Songs about mental illness -- suggestions please

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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Bangpuss said:
I was having a conversation about misogyny in music a while ago, and my point was that a lot of pop music is misogynistic. Besides the blatant and well-documented chauvinism of so much hip-hop and early reggae (plus all other forms of xenophobia), rock & roll is also littered with, and permeated by, misogyny. The Rolling Stones are a prime example, although I highlighted the point with 'Under My Thumb'. Not sure how misogynistic 19th Nervous Breakdown is, though. I suppose it could be argued that "On our first trip I tried so hard to rearrange your mind" casts the girl as someone with an inferior mind, but there's no suggestion that it's to do with her gender, more her neglectful upbringing. I know a girl just like her. Dad's an art dealer, she's in LA in rehab for about the fourth time. Coke addict.

So basically, if misogyny is so offensive, don't listen to music because the chances are you'll come across a fair bit of it. And don't watch films, either. Or watch TV. It's everywhere. Argh!
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yeah, I know, was partly tongue in cheek. i think the Stones annoy me so much because they're rarely mentioned when people bang on about misogyny in hip hop, dancehall etc, and yet 'Under My Thumb', 'Brown Sugar' etc are unbelievably offensive, both of these made when they were, i guess, the second biggest group in the world.
 
slowtrain

slowtrain

Well-known member
baboon2004 said:
yeah, I know, was partly tongue in cheek. i think the Stones annoy me so much because they're rarely mentioned when people bang on about misogyny in hip hop, dancehall etc, and yet 'Under My Thumb', 'Brown Sugar' etc are unbelievably offensive, both of these made when they were, i guess, the second biggest group in the world.
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Pretty much 100% of all early rock music is mysoginsitist.

(Mostly just thinking of all those early songs that are about how one will kill himself if his girlfriend leaves him)
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
slowtrain said:
Pretty much 100% of all early rock music is mysoginsitist.

(Mostly just thinking of all those early songs that are about how one will kill himself if his girlfriend leaves him)
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Dunno about mysogynistic, that's just fucking emo.
 
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slowtrain

slowtrain

Well-known member
Mr. Tea said:
Dunno about mysogynistic, that's just fucking emo.
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It's mysoginist (like a lot of emo really, have you read that Jessica Hopper piece?) because it forces the woman to be accountable for the mans problem, when really it isn;t her fault it is his.

I think the example my Mum told me about was a Chuck Berry song.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I guess it could be construed as mysogynistic in a very passive-aggressive way.

Haven't read that piece but I can't say emo is a scene that interests me particularly.
 
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B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Just thought, Alexander 'Skip' Spence-Oar; not sure if the songs are explicitly about mental illness, but he was prety far gone at the time
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Queen's 'I'm Going Slightly Mad', although I think that's more about mental illness as a metaphor for physical illness (R.I.P Freddie).
 
dd528

dd528

Well-known member
When you say no Gnarls Barley do you mean 'Crazy' in particular, or all of their work? Because that first album deals with mental illness on a lot of its tracks, and I think that some of them might be worth a listen if you haven't heard them before.

This in particular:


Also 'I Hear Voices' by MF Doom, 'The Real Me' by The Who, 'Lithium' by Nirvana, 'Suicidal Thoughts' by Biggie, 'Climbing Up The Walls' by Radiohead, and pretty much anything off The Wall.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I notice you have Psychotic Reaction by The Count Five but you don't have Neurotic Reaction by... well a band who had several different names actually, my seven is credited to Kannibal Komix - it's a kinda silly glam smasher


Also, I don't think you listed that track Psycho - classic country tune about the guy who went on a spree-killing in the sixties and inspired the film Targets. Saul always plays the version by Beasts of Bourbon.
Arguably Spastik by Plastikman is about a kind of mental illness.
This is quite fun - "I started using LSD, it gave me quite a kick - better than booze and easy to use but it made me mentally sick"

 
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