11 "2019-12-22T22:53:43Z")
File under close but not quite: In a live version I have the sisters from Larkin Poe explain that their song “[Mad As A Hatter](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U8QKE-Q43W0)” is about their grandfather’s experience with severe mental illness. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/12 "2019-12-22T23:39:56Z")
I’m not sure if it was Pete Townshend’s intent when he wrote it but “Behind Blue Eyes” does provide a good description of someone who’s severely bi-polar. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/13 "2019-12-23T00:38:29Z")
“Sweating Bullets” – Megadeth “Institutionalized” - Suicidal Tendencies “Hurt” Nine Inch Nails (or Johnny Cash) “Black Hole Sun” - Soundgarden “The Day I Tried to Live” - Soundgarden “Under the Bridge” - Red Hot Chili Peppers\* \*Speaking of, John Frusciante is back after ten years!!! YAY!!! ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/14 "2019-12-23T00:43:05Z")
“Manic Depression” by Hendrix ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/15 "2019-12-23T00:50:12Z")
> [@journeyman\_southpaw](#): > > Alice Cooper’s “From the Inside” is a whole concept album inspired by the time he spent in a sanitarium for alcoholism, and the people he met in there. Another Cooper tune: _Ballad of Dwight Fr_y _Cherry Blossom Clinic_ by The Move ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/16 "2019-12-23T01:19:38Z")
_Pretty Pimpin’_ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/17 "2019-12-23T01:32:02Z")
“Song” implies lyrics, which leaves out a lot of instrumental jazz sides portraying addiction, like Miles Davis’s “Bitches’ Brew.” Doug Hopkins of the Gin Blossoms was clinically depressed and an alcoholic. He wrote all the band’s most notable material, including “Hey Jealousy” which just barely qualifies for this thread. How about “Miss Misery” by Elliott Smith? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/18 "2019-12-23T02:37:51Z")
Some great songs about depression: [I See A Darkness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWnUItw1ElU)- Johnny Cash’s cover of Will Oldham’s song, with Oldham backing [Big Black Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUlwgsH1b7c) - Motorpsycho [Black Dog On My Shoulder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m6PP6l2Duw) - Manic Street Preachers [I’m Not Working](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV6Ers6_4vo) - Manic Street Preachers And if you’re going for authenticity, I strongly recommend the whole (small) work of Nick Drake. It’s superb. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/19 "2019-12-23T02:45:25Z")
I don’t know if Wesley Willis’ oeuvre really discussed mental illness to any degree, primarily because I didn’t listen to much of it if I could help it. What I can say with assurance, though, was that he was a homeless and deeply schizophrenic individual who wrestled with his mental demons for a long time. He was also a very prolific song-writer, though you may find his music formulaic and challenging to listen to. All the same, hopefully that may scratch some of the OP’s itch. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252/20 "2019-12-23T02:46:11Z")
David Bowie’s “All the Madmen” is just a starter for his songs about madness. I’d rather play here With all the madmen For I’m quite content They’re all as sane as me [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-mental-illness/845252.md?page=2)