Mental Song Titles
 

I'm currently writing something about representations of madness and paranoia in 60s and early 70s cinema (don't ask). Anyway, I quite like the idea of having some snazzy song titles (ideally from that period) as chapter headings. Obviously stuff like Love's 'The Red Telephone' is about madness and paranoia, but you'd never know that just from the title. The same could equally be said for practically every song written by either Syd Barrett or Brian Wilson. In terms of ones that do reflect it in the title though, all I've been able to come up with so far have been:

The Stones, '19th Nervous Breakdown' (which could work)
Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' (which is a bit too generic for a chapter title)
Jimi Hendrix's 'Manic Depression' (likewise)
King Crimson's, '21st Century Schizoid Man' (which is great, but a bit confusing as a chapter title, given the period I'm looking at)
John Lennon's 'Mind Games' (which is increasingly looking like it's going to be the overall title of the thing)
Frank Zappa's, 'Who Are the Brain Police?' (which is definitely a good one)

I'm sure there are literally dozens of other examples from that period (especially in the areas of psychedelia and prog) but for whatever reason I've just drawn a total blank. So while this does appear quite an odd request, if anyone can think of some others (the stranger the better) it'd really help me out a lot.

Psychotherapy by Ramones, again a bit too generic for a chapter title.

I Want To Be Sedated

Thanks for that. Although, yeah, like 'Paranoid' and 'Manic Depression', it is perhaps a bit too generic. It's also a bit too late in terms of the period I'm looking at - otherwise 'Teenage Lobotomy' would really be a great Ramones option! As would The Cramps', 'Can't Find My Mind'.

EDIT:


OK, yeah. I Wanna Be Sedated is a brilliant choice but, again, might just be a bit too late as a reference point. The films I'm looking at, stuff like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Family Life, Performance, etc, all stem more from the hippie/counterculture mid 60s-early 70s period (my cut off year is, latest, 1975). Sorry for not being more explicit in my initial post (or thread title) but that pretty much excludes Punk as an option really (although examples from 60s Garage Punk would be perfect).

They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-haaa - Napoleon XIV

Bit obvious...

Count Five - Psychotic Reaction

I suppose Eddie Noack's Psycho is too generic.

Little Willie John - Spasms

Patsy Cline - Crazy

Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - The Kinks

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Hear Voices

ITT: The secret behind Pookie's high post count :)

The Dicks - Wheelchair Epidemic

Spacemen 3 - Losing Touch With My mind

Guided By Voices - Chasing Heather Crazy

(infact Guided By Voices would work in itself)

Also Her Psychology Today

I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night
Journey To The Centre Of Your Mind
Mr Pharmacist
The Madman Running Through the Fields
I Don't Ever Want to Come Down
Motorpsycho Nitemare
Your Mind And I Belong Together

Of course! That one's definitely a contender.

you guys should stop naming 80-90s songs. he said the cutoff point is 75

Lots of Bowie - off the top of my head:

All The Madmen
Kooks
Hang On To Yourself
Aladdin Sane

'Kooks' and Aladdin Sane especially would be great. What album is 'Cracked Actor' on? That ties right in with the film thing, and would be perfect for the chapter on Performance.

Thanks so much for the help so far. Seriously, it's a great help.

Aladdin Sane

Personality Crisis?

The Sonics - Psycho

Oh well that'll definitely work then, period-wise. Cool, thanks!



That's a hard one. I thought about it earlier myself. The title is perfect, and it does fit in terms of falling within the period, but it seems later, if that makes sense. It's those kind of overblown psych/prog titles that I really think I'm after. It's a shame Cantankerous isn't around to point to some prime Hawkwind song titles. I'm sure they must have tonnes of the buggers.

Hawkwind - Reefer Madness
Hawkwind - Are You Losing Your Mind

Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown

The Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes - 1977
Gary Gilmore was a real-life criminal; he donated his corneas to science; he was executed; two people received his corneas.
Lyrics below :

I'm lying in a hospital,
I'm pinned against the bed.
A stethoscope upon my heart,
A hand against my head.
They're peeling off the bandages.
I'm wincing in the light.
The nurse is looking anxious,
And she's quivering in fright...

I'm looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes.

The doctors are avoiding me.
My vision is confused.
I listen to my earphones,
And I catch the evening news.
A murderer's been killed,
And he donates his sight to science.
I'm locked into a private ward.
I realise that I must be...

Looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes.

Looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes.

I smash the light in anger.
Push my bed against the door.
I close my lids across my eyes,
And wish to see no more.
The eye receives the messages,
And sends them to the brain.
No guarantee the stimuli must be perceived the same...

When looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes.

Gary don't need his eyes to see.
Gary and his eyes have parted company.

that's for the films

oh im a bit confused but ok. i thought you only wanted songs that are from the period of the film.

I'd mention Bernard Herrmann's Film Scores and 'The Knife' or 'The Stairs' (from the Psycho soundtrack) as chapter heading.

social failure?

No, you're right. I do. Although T&B is right in that I'm looking at films from that period, the way I'm writing about them is to sort of embed them within the general culture of their time. So my decision to use song titles from the same period as the films is designed to suggest the ways in which themes within the films reflect a broader cultural interest.

So yeah, SONG TITLES FROM APPROX. 1965-75 ONLY.

Wow. This is a Sonic Youth forum and no-one has mentioned I'm Insane. Just, wow.

Pixies - Where Is My Mind
Metalica - Sanitarium (Welcome Home)

Dawn - I'm afraid they're all talking about me - 1963
Covered by Mickey & Ludella (from thee Milkshakes and thee Headcoatees in 1995)

I never had much confidence in myself (...)
I need somebody to trust, cuz
I'm afraid they're all talking about me (x2) (...)
I hear whispers, they're calling my name
Won't you help, get inside of my head
I hear whispers, whispers, whispers, oh no!
Baby, I need you to help me, and tell me that you love me

...

Before he said it, I meant.