{"id":10462,"date":"2021-04-03T23:52:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T06:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/?p=10462"},"modified":"2021-04-04T13:25:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T20:25:50","slug":"antipsychiatry-playlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/03\/antipsychiatry-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"Antipsychiatry playlist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Note: In 2021 I\u2019ll publish one blog post per week. Here\u2019s entry 13 of 52<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/KissingAlexGrey-220x300.jpg\" alt=\"The image shows two people kissing. Their skinless bodies allow us to see their brains, bones, and blood vessels. Golden flames surround the couple.\" class=\"wp-image-10465\" width=\"316\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/KissingAlexGrey-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/KissingAlexGrey.jpg 514w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 316px) 100vw, 316px\" \/><figcaption>&#8220;Kissing&#8221;, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alexgrey.com\/art\/paintings\/soul\/alex_grey_kissing\">an oil painting by Alex Grey<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s a playlist of thirteen songs I like with antipsychiatry themes. If you aren&#8217;t familiar with the topic, <a href=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/20\/trauma-anniversary-curiosity\/\">this post<\/a> of mine from two weeks ago is as good a place to start as any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I ordered the playlist not in any ranking, but in a sequence I find enjoyable for listening, akin to a mixtape from the days of old. I added very broad genre tags to each title; such categorizations are infinitely debatable, which can get boring. I simply put the tags there to aid hurried people who might prefer not to invest a lot of time trying out a type of music they hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After each youtube embed, you&#8217;ll find the song&#8217;s lyrics and then a paragraph from me commenting on the music. If you can suggest any additional entries for the playlist, please do so in the comments. Enjoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Metallica&#8217;s &#8220;Welcome Home (Sanitarium)&#8221; live in Seattle 1989, originally from their 1986 album <em>Master of Puppets<\/em>. Genre: Heavy Metal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Live Seattle 1989 (HD)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lqee-u7Uq2I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Welcome to where time stands still\nNo one leaves and no one will\nMoon is full, never seems to change\nLabeled mentally deranged\nDream the same thing every night\nI see our freedom in my sight\nNo locked doors, no windows barred\nNo things to make my brain seem scarred\n\nSleep my friend and you will see\nThat dream is my reality\nThey keep me locked up in this cage\nCan't they see it's why my brain says \"rage\"\n\nSanitarium, leave me be\nSanitarium, just leave me alone\n\nBuild my fear of what's out there\nCannot breathe the open air\nWhisper things into my brain\nAssuring me that I'm insane\nThey think our heads are in their hands\nBut violent use brings violent plans\nKeep him tied, it makes him well\nHe's getting better, can't you tell?\n\nNo more can they keep us in\nListen, damn it, we will win\nThey see it right, they see it well\nBut they think this saves us from our hell\n\nSanitarium, leave me be\nSanitarium, just leave me alone\nSanitarium, just leave me alone\n \nFear of living on\nNatives getting restless now\nMutiny in the air\nGot some death to do\nMirror stares back hard\nKill, it's such a friendly word\nSeems the only way\nFor reaching out again<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>I must have listened to &#8220;Sanitarium&#8221; a million times in middle and high school. (I&#8217;ve never heard a metalhead call this song &#8220;Welcome Home&#8221;; everyone just calls it &#8220;Sanitarium,&#8221; an old term for psychiatric hospital.) The live footage above is from Metallica&#8217;s peak period, no doubt accelerated by, not psych drugs, but the recreational kind. It&#8217;s nice to see Lars Ulrich putting in effort on the drums, unlike in recent decades. The lyrics portray well how psychiatrists typically just make things worse, leading their locked up patients to resent them and fire back, a doomed dance so long as <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.doctorterrylynch.com\/\">genuine help<\/a> remains drowned out by corporate volume. But it&#8217;s a little silly to imagine hospitalized patients staging a rebellion; realistically, people confined in in-patient settings are far too drugged and beaten down to resist much, and meanwhile, getting with the program, or pretending to, is how patients get discharged. I once saw a tall, muscular black patient repeatedly insist, for days, to the staff that he didn&#8217;t like how he was being treated. He talked with other patients, suggesting that they too speak up. The other patients kept their distance; plenty of patients in general nowadays say their hospitalizations are helpful, comparing them to worse family\/friend situations instead of to what&#8217;s possible if people just tried. Anyway, the staff kept giving the outspoken black man Thorazine pills, and as far as I ever saw, he was made sluggish, tamping down on his efforts. Back to the song, I like Kirk Hammett&#8217;s melodic guitar solos early on. The fast section ending this tune, like the equivalent fast section ending many metal songs, sounds good, though a bit generic to me. A frenzied solo plays and cymbals bang, as more or less as expected. Thankfully the underlying chord progression is dramatic and enjoyable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. Suicidal Tendencies&#8217; &#8220;Institutionalized&#8221; the single from their 1983 self-titled debut album <em>Suicidal Tendencies<\/em>. Genre: Metal\/Punk crossover<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Suicidal Tendencies - &quot;Institutionalized&quot; Frontier Records - Official Music Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LoF_a0-7xVQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Sometimes I try to do things and it just doesn't work out the way I want it to.\nAnd I get real frustrated and, like, I try hard to do it and I, like, take my time and it doesn't work out the way I want it to.\nIt's like I concentrate on it real hard but it just doesn't work out.\nAnd everything I do and everything I try, it never turns out.\nIt's like, I need time to figure these things out.\nBut there's always someone there going: \"Hey Mike, you know, we've been noticing you've been having a lot of problems lately, you know? Maybe you should get away and, like, maybe you should talk about it, you'll feel a lot better.\"\nAnd I go: \"No, it's okay, you know. I'll figure it out, just leave me alone, I'll figure it out, you know. I'm just working on myself.\"\nAnd they go: \"Well you know, if you want to talk about it, I'll be here, you know. And you'll probably feel a lot better if you talk about it. So why don't you talk about it?\"\nI go: \"No, I don't want to, I'm okay, I'll figure it out myself.\"\nBut they just keep bugging me, and they just keep bugging me, and it builds up inside.<\/em>\n<em>\nSo you're gonna be institutionalized\nYou'll come out brainwashed with bloodshot eyes\nYou won't have any say\nThey'll brainwash you until you see their way.\nI'm not crazy \u2014 Institution\nYou're the one that's crazy \u2014<\/em> <em>Institution\nYou're driving me crazy \u2014 Institution\nThey stuck me in an institution,\nSaid it was the only solution,\nto give me the needed professional help,\nto protect me from the enemy: myself.\n<\/em>\n<em>I was in my room and I was just, like, staring at the wall thinking about everything,\nBut then again, I was thinking about nothing.\nAnd then my mom came in and I didn't even know she was there.\nShe called my name and I didn't hear her and then she started screaming: \"MIKE! MIKE!\"\nAnd I go: \"What, what's the matter?\"\nShe goes: \"What's the matter with you?\"\nI go: \"There's nothing wrong, Mom.\"\nShe goes: \"Don't tell me that, you're on drugs!\"\nI go: \"No Mom, I'm not on drugs, I'm okay, I'm just thinking you know, why don't you get me a Pepsi?\"\nShe goes: \"No, you're on drugs!\"\nI go: \"Mom I'm okay, I'm just thinking.\"\nAnd she goes: \"No, you're not thinking, you're on drugs! Normal people don't be acting that way!\"\nI go: \"Mom, just get me a Pepsi, please. All I want is a Pepsi.\"<\/em>\nA<em>nd she wouldn't give it to me.\nAll I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me.\nJust a Pepsi.\n<\/em>\n<em>They give you a white shirt with long sleeves\nTied around you're back, you're treated like thieves\nDrug you up because they're lazy\nIt's too much work to help a crazy.\nI'm not crazy<em> \u2014<\/em> Institution\nYou're the one who's crazy <em>\u2014<\/em> Institution\nYou're driving me crazy <em>\u2014<\/em> Institution\nThey stuck me in an institution,\nSaid it was the only solution,\nto give me the needed professional help,\nto protect me from the enemy: myself.\n<\/em>\n<em>I was sitting in my room and my mom and my dad came in, and they pulled up a chair and they sat down.\nThey go: 'Mike, we need to talk to you.\"\nAnd I go: \"Okay, what's the matter?\"\nThey go: 'Me and your mom have been noticing lately that you've been having a lot of problems, and you've been going off for no reason and we're afraid you're going to hurt somebody, and we're afraid you're going to hurt yourself! So we decided that it would be in you're best interest if we put you somewhere where you could get the help that you need.\"\nAnd I go: \"Wait, what are you talking about, WE decided!? MY best interests?! How do you know what MY best interest is? How can you say what MY best interest is? What are you trying to say, I'M crazy? When I went to YOUR schools, I went to YOUR churches, I went to YOUR institutional learning facilities?! So how can you say I'm crazy?'\n<\/em>\n<em>They say they're gonna fix my brain\nAlleviate my suffering and my pain\nBut by the time they fix my head\nMentally I'll be dead.\nI'm not crazy <em>\u2014<\/em><\/em> <em>Institution\nYou're the one who's crazy <em>\u2014<\/em> Institution\nYou're driving me crazy <em>\u2014<\/em> Institution\nThey stuck me in an institution\nSaid it was the only solution\nto give me the needed professional help,\nto protect me from the enemy: myself.\n<\/em>\n<em>Doesn't matter, I'll probably get hit by a car anyways.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately I never really checked out Suicidal Tendencies besides this one particular song, an MTV hit in its day. The lyrics are probably pretty relatable for many teenagers even today. One of the interesting facts about severe mental health problems is that they usually begin \u2014 plenty of exceptions, but usually \u2014 during adolescence, when people are expected to transition from childhood to &#8220;adulthood,&#8221; which is what we call complicity with corporations and their ancillaries (such as the education system) and the adoption of non-philosophies like <em>Don&#8217;t think too hard, don&#8217;t care too much, get a job any job<\/em>. There are a lot of ways to bail on this &#8220;adulthood,&#8221; and one of them is to develop the semi-involuntary, semi-voluntary capability to escape into altered states, especially when suffering extreme emotions, a kind of &#8220;non-compliance&#8221; with the corporate\/military world that surrounds everyone. Thus fittingly, the lyrics of &#8220;Institutionalized&#8221;, and many other songs on this list, portray characters&#8217; teenage years. I don&#8217;t know much about singer Mike Muir, who formed the band as a teen himself, but his vocalizations of the run-on sentence lyrics sound like he lived something like the lyrics describe, see for instance his use of psych industry jargon with the phrase &#8220;institutional learning facility.&#8221; Musically, I like the dramatic tension created by the chromatic chord progression in the chorus, chords going up and down over and over by just a half step. There&#8217;s also a neat bit on the electric guitar that&#8217;s easy to miss between about 1:34 and about 1:40, palm-muted arpeggios, I think in the middle of the guitar neck, that sound really dissonant and abnormal\/deviant (insane) for a song&#8217;s verse section. I also like how in the music video, Muir&#8217;s bandmates in their eye-catching white car function as his rescuers; Muir&#8217;s existential answers rest with them, and at the video&#8217;s close, in the front passenger seat, he rides off with his comrades into the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. Dead Kennedys&#8217; &#8220;Insight&#8221; from their 1987 album <em>Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death<\/em>. Genre: Punk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dead Kennedys - Insight - Lyrics\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j2aY9KKzjc0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Who's that kid in the back of the room?\nWho's that kid in the back of the room?\nHe's setting all his papers on fire\nHe's setting all his papers on fire\nWhere did he get that crazy smile?\nWhere did he get that crazy smile?\nWe all think he's really weird\nWe all think he's really weird<\/em>\n<em>\nWe never talk to him\nHe never looks quite right\nHe laughs at us, we just beat him up\nWhat he sees escapes our sight\nSight!<\/em>\n<em>\nWe never see him with the girls\nWe never see him with the girls\nHe's talking to himself again\nHe's talking to himself again\nWhy doesn't he want tons of friends?\nWhy doesn't he want tons of friends?\nSays he's bored when we hang around\nSays he's bored when we hang around<\/em>\n<em>\nWe never talk to him\nHe never looks quite right\nHe laughs at us, we just beat him up\nWhat he sees escapes our sight\nSight!\n<\/em>\n<em>We're all planning our careers\nWe're all planning our careers\nWe're all planning our careers\nHe says we're growing old<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>I really like this song. It&#8217;s short, like so many Dead Kennedys and punk songs in general are. Having grown up on metal, I&#8217;m always like, &#8220;Where&#8217;s the guitar solo?&#8221; Anyway, check out the lyrics: they&#8217;re told from the perspective of the conformist teens at school, who can&#8217;t fathom someone who gets &#8220;bored&#8221; with them and doesn&#8217;t need &#8220;tons of friends.&#8221; The chorus has some good musical humor that matches the lyrics, not just singer Jello Biafra&#8217;s goofy modulation of the word &#8220;sight&#8221; (right after &#8220;escapes our&#8221;), but that bass line too. I&#8217;m not sure how to characterize it, except both the bass line and the guitar chords in the background are really Beginner 101 stuff musically, and that serves to highlight the stupid conformity of the song&#8217;s narrators. Jello Biafra dancing around like a goofball on stage makes it even more indicting somehow&#8230; a little like their improvised(?) live song &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Mm5y-ldn3xE\">Night of the Living Rednecks<\/a>&#8221; from Portland Oregon in 1979 \u2014 which also mentions pretending to be a mental patient. Back to &#8220;Insight,&#8221; a quick dissonant chord progression ends the song, with Biafra&#8217;s lyrics hitting a usual point for him, the barrenness of careerism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. Daniel Mackler&#8217;s &#8220;The Psych Med Song&#8221; from his 2009 album <em>Songs from the Locked Ward<\/em>. Genre: Folk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Psych Med Song:  antipsychiatry song on psychiatric drugs\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zTiwt042wrk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Prozac Buspar Xanax too\nHaloperidol for you\nZoloft Zyban Trazodone\nAntabuse and Methadone\n\nIf neuroleptics make you shake\nthen Benztropine you must take\nThey profit from the drugs they sell\nFrom the side effects as well\n\nThorazine Amphetamine\nLuvox Carbamazapine\nClozapine and Stelazine\nProtripyline lamotrigine\n\nValium and Ativan\nviagra for the modern man\nBut now some ladies take it too\nOff-label is good for you!\n\nAbilify and Mellaril\nKlonopin Anafrinil\nNaltrexone oxazepam\nRozerem triazolam\n\nCelexa went generic, oh\nSo let's brand name it Lexapro\nTweak the formula a touch\nSells for thirty times as much\n\nVenlafaxine Doxepin\nBenificat and Ambien\nCymbalta and Adderall\nSerzone and Propanolol\n\nBupropion does not sound fun\nSo market it as Wellbutrin\nIf its drug name makes you chafe\nChange its name so it sounds safe\n\nEffexor and Vistaril\nLunesta and Tofranil\nLibrium and Nembutal\nZeldox Phenobarbital\n\nIt takes a town to raise a kid\nBut barring that there\u2019s Ritalin\nPills are good for kids I know\nThe FDA it told me so\n\nTopomax and Trilafon\nDepakote and Geodon\nMethylin Modafinil\nDexedrine and Dogmatil\n\nLobotomy has since evolved\nNowadays there\u2019s Risperdal\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/1300710\">Zyprexa shrinks a monkey\u2019s brain<\/a>\nYou tell me now who\u2019s insane\n\nNardil Paxil Elavil\nProlixin and Seroquel\nMoban Marplan and Navane\nBenadryl and Loxitane\n\nLithium will soothe your mood\nIf it doesn\u2019t poison you\nIf you think they\u2019re danger free\nBuy the Brooklyn Bridge from me\n\nMirtazipine Nortriptyline\nProcyclidine fluphenazine\nEldepryl and Loxapine\nFlurazepam Desipramine\nSymmetrel Reboxetine\nHalcion Trimipramine \n\nLa la la\u2014la la la\nLa la la la la la\u2026.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Psych Med Song&#8221; is quite charming, the lyrics and the video both. The rhythm guitar parts are simple and clean, and over them the song has that little silly cute melody on the thin strings (reminding me somehow of the goofy beep melodies in Kraftwerk&#8217;s 1981 song &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eSBybJGZoCU\">Pocket Calculator<\/a>&#8220;). &#8220;The Psych Med Song&#8221; really shows what a musician can accomplish by merely using a flawless, even if simple, chord progression chugging away in the background, a nice memorable melody on the guitar repeating a few times (toward the end with harmony), and then clever lyrics with quality singing. The subject is something Mackler knows intimately from over a decade of experience as a therapist and <a href=\"http:\/\/wildtruth.net\/films-recovery-schizophrenia\/\">documentary filmmaker<\/a>, so that clearly touches his singing, and you can hear it in his voice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. Daniel Mackler&#8217;s &#8220;Bullshit&#8221; from his 2009 album <em>Songs from the Locked Ward<\/em>. Genre: Folk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bullshit--Anti-Psychiatry and Anti-Medication Song\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/18Y8dMIPXIk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>They tell me my problem\u2019s genetic,\nI'm born with a flaw in my brain\nThey tell me I need medication,\nand force me to bury my pain\n\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nTheir pills make me shaky and sweaty,\nI fear that they\u2019re breaking my will\nThey told me that this is quite normal,\nand added another new pill<\/em>\n\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nThey put me inside a straitjacket,\nthey locked me inside of a cage\nThey inject me with Haldol to calm me,\nyet wonder why I'm full of rage.<\/em>\n\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nThey give me a shrink I can talk to,\nbut she is just spiritually dead.\nShe only repeats the same question:\n\u201cAre you still taking your meds?\u201d\n<\/em>\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nThey forcefed me <a href=\"https:\/\/therisingtideofmedicalcontrol.blogspot.com\/2016\/06\/the-treatment-advocacy-center-portrait.html\">E. Fuller Torrey<\/a>,\nBut he is sadistic and gross.\nI asked them about Peter Breggin,\nThey replied by increasing my dose.\n<\/em>\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nTheir studies are <a href=\"https:\/\/georgiebc.wordpress.com\/2017\/02\/11\/science-isolation-and-control\/\">so scientific<\/a>,\nand based on assiduous work.\nBut they don\u2019t share their affiliations\nwith Lilly and Janssen and Merck.<\/em>\n\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nThey absolve all of my traumatizers,\nthe horrors that they did to me.\nThey tell me to put it behind me,\nand say that I need ECT.<\/em>\n\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles\n\nI said I think I can recover,\nAnd taper off all of these meds.\nThey tell me that\u2019s just my delusion,\nAn illness that lives in my head.<\/em>\n\n<em>Bullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles and miles\nBullshit, bullshit, I\u2019ve learned to smell bullshit from miles<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>A very combative song here from Daniel Mackler. His three songs in this playlist are all available on <a href=\"http:\/\/wildtruth.net\/songs-from-the-locked-ward\/\">his 2009 album<\/a>, which I still need to purchase myself. The rhythm guitar on &#8220;Bullshit&#8221; plays along steadily in the song&#8217;s background, like in &#8220;The Psych Med Song,&#8221; except instead of 4\/4 time, &#8220;Bullshit&#8221; is in 6\/4, sounding akin to a music box. I like the descending scalar runs from the lead guitar; it fits the 6\/4 time somehow, like we&#8217;re placed into this dreamy world, except it&#8217;s not a good one; it&#8217;s the rose-tinted glasses dreamy world of conventional psychiatry, where if you just keep taking your &#8220;meds,&#8221; everything will be fine, no need to question or research who came up with <a href=\"https:\/\/doctorterrylynch.com\/depression-delusion\/\">the chemical imbalance theory<\/a> and what the arguments for and against it are. The lyrics do a great, concise job of explaining why just going along with everything is bullshit and what&#8217;s really at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6. Daniel Mackler&#8217;s &#8220;Little Bottles&#8221; from his 2009 album <em>Songs from the Locked Ward<\/em>. Genre: Folk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Psychiatric Medication Dangers Music Video -- Little Bottles\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-5LyH61VH30?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Little bottles in the cabinet<\/em>\n<em>Little bottles full of chemicals<\/em>\n<em>Little bottles from the doctor<\/em>\n<em>Little bottles for your head<\/em>.\n\n<em>There's a green pill<\/em>\n<em>And a pink pill\nand a blue pill\nand a yellow pill\nAnd they're all made out of chemicals\nAnd they make you feel good<\/em>.\n\n<em>There's Zyprexa and there's Prozac<\/em>\n<em>And Ritalin and lithium<\/em>\n<em>And Xanax and Risperidal<\/em>\n<em>And the MAOIs<\/em>\n<em>They're for depression and bipolar<\/em>\n<em>And anxiety and schizophrenia<\/em>\n<em>And for panic and for smoking and PTSD<\/em>.\n\n<em>There's a green pill<\/em>\n<em>And a pink pill\nand a blue pill\nand a yellow pill\nAnd they're all made out of chemicals\nAnd they make you feel good<\/em>.\n\n<em>But the people who take them<\/em>\n<em>Often get all sorts of funny side effects\nLike twitching and weight gain\nAnd some things that are worse\nLike loss of feelings\nAnd loss of passion\nLoss of focus and no erections\nAnd addictions and heart disease\nAnd sometimes suicide<\/em>.\n\n<em>There's a green pill<\/em>\n<em>And a pink pill\nand a blue pill\nand a yellow pill\nAnd they're all made out of chemicals\nAnd they make you feel good<\/em>.\n\n<em>Yet the shrinks all recommend them<\/em>\n<em>With their thousand-dollar consultations<\/em>\n<em>But you should trust them<\/em>\n<em>Because after all, half the shrinks take them too<\/em>\n\n<em>Numb the symptoms, ditch the therapy,<\/em>\n<em>Support the pharmaceutical industry\nDeny the traumas that caused the misery\nAnd pass them all on to your kids.<\/em>\n\n<em>There's a green pill<\/em>\n<em>And a pink pill\nand a blue pill\nand a yellow pill\nAnd they're all made out of chemicals\nAnd they make you feel good<\/em>.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Little Bottles&#8221; is very sad&#8230; It&#8217;s amazing how much can be accomplished with that simple rhythm guitar in the background (now mostly in 3\/4 time), a singer singing of something he&#8217;s very experienced with and passionate about, and that repetition of <em>There&#8217;s a green pill \/ And a pink pill \/ and a blue pill \/ and a yellow pill<\/em>. When all is said and done, when all the fancy corporate science studies and voted-into-existence diagnostic codes and abusive legal jargon are over with, once we&#8217;ve finally finished hearing the multisyllabic vocabulary from above, then the traumatized person is left alone in the bathroom with a bottle of green pills, pink pills, blue pills to swallow&#8230; a ritual that says, <em>You can&#8217;t take care of your mind without these<\/em>, plus all the adverse side effects and no understanding of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.doctorterrylynch.com\/\">why<\/a><\/em> extreme, altered emotional experiences are happening to the patients and increasingly more and more of humanity. Continuing to &#8220;Deny the traumas that caused the misery&#8221; will have really bad long-term consequences for everyone. Thankfully via Twitter and other sources, everyone can see people really risking themselves to improve the world, from climate activist <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gretathunberg\">Greta Thunberg<\/a> to the numerous examples amplified by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/youranoncentral\">@YourAnonCentral<\/a> (see also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yaccreate\">@yaccreate<\/a> for solely good news). We can learn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beautifultrouble.org\/\">things to try out<\/a> ourselves; we can empower ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. Daniel Johnston&#8217;s &#8220;The Story of an Artist&#8221; from his 1982 album <em>Don&#8217;t Be Scared<\/em>. Genre: Lo-fi, outsider<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Daniel Johnston - The Story Of An Artist\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FKW2H0WBqW8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>(I don't know.\nIt's like when you go to read your own poetry\nAnd you get all choked up.)\n\nListen up and I'll tell a story\nAbout an artist growing old\nSome would try for fame and glory\nOthers aren't so bold.\n\nEveryone and friends and family\nSaying, \"Hey, get a job!\nWhy do you only do that only?\nWhy are you so odd?\"\n\n\"We don't really like what you do\nWe don't think anyone ever will.\nIt's a problem that you have,\nAnd this problem's made you ill.\"\n<\/em>\n<em>Listen up and I'll tell a story\nAbout an artist growing old.\nSome would try for fame and glory\nOthers aren't so bold.<\/em>\n<em>\nThe artist walks alone\nSomeone says behind his back,\n\"He's got his gall to call himself that!\nHe doesn't even know where he's at.\"\n<\/em>\n<em>The artist walks among the flowers\nAppreciating the sun.\nHe does this all his waking hours\nBut is it really so wrong?<\/em>\n<em>\nThey sit in front of their TVs.\nSaying, \"Hey, this is fun!\"\nAnd they laugh at the artist,\nSaying, \"He doesn't know how to have fun.\"\n<\/em>\n<em>The best things in life are truly free.\nSinging birds and laughing bees.\nYou got me wrong, says he.\nThe sun don't shine in your TV.\n<\/em>\n<em>Listen up and I'll tell a story\nAbout an artist growing old.\nSome would try for fame and glory\nOthers aren't so bold.<\/em>\n<em>\nEveryone and friends and family.\nSaying, \"Hey, get a job!\nWhy do you only do that only?\nWhy are you so odd?\"<\/em>\n<em>\n\"We don't really like what you do\nWe don't think anyone ever will\nIt's a problem that you have\nAnd this problem's made you ill.\"<\/em>\n<em>\nListen up and I'll tell a story\nAbout an artist growing old\nSome would try for fame and glory\nOthers just like to watch the world<\/em>.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Story of an Artist&#8221; is the only song I know by Daniel Johnston. He died in 2019; he was diagnosed with manic-depression and spent time in psychiatric hospitals. There&#8217;s a documentary about him that I haven&#8217;t seen. The lyrics are great. They make me want to <a href=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/06\/running-exploration-adventure\/\">spend more time outdoors<\/a> instead of at my day job&#8230; The music, well, it reminds everyone that technical ability \u2014 so often prioritized to the exclusion of everything else by music teachers, music schools, etc. \u2014 is really not that important compared with creating\/performing from the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>8. The Avalanches&#8217; &#8220;Frontier Psychiatrist&#8221; from their 2000 debut album <em>Since I Left You<\/em>. Genre: Electronica<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist (Official HD Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qLrnkK2YEcE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>(Mr Kirk:) Is Dexter ill, is Dexter ill, is Dexter ill, is Dexter ill today?\n(Ms Fishborne:) Mr Kirk, Dexter's in school.\n(Mr Kirk:) I'm afraid he's not, Ms Fishborne. Dexter's truancy problem is way out of hand.\nThe Baltimore County school board have decided to expel Dexter from the entire public school system.\n(Ms Fishborne:) Oh Mr Kirk, I'm as upset as you to learn of Dexter's truancy.\nBut surely, expulsion is not the answer!\n(Mr Kirk:) I'm afraid expulsion is the only answer.\nIt's the opinion of the entire staff that Dexter is criminally insane!\n\nThat boy needs therapy, psychosomatic\nThat boy needs therapy, purely psychosomatic\nThat boy needs therapy\nLie down on the couch! What does that mean?\nYou're a nut! You're crazy in the coconut!\nWhat does that mean? That boy needs therapy\nI'm gonna kill you, that boy needs therapy\nPlay the kazoo, let's have it tune\nOn the count of three.\nThat, that, that, that, that boy...boy needs therapy\nHe was white as a sheet\nAnd he also made false teeth\n\nAvalanche is above, business continues below\n\nDid I ever tell you the story about\u2014\nCowboys! Mi\u2014mi\u2014midgets and the Indians and frontier psychiatrist\nI, I felt strangely hypnotized\nI was in another world, a world of 20,000 girls\nAnd milk! Rectangles, to an optometrist, a man with a golden eyeball\nAnd tighten your buttocks, pour juice on your chin.\nI promise my girlfriend I'd\u2014the violin, violin, violin\n\nFrontier Psychiatrist.\nFrontier, frontier, frontier, frontier\nFrontier, frontier, frontier, frontier\n\nThat boy needs therapy, psychosomatic\nThat boy needs therapy, purely psychosomatic\nThat boy needs therapy\nLie down on the couch, what does that mean?\nYou're a nut! You're crazy in the coconut!\nWhat does that mean? That boy needs therapy\nI'm gonna kill you, that boy needs therapy\nRanagazoo, let's have a tune\nNow when I count three\nThat, that, that, that, that boy...boy needs therapy\nHe was white as a sheet\nAnd he also made false teeth\n\nFrontier Psychiatrist\n\nCan you think of anything else that talks, other than a person?\nUh um, uh um, a bird? Yeah!\nSometimes a parrot talks\nHa ha ha ha ha !!!!\nYes, some birds are funny when they talk...\nCan you think of anything else?\nUm, a record, record, record?<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Frontier Psychiatrist&#8221; is an electronica collage of surreal samples and lyrics set to a hypnotizing drum beat and a repetitive chromatic progression (up and down a single half step) with various melodies coming and going on top of it. Kind of like how in psychiatric hospitals, patients are recommended to create collages with glue sticks, infantilizing, as if they&#8217;re elementary school students. The song, especially with the extremely surreal music video (be sure to watch it!), captures the weird insanity of Freudian philosophy. The video shows old white psychiatrists in suits jabbing their pointing fingers and saying over and over &#8220;That boy needs therapy!&#8221; while bizarre mental health memes float by: patients lying on a couch, odd references to sex, the repetition of &#8220;What does that mean?&#8221; (something you must pay a psychoanalyst to find out), depictions of legal power (expelling Dexter from the school system), and more. The song sounds like the internal world of someone dreaming or being psychoanalyzed. Regarding the infectious music (see what I did there), it&#8217;s amazing what artists can create when they follow their own curiosity instead of others&#8217; expectations. This song isn&#8217;t something generic you&#8217;d expect from commercial radio or similar safe sources, but surprisingly, the song did well commercially, including on radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>9. Wall of Voodoo&#8217;s &#8220;Mexican Radio&#8221; single from their 1982 album <em>Call of the West<\/em>. Genre: New wave<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wall Of Voodoo - Mexican Radio (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eyCEexG9xjw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>I feel a hot wind on my shoulder\nAnd the touch of a world that is older.\nI turn the switch and check the number\nI leave it on when in bed I slumber.<\/em>\n<em>\nI hear the rhythms of the music\nI buy the product but never use it.\nI hear the talking of the DJ\nCan't understand, just what does he say?<\/em>\n<em>\nI'm on a Mexican radio\nI'm on a Mexican radio\nI dial it in and tune the station\nThey talk about the U.S. inflation.\nI understand just a little\nNo comprende--it's a riddle.\n<\/em>\n<em>I'm on a Mexican radio\nI'm on a Mexican radio\n<\/em>\n<em>I wish I was in Tijuana\nEating barbequed<\/em> <em>iguana.\nI'd take requests on the telephone\nI'm on a wavelength far from home.\n<\/em>\n<em>I feel a hot wind on my shoulder\nI dial it in from south of the border\nI hear the talking of the DJ\nCan't understand, just what does he say?\n<\/em>\n<em>Radio radio\u2026<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>It might be a little off (deviant, abnormal) to consider Wall of Voodoo&#8217;s &#8220;Mexican Radio&#8221; an antipsychiatry song, but to me it counts as one somehow. The singer&#8217;s radio tuner-like vocal modulations, the persistence of the hyped-up electronica beat (resembling radio equipment or medical machinery), and the mind-bending bleeps at the start and following the choruses, sound like a depleted mental state feels, everything stressed, tense, and crazed&#8230; The lyrics express the info-junkie&#8217;s addiction to unusual sources of information, whether the border blasters (unregulated radio stations) that inspired this song, or the less known corners of the Internet today; and, some degree of that info-addiction appears common in people with severe mental health problems, in my experience. Perhaps too much of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HgECRrabuZQ\">technology<\/a> just makes our mental lives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.powerwatch.org.uk\/science\/studies.asp\">worse<\/a>. That being said, &#8220;Mexican Radio&#8221; is a very fun song, and without strong conduits to important knowledge (including contemporary <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Samizdat\">samizdat<\/a>), people just stay stuck in the default corporate\/military echo chamber. The character in the lyrics is &#8220;on a wavelength far from home.&#8221; That&#8217;s similar in feel to the pursuit of unusual interests often wrongly categorized as characteristic of mental problems instead of as healthy curiosity. I guess the question is, will the character&#8217;s hobby\/passion hurt or help the person? The character remains dedicated to radio regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>10. Nujabes&#8217; &#8220;The Sign&#8221; from his 2005 album <em>Modal Soul<\/em>. Genre: Nu Jazz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nujabes - The Sign (ft. Pase Rock)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iO46HdK3fzc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Do we wanna watch it fall apart<\/em>?\n<em>Every time I walk, I watch<\/em>\n<em>I look, I notice, I observe, I read the signs<\/em>\n<em>And the signs are pointing in the wrong direction<\/em>\n<em>The signs are not naming the streets<\/em>\n<em>Or leading me to the highway<\/em>\n<em>The signs are naming names.<\/em>\n<em>Tombstones to mark the death of children not even born<\/em>\n<em>And I don't mean abortion, I mean what is to come<\/em>\n<em>The signs are telling me to turn back around<\/em>\n<em>The signs are telling me to research my past<\/em>\n<em>The signs are telling me to learn from my mistakes<\/em>\n<em>The signs are asking me questions.<\/em>\n<em>Do you wanna watch it all fall apart?<\/em>\n<em>Do you have any control?<\/em>\n<em>Is there anything that you can do?<\/em>\n<em>Time is not a nice person<\/em>\n<em>I know because the sign said it<\/em>\n<em>Time can be generous but ultimately time is indifferent<\/em>\n<em>Time does not give two damns or a fuck<\/em>\n<em>So what will you do?<\/em>\n<em>What will we do?<\/em>\n\n<em>So I'm in the middle of the street talkin' to the signs<\/em>\n<em>And people are lookin' at me pointing and laughing<\/em>\n<em>Like, \"This mothafucker's crazy!\"<\/em>\n<em>But do they not see the signs?<\/em>\n<em>Do you not see the signs?<\/em>\n\n<em>If there is one thing in this world<\/em>\n<em>That you can depend on<\/em>\n<em>That you can bet your last dollar on<\/em>\n<em>It's the ignorance of the American people<\/em>\n<em>But still I have faith<\/em>\n<em>And still I read the signs<\/em>\n<em>And they are indeed there<\/em>\n<em>Some of us are lost and will not find our way<\/em>\n<em>No matter what the signs say<\/em>\n<em>Some of us do not see the signs because we are too busy shopping<\/em>\n<em>Some of us do not see the signs because we can't help but stop and look at the accidents and stare<\/em>\n<em>We are in a daze, we are amazed by the world's displays<\/em>\n<em>Some of us do not see the signs because we are giving spare change to the homeless<\/em>\n<em>We are getting gas, we are volunteering for duty, and we are watching television<\/em>\n<em>We are driving around in circles on spinners and we are working eight to six<\/em>\n<em>We are on our way to the club<\/em>\n<em>We are high, we are drunk, and we are sober<\/em>\n<em>And we do not see the signs<\/em>\n<em>We are listening to a moron babble<\/em>\n<em>We are listening to tongues that lie<\/em>\n<em>We give them an ear, we give them a hand, we give them both eyes<\/em>\n<em>So we cannot see the signs.<\/em>\n\n<em>Slow, there are children playing in the streets<\/em>\n<em>And they cannot read the signs<\/em>\n<em>They are only children.<\/em>\n<em>Stop. Stop!<\/em>\n<em>I fear there is no U-turn<\/em>\n<em>And that this road dead-ends<\/em>\n<em>Because we cannot read the signs<\/em>\n<em>Do you not see the signs?<\/em>\n<em>We must read the signs<\/em>\n<em>And we must turn around<\/em>\n<em>We must turn around<\/em>\n<em>We gotta turn this shit around<\/em>\n<em>And we gotta read the signs<\/em>\n\n<em>We must read the signs...<\/em>\n<em>We must read the signs...<\/em>\n<em>We must read the signs...<\/em>\n<em>We gotta read the signs...<\/em>\n<em>We gotta turn this shit around...<\/em>\n<em>We gotta turn this shit around...<\/em>\n<em>We gotta read the signs...<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The late Nujabes&#8217; song &#8220;The Sign&#8221; has some really chill music. It&#8217;s great to hear an upright bass after all the fretted electric basses in the previous songs on this playlist. The piano is very pretty, and the rain stick (I think that&#8217;s what&#8217;s used) provides a soothing rhythm throughout. In front of this calming instrumental backdrop, Nujabes collaborator Pase Rock gives a strong, slightly abrasive spoken word performance. The lyrics express frustration with conformity, ignorance, and just going along with things, while at the same time valuing persistence (&#8220;And still I read the signs&#8221;) and some degree of optimism, that things might could be turned around. The subject of the lyrics is evocative of the <em>delusions of reference<\/em> experience in altered states, in which everyday perceptions seem to present exaggerated personal meanings, or grandiose personal salience, like supranormal stimuli does in various addictions (e.g., amphetamine seems to reveal that you&#8217;re special&#8230;but actually you&#8217;re just high). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>11. A Tribe Called Red&#8217;s &#8220;We Are the Halluci Nation&#8221; from their 2016 album <em>We Are the Halluci Nation<\/em>. Genre: Electronica<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Halluci Nation - We Are The Halluci Nation Ft. John Trudell &amp; Northern Voice (Official video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L4xwN3yPZA0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>We are the tribe that they cannot see\nWe live on an industrial reservation\nWe are the Halluci Nation\nWe have been called the Indians\nWe have been called Native American\nWe have been called hostile\nWe have been called Pagan\nWe have been called militant\nWe have been called many names\nWe are the Halluci Nation\nWe are the human beings\nThe callers of names cannot see us, but we can see them\nWe are the Halluci Nation\nOur DNA is of earth and sky\nOur DNA is of past and future\nWe are the Halluci Nation\nWe are the evolution, the continuation\nHalluci Nation\nThe Halluci Nation\nWe are the Halluci Nation\nWe are the Halluci Nation<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The private school, Western philosophy, pro-psychiatry world I grew up in would call it a stretch to suggest that it could have a serious harmful effect on a person&#8217;s mental health to walk around where genocide happened while not caring or taking action about it. From all I&#8217;ve learned in the last half decade, it&#8217;s really obvious such things do have effects on us. Just like savants can memorize mass amounts (or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jill_Price\">some people can&#8217;t forget anything<\/a>), it&#8217;s completely sensible to suggest that regularly driving past First Nation centers or reservations would stir up the subject in people&#8217;s minds, even when they try to ignore it. Not in the sense that psychiatrists might accept, as if a little imaginary particle (say) floats from the reservation and penetrating an individual&#8217;s barriers and lodging itself into their psyche, causing abnormality. But rather, that we&#8217;re all trying to live in this weakened, self-destructive web, surrounded by pollution and other corporate-caused problems, while psychiatrists lecture us about and drug us into showing up for corporate work (or for corporations&#8217; ancillaries) while maintaining a &#8220;good work ethic&#8221; and being &#8220;realistic&#8221; and all that, while our human needs are very, very different than our day jobs. If we don&#8217;t meet our needs, and instead file bureaucratic paperwork all day in some office job like members of the Imperial Civil Service, we might space out enough to forget our pains, but they&#8217;re still there along with the unmet needs, and rear their heads eventually. I like how early on in the song, the lyrics list various insults First Nations peoples have received, and then the song says: &#8220;The callers of names cannot see us, but we can see them.&#8221; Since their pseudo-scientific justifications are garbage, psychiatrists (after bullying or intimidating patients into not researching for themselves), basically are just name-calling others. You&#8217;re an autistic, you&#8217;re a bipolar, you&#8217;re a schizophrenic, you&#8217;re a this, you&#8217;re a that. And patients sometimes get so into becoming &#8220;consumers&#8221; of products produced for their particular label-from-above that they (in one case I saw) tattoo their DSM code on an ankle \u2014 the patient I knew who did that, later committed suicide, sadly. People forget the &#8220;earth and sky,&#8221; the &#8220;past and future.&#8221; Sure, people might pay some quick lip service to Nature and interconnected, transgenerational history, but when you look at where most of their time\/effort goes, psychiatry focuses on maintaining the status quo and telling you it&#8217;s &#8220;unrealistic&#8221; to resist\/replace the system in your own life. Ask your psychiatrist\/therapist if you should quit your job, sell your possessions, and go defend natural resources with other water protectors as people I&#8217;ve known personally have done at great risk to themselves, and see what your mental health professionals advise you to do. So the real hallucination is replacing living in harmony with the environment, with driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic to weekly psychiatrist appointments to find out what you&#8217;re permitted to believe to stay &#8220;realistic.&#8221; And people (for a while anyway) &#8220;cannot see&#8221; this, but those underfoot &#8220;can see them.&#8221; And with those underfoot is where &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/georgiebc.wordpress.com\/2017\/01\/30\/autonomy-diversity-society-book\/\">the evolution, the continuation<\/a>&#8221; lies, not in gated communities. As for the music, I like the keyboard&#8217;s tone, the reverb and vibrato on the notes. The driven drumbeat is also powerful and declarative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12. David Rovics&#8217; &#8220;Oppositional Defiant Disorder&#8221; from his 2007 live album <em>The Commons<\/em>, originally from his 2004 album <em>Songs for Mahmud<\/em><\/strong>. <strong>Genre: Folk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Oppositional Defiant Disorder\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2m95dA-b_ko?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Alex is a member of my record label\nTeenager though he is\nHe joined Ever Reviled Records\nAnd the indie music biz\nHis parents didn't like such turns of events\nSo they called up a couple of thugs\nSend him back to Utah, lock him up\nAnd pump him full of drugs\nThey say he's got problems with authority\nYes this is what they claim\nAnd their psychiatric analysis\nHas even got a name\n\nOppositional Defiant Disorder\nI think I got it, too\nOppositional Defiant Disorder\nHe's sick and so are you\n<\/em>\n<em>If you think George Bush is a moron\nAnd Tony Blair's a liar\nIf you fantasize about setting\nYour local Wal-Mart on fire\nIf you don't like Tom Brokaw\nAnd you think he's full of it\nIf you feel a Rush Limbaugh punching bag\nMight be kinda fun to hit\nIf bombing other countries\nMakes you feel appalled\nYou have got a problem\nAnd this is what it's called<\/em>\n\n<em>Oppositional Defiant Disorder\nI think I got it, too\nOppositional Defiant Disorder\nHe's sick and so are you<\/em>\n\n<em>If you think school is boring<\/em>\n<em>And your teacher is a fool<\/em>\n<em>If you don't like your Congressman<\/em>\n<em>And you called him a corporate tool<\/em>\n<em>If you were not standing<\/em>\n<em>To sing \"Save the Queen\"<\/em>\n<em>If you turn down hamburgers<\/em>\n<em>And eat rice and beans<\/em>\n<em>We've got a diagnosis<\/em>\n<em>No matter whether you agree<\/em>\n<em>Just do what the doctor tells you\nThank god for psychiatry<\/em>\n\n<em>Oppositional Defiant Disorder\nI think I got it, too\nOppositional Defiant Disorder\nHe's sick and so are you<\/em>\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Oppositional Defiant Disorder&#8221; is only the second David Rovics song I&#8217;ve known; the first was &#8220;I&#8217;m a Better Anarchist Than You,&#8221; on youtube <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NGu__oqMcKM\">here<\/a> live in Seattle 1995. When I used to write music, I&#8217;d have multiple parts going at once, threaded together, more than I could play singlehandedly or even with a second bandmate. So I&#8217;m very impressed when much is done with little, as in &#8220;Oppositional Defiant Disorder,&#8221; just acoustic guitar and vocals. The rhythm guitar is pretty straightforward. The lyrics are clever and fun. A little formulaic compositionally, but a nice, enjoyable song on topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13. Quiet Riot&#8217;s &#8220;Metal Health (Bang Your Head)&#8221; from their 1983 album <em>Metal Health<\/em>. Genre: Heavy Metal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Quiet Riot - Metal Health (Bang Your Head) - HQ Audio\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kMEz4cFMlZE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>Well I'm an axe-grinder, piledriver\nMomma says that I never never mind her\nGot no brains, I'm insane\nThe teacher says that I'm one big pain.\nI'm like a laser, six-string razor\nI got a mouth like an alligator.\nI want it louder\nMore power\nI'm gonna rock ya till it strikes the hour.\n\nBang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad\nBang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad\n<\/em>\n<em>Well I'm remonstrated\nOutdated<\/em>\n<em>I really want to be over-rated.\nI'm a finder and I'm a keeper\nI'm not a loser and I ain't no weeper.\nI got the boys to make the noise\nWon't ever let up\nHope it annoys you!\nJoin the pack\nFill the crack\nWell now you're here\nThere's no way back.\n<\/em>\n<em>Bang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad\nBang your head! Metal Health'll drive you mad\nMetal Health'll cure your crazy\nMetal Health'll cure your mad\nMetal Health is what we all need\nIt's what you ought to have\n\nBang your head\nWake the dead\nWe're all metal mad <\/em>\n<em>It's all you have\nSo bang your head\nAnd raise the dead\nOh yeah!\nMetal Health\nIt's not too bad, bad, bad\n\nBang your head! Metal health'll drive you mad\nOh get your straitjackets on tonight, oh<\/em>\n<em>The bad boys are gonna set you right!<\/em>\n<em>Rock on, Rock on, Rock on<\/em>\n<em>Bang your head!<\/em>\n<em>Metal health'll drive you mad\nBang your head!<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>This anthemic song is pretty cheeky. &#8220;Get your straitjackets on tonight&#8221;? Rudy Sarzo plays his loud bass lines with massive staccato, emphasizing the separateness of each individual note, the way a lot of &#8217;70s and &#8217;80s metal bassists did. &#8220;Metal Health&#8221; was probably intended to simultaneously get radio play (it&#8217;s easy on the ears, nothing complicated structurally or with the notes) \u2014 the album was the first in heavy metal to top the Billboard 200, displacing the Police&#8217;s <em>Synchronicity <\/em>record \u2014 and piss off worried parents, thus appealing to &#8220;non-compliant&#8221; teenagers. The album cover art (shown in the youtube thumbnail embedded above) has a guy in a straitjacket next to the words METAL HEALTH. I think that speaks for itself. Hey, gotta rebel somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/cc.primary.srr.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border-width: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/i.creativecommons.org\/l\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/88x31.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This blog post, <em>Antipsychiatry playlist<\/em>, by <a href=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/03\/antipsychiatry-playlist\/\">Douglas Lucas<\/a>, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (<a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">human-readable summary of license<\/a>). The license is based on a work at this URL: <a href=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/03\/antipsychiatry-playlist\/\">https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/03\/antipsychiatry-playlist\/<\/a>. You can view the full license (the legal code aka the legalese) <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/legalcode\">here<\/a>. For learning more about Creative Commons, I suggest <a href=\"http:\/\/www.locusmag.com\/Features\/2007\/11\/cory-doctorow-creative-commons.html\">this article<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/faq\/\">Creative Commons Frequently Asked Questions<\/a>. Seeking permissions beyond the scope of this license, or want to correspond with me about this post one on one? Please email me: <a href=\"mailto:dal@riseup.net\">dal@riseup.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-flattr-button\"><a class=\"FlattrButton\" style=\"display:none;\" href=\"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/03\/antipsychiatry-playlist\/\" title=\" Antipsychiatry playlist\" rev=\"flattr;uid:DouglasLucas;language:en_GB;category:text;tags:Health,Manic-Depression,Music,Psychology,blog;\">Note: In 2021 I\u2019ll publish one blog post per week. Here\u2019s entry 13 of 52. &#8220;Kissing&#8221;, an oil painting by Alex Grey Here&#8217;s a playlist of thirteen songs I like...<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Note: In 2021 I\u2019ll publish one blog post per week. Here\u2019s entry 13 of 52. Here&#8217;s a playlist of thirteen songs I like with antipsychiatry themes. If you aren&#8217;t familiar with the topic, this post of mine from two weeks ago is as good a place to start as any. I ordered the playlist not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,79,41,66],"tags":[100,154,121,144],"class_list":["post-10462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-manic-depression","category-music","category-psychology","tag-health","tag-manic-depression","tag-music","tag-psychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10462"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10523,"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10462\/revisions\/10523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglaslucas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}