List of songs about mental illness

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This is a list of songs related to mental illness, including depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

This is an incomplete list of songs, which can or may never satisfy any objective standard for completeness. Revisions and additions are welcome.

Contents

[edit] 0-9

[edit] A

Told from the perspective of the serial killer in Flannery O'Connor's eponymous story, as he reflects anxiously and despondently on his crimes ("Hold to your gun, man / And put off all your peace / And put off all the beast" as well as "I once was better / I put off all my grief").

[edit] B

[edit] C

'China Girl' is a street name for a powerful opioid drug used for anesthesia and analgesia. It is also related to antipsychotic drugs such as Compazine, Mellaril, Stelazine, and Thorazine, "Street names for fentanyl include apache, china girl, china white, dance fever, friend, goodfella, jackpot, murder 8, TNT, and Tango and Cash", source www.drugabusehelp.com, A strong link exists between drug abuse and mental illness. This song's lyrics describe a man's growing anxiety and his relationship with the drug 'china girl'. "I could escape this feeling with my China Girl", hints at the drug nature of China Girl (he's looking for escape from a condition), and "It's in the whites of my eyes", "And when I get excited..." are hints of the elevated anxiety he experiences (the condition he needs to escape).
"Cut" is about Self-harm.

[edit] D

This song is about social anxiety disorder. "Don't talk. Don't let them inside your mind. Run away! Run away!"

[edit] E

This song is told from the point of view of someone comforting a friend who is suicidal.

[edit] F

[edit] G

This song describes an obsessive relationship ("Cause I've been without, I go wild with doubt / I grab at you, I can't stop grabbing at you") and poorly concealed desperation, as in the lines, "Everything is fine, I'm lonely all the time" and "There's nothing wrong, just don't take too long."

[edit] H

This song expresses the paranoia associated with massive fame. As John Lennon explains, "When Help! came out, I was actually crying out for help. Most people think it's just a fast rock 'n' roll song....But later, I knew I was really crying out for help....Anyway, I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for help."[citation needed]
This song relates the weather to the two poles of bipolar disorder "Because on and off / The clouds have fought / Their control over the sky And lately the weather / Has been so Bi-polar / And Consequently so have I"
This song is about Howard Hughes who had Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

[edit] I

[edit] J

[edit] K

Some versions of this lyrics for this song (though not the ones that accompany the Anomalies album) include "this is a song about a schizophrenic, I met on the street, told me how he killed for weed".[citation needed]

[edit] L

[edit] M

This song describes both the euphoric highs associated with creating music ("Music, sweet music/I wish I could caress") as well as the desperation and suicidal tendencies perhaps associated with mixed states ("Really ain't no use in me hanging around").
This song describes the hyperactive and distractibility associated with Bipolar disorder's mania
"Mind War" could generally describe mental illness, but the following lyrics seem to be especially true of those who suffer from bipolar illness: "Is there ever focus/When you plan things out/Gods hands Gods fault/Just drunk with power".
This song is about Valium addiction.

[edit] N

This song is about addiction as well as depression.
Discusses self-harm, specifically cutting
Clearly mentions the singer as having more than one personality.

[edit] O

[edit] P

[edit] Q

[edit] R

[edit] S

Elton John later explained that the song really was about a friend saving him from trying to commit suicide following the breakup of a relationship with a woman, when John was trying to convince himself and his fans that he was not, in fact, homosexual.[citation needed]
This song is about being unfairly locked up in a psychiatric hospital. "Don't even wonder, we do things our way here. Questions? These are forbidden. We got no answers. Believe us anyway."

[edit] T

Melora mentions on the A Radical Recital album that this song is about a mentally ill friend of hers.
This song appears on a Pink Floyd album which has numerous songs dealing with mental illness, see The Wall for more information about plot.
Released in 1966, this was one of the first popular songs to directly reference mental illness. A siren is used as a sound effect — presumably the authorities are coming to involuntarily commit the vocalist to a mental institution.
This song includes references to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

[edit] U

[edit] V

[edit] W

[edit] X

[edit] Y

John Lennon's dark song is explicitly suicidal: "Black clouds cross my mind/Blue mist round my soul/Feel so suicidal/Even hate my rock 'n' roll".

[edit] Z

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