Songwriters write about their lives since their lyrics are a reflection of their personal experiences. Often, a coping mechanism for dealing with a problem is to bring the issue out in the open. The lead singer and song writer of alternative rock band Blue October, Justin Furstenfeld explains on a suicide prevention video that he has “battled with bipolar disorder, psychiatric tendencies as well as anxiety issues throughout much of his life and admits he self-harmed during his teenage years and has reoccurring suicidal thoughts” (Freunde fürs Leben, 2010). Many songs that he wrote are about his mental illness and problems he faced because of it. In the song X Amount of Words, Furstenfeld clearly wrote this song about his mental illnesses. The purpose of this song is Furstenfeld’s way of describing what living with bipolar disorder and how it affected his relationships with those he cares about and how he copes with it. Despite its catchy techno sound the lyrics are a stark contrast and reveal the emotional roller coaster that affects those afflicted with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorder According to Butcher, Hooley and Mineka, bipolar I disorder is major depression coupled with mania. Bipolar I disorder is distinguished from bipolar II disorder because manic episodes and major depression last for an extended amount of time; at least one week (Butcher, Hooley, & Mineka, 2014, p. 239). Symptoms of patients who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder include depression, anxiety, guilt and suicidal thoughts and energetic periods which include irritability, short temperedness, and erratic judgment (Butcher, Hooley, & Mineka, 2014, p. 240). Furstenfeld mentions in the song about being triggered into a relapse and becoming high stru... ... middle of paper ... ...Mood Disorders and Suicide. In Abnormal Psychology (16th Ed.) (pp. 211-262). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Freunde fürs Leben (2010, April 27). frnd.tv - Blue October, Part 1 (no subtitles) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkNfbfWc_fs&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL97E39E500CB56A94 Furstenfeld, J. S. (2005). X Amount of Words [Recorded by Blue October]. United States of America. Langer, A. (2013, August 17). A Musical Switch From Self-Pity to Gratitude - NYTimes.com. Retrieved February 15, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/us/a-musical-switch-from-self-pity-to-gratitude.html?_r=0 Ramirez, C. (2011, June 14). Blue October’s Justin Furstenfeld Talks About His Mental Breakdown. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://noisecreep.com/blue-october-justin-furstenfeld-talks-about-mental-breakdown/
Releasing Emotion Everyone has good days and bad days, good months and bad months, but what people need when they are down is someone to talk to. In the short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, Sonny is in a rough patch in life, and he has no one to share his feelings with. Sonny turns to music to let out his emotions, but like many artists, he struggles to do so. He turns to drugs to make his troubles go away, but this leads to even more problems.
Bipolar Disorder (Formerly known as Manic Depression) is a mental illness linked to alterations in moods such as mood swings, mania, and depression. There is more than one type, Bipolar I and Bipolar II, and the subcategories are divided by the severity of the symptoms seen, such as cyclothymic disorder, seasonal mood changes, rapid cycling disorder and psychosis. Age of onset usually occurs between 15-30 years old with an average onset of 25 years old but it can affect all ages. (Harvard Medical School; Massachusetts General Hospital , 2013) Bipolar disorder affects more than two million people in the United States every year. (Gardner, 2011)
Michaelson, Peter. “A Hidden Reason for Suicidal Thoughts”(2013). Why We Suffer. n.pag. Web. 2 Apr. 2014
In DSM-V, bipolar 1 disorder is defined as meeting the following criteria for a manic episode, which may or may not be followed by a hypomanic or major depressive episode: There must be a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irri...
When artists go through an emotional down fall in there career’s you see some stars fall and other’s reflect to back when it all started to better themselves. As Katy Perry stated in her interview with U.S.A Today Prism is “less over-the-top and more “me””. I have come to realize that when artist put out an album, it isn’t just to see how many copies they can sell but it’s about making music with feelings, getting into there inner self and reaching out to those who admire them, the social text of the music is the heart of every song and the album altogether. A lot of the time artist will write about their emotions but never really behind the sense of what occurred. Here I will take two artists and break down there trails and show how they made them into triumphs through the context of there music. I will describe how these artist were able to create pieces of music that took over a particular emotion and were able to get it’s point across to the listener. These artists will be Katy Perry, and Britney Spears.
Wood, Jessica. "Pained expression: metaphors of sickness and signs of 'authenticity' in Kurt Cobain's "Journals"." JSTOR. Version
Sheff references Kurt Cobain’s suicide note saying “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” This seems to comes to represent what seems to be Nic’s ending unless he gets the help he needs. Nic was on a path that was seeming to lead to death by overdose, in which he would “burn out” instead of being able to “fade away like an old soldier”. Kurt Cobain is referenced again when Sheff states that he “wants to scream like Kurt Cobain. I want to scream at him.” This gives insight as to how the musical stylings of Kurt Cobain seem to be a trigger for David Sheff’s memories of his addict of a son. These references illustrate the emotion that is being felt by the author while making connections to the life of a famous man who was a great influence on Sheff’s
At one point, my friend played me ‘Migraine’ by Twenty One Pilots and I became obsessed. I was amazed that I could relate to it so much. Eventually, I had a playlist with every single Twenty One Pilots song I could find. This was during a time when I felt I was entirely alone and even suicidal at one point. Tyler’s words helped me cope and feel like I had someone there for me. Thank you, Josh and Tyler, for saving my life”
Published by Gordon V. Thompson Music, a Division of Canada Publishing Corporation. Toronto, Canada. 1988.
It is well recognized that rock songs often express the issues society faces in regards to defying convention. When you analyze the lyrics, these artists are portraying a storyline that most listeners can relate to, due to previous or current experiences. For example, Suicidal Tendencies “Institutionalized”, tells a story that all individuals can relate to, considering we all went through those gruesome teenage years.
The Beach Boys were a sensation throughout the 1960s. While it has been said that their best albums weren’t respected until many years later, there is not a doubt that they were one of the most popular and influential musical groups in history. The Beach Boys’ front man, Brian Wilson suffers from mental illness (Moverman, 2015). For many years he had a greedy psychotherapist that misdiagnosed him in an attempt to essentially drug him to death (Moverman, 2015). A documentary showcasing the life of Brian Wilson depicts the struggles he faced, and still faces with what is now known as schizoaffective disorder (Moverman, 2015). He called it Love & Mercy, after a song he released after finally receiving the proper treatment for his
The documentary, Diaries of a Broken Mind, sought to explore the stories of young people who were suffering from various mental health disorders. The first participant, Abby was diagnosed with anorexia, and bipolar type two disorder. Abby was newly diagnosed with bipolar and displayed various symptoms throughout the documentary. For instance, Abby demonstrated and reported symptoms associated with a hypomanic state, such as, excessive talkativeness, flight of ideas, and inflated self-esteem. She also displayed rapid cycling between hypomanic and depressive states. For example, Abby documented being in a hyperactive manic state one day, and then the very next day being in what appeared to be a very low depressive state. While in the depressive state, she reported the symptom of feeling worthless.
There was another thing that she had stated which was ,”In these tough life moments, music can be a constructive way to express who you are and what you are feeling. If you are feeling particularly sad about a reality in your life, listen to a song that connects you to that emotion. If you are anxious, turn up the volume in your living room and dance around. If you are angry, grab a pillow and hit is as hard as you can while listening to your favorite lyrics.” This is indeed a fact that most of us would agree because either the tone or even the lyrics can make up who and how the person is like. For example like if a person song had kinda a sad tone to it , it would definitely have sad lyrics in the song that the singer is singing. If the tone is more of a happy tone then it would probably have happy lyrics on how the person feels on this event that have happened in their life. But most people are thought of mostly on how their songs are like even how their lyrics in the songs they sing makes what they
“You begin to forget what it means to live. You forget things. You forget that you used to feel all right. You forg...
"We're broken people." On the outside, this may seem like a disturbing proclamation, but not to those who know Tyler Joseph of the Grammy-winning duo Twenty One Pilots. It is such a powerful thing to admit to yourself that you are not well; that you carry around sadness until it spills into your heart, and that you can't even face existing some days. But you keep trying, in spite of your doubts. You soon realize that brokenness is not synonymous with unwholeness, and that it takes true bravery to face those three short words down - but even more to take them to heart. Being broken does not mean your life cannot be complete. You can surround yourself with friends, hold a job, have a family that you love, and still possess the introspection to