Good Songs (About Mental Illness)

I'm a sick guy in desperate need of anti-depressants and possibly anti-psychotics (okay, maybe not the latter) So I enjoy dark music from that off-Broadway place in the skull I can relate to: Not everything's hunky-dorry, not everyone is from the Hills and not everyone likes the shallow music of Lady GaGa. Now, now, I'm not one for the Teen Angst top 40. I don't find songs like Green Day's 'Basket Case', Disturbed's 'Down with the Sickness' or Papa Roach's 'Last Resort' particularly deeper then Rihanna's 'Disturbia'. That said, I'd like to share some songs that come from the dark side of brain and pull it off without sounding emo.

Amanda Palmer: 'Runs In The Family'

"My friend has problems with winter and autumn
they give him prescriptions, they shine bright lights on him
they say its genetic, they say he can't help it
they say you can catch it but sometimes you're born with it."

What I love about this song is miss Amanda (fucking) Palmer shows us how Mental Health is often misunderstood: No one knows how it works, if its real or not, or how to fix it. Dealing with mental health's biggest obstacle is explaining it to those around you, weather they be your friends, co-workers or even your family.

Barenaked Ladies: 'Light Up My Room'

"There are luxuries we can't afford
But in our house we never get bored
Because we can dance to the radio station
That plays in our teeth"

This song highlights the tin-foil hat kind of crazy, the kind of crazy the people who think the CIA put tracking devices in their skulls have. The kind of crazy that watched Cops, X-Files and Unsolved Mysteries in the 90's.
Note: This song really isn't about being insane but about living next to a Hydroelectric Power plant, go figure.

The Beatles: 'I Am The Walrus'

"Boy you've been a naughty girl
you've let your knickers down"

The sixties must have been a real headache for the seventies. This song exemplifies the crazy you get when you've taken far too much acid. At the time it must have seemed pretty deep; all that knocking down of the social bindings like gender identities and social norms, but the morning after I bet it seemed pretty awkward.

Billy Joel: 'Piano Man'

"The waitress is practicing politics
while the business men slowly get stoned
they're sharing a drink they call 'loneliness'
but its better then drinking alone"

Although I would definitely classify alcoholism as a mental illness, which is definitely what this song is about, there's another theme that hits hard with me: loneliness. I've had stretches where I've not spoken to a human being for days, even weeks, and nothing makes you want to blow your brains out like having no friends. Nothing like trying to start a conversation with a cashier at Wal-Mart just because you're just so alone. So alone.

The Breeders: 'Mad Lucas'

"I don't like dirt"

Germaphobia! Okay, maybe that's pretty weak. But its re-enforced by the brushing of the snare which sounds eerily like a washing machine.

Geto Boys: "Mind Playing Tricks On me"

"The more I swung the more blood flew
then he disappeared and my boys disappeared too
then I felt just like a fiend, It wasn't even close to Halloween
It was dark as fuck on the streets
and my hands where all bloody from punching on the concrete"

If some one psychoanalyzed the Geto Boys, they'd probably come up with a diagnosis of 'Parnoid Schizophrenia' either that, or a large case of 'fucked up'

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

(Written under the Influence of Lou Reed)

Music Causes Violence? (And Why Martin Bashir Is An Asshole)

The Insane Clown Posse is a guilty pleasure of mine, I went to a Job Corps and this is where I was introduced to them. Their fans seemed a bit dorky in their obsession but, all around, were not bad guys and gals. Actually, some of the kindest people I've met in recent years have all been Juggalos. So to my surprise the Job Corps staff, in their infinite wisdom decided to ban all ICP CD's, merchandise and "Paraphernalia" because as we all know violent music, especially those of two men painted as clowns, would not only cause violent behavior in fans but organize them into a massive and covert crime syndicate that every High School in the America fears.

"Its the question they've been asking since day one [does music cause violence?]" said Violent J to Martin Bashir, at this point Bashir, the guy who did the infamous Michael Jackson interview a few years back ("I am peter pan") has been trying to connect the music of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope to the violent actions of a tiny minority of their fan base for about 20 minutes. Im glad ICP had the presence of mind to record the interview for themselves, the interview as a whole reeked on Bashir's part of intent to run off with the footage and cut the shit out of it to make ICP seem like the ringleaders of the crime empire middle America wants them to be, or at the very least stupid.

That would be just perfect, right? If it turned out that ICP really were the reason kids smoke pot, drink on the weekends, have premarital sex and fight, steal and commit crime? If Marilyn Manson really was the reason two teenagers killed 13 people at their high school then themselves? If the Beatles really were the reason Charlie Manson had a bunch of brainwashed kids murder several people?

Something about the American way of thinking makes us blame. As a knee jerk reaction Americans see teenagers committing crime, they don't pay attention to the school they go to, their grades, their home life or dozens of other sociological explanations: they pay attention to the t-shirt the kid is wearing.

It seems Americans can be short sighted and stupid when it comes to these things. Take Columbine for example: we have two teenagers, two painfully average kids, who after an early morning bowling session go to school and kill a whole bunch of people. Oh, my! how could this be? was it because they wore trench coats? was it because they may or may not of been fans of Marilyn Manson? No, you Ignorant fuck, where do you think you are? The fifties? Elvis Presley caused as big of a shit storm back in the day then Marilyn Manson ever did in the 90's. Maybe it was the fact that these kids had been chronically bullied? on top of severe undiagnosed personality disorders? on top of the fact that their fucking parents weren't paying any attention? No, that would mean personal accountability of the community that let it happen. Didn't reach out to these kids. Didn't try and help them.

Now, that might have struck you as mightily insensitive. No one deserves a mass murder in their home town. But really, do we honestly believe we can can blame music for all the shitty things about our society? Martin Bashir would have you believe so. But then again, he's just selling ad space.

"Raise your kids better or I’ll be raising them for you."
- Marilyn Manson

You Tube video of the ICP interview

(Written under the influence of Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails)