A Piece For And About Assorted Lunatics

Songs about madness seemed to be a big deal in the late-1960s, and most of my playlist originates from that era. The rise of psychedelic drugs - and the resulting psychoanalytic push - acted as a muse for many songwriters to document the ordeals of mental instability.

Since I wrote the intro to this month’s selection, I’ll let the songs do the rest of the talking - have fun!

1. “Helter Skelter” - The Beatles (from The Beatles [a.k.a. The White Album])
   This song ostensibly is Paul McCartney’s answer to The Who’s claim as “loudest rock back of 1968.” Fair enough. But it’s also a song that supposedly spoke to Charles Manson, who kept muttering “helter skelter” and citing The White Album as inspiration for his murder spree. All this from a song about a playground….
2. “The Real Me” - The Who (from Quadrophenia)
   Sure, most people cite Tommy as The Who’s rock opera, but as a coherent work, Quadrophenia works much better. The story centers around a protagonist who has a four-sided personality - “quadrophenia” - and the song cycle has four distinct musical themes. This song sets up the original question that the main character puts to his psychologist: “can you see the real me?” Without this album, I doubt that Pink Floyd’s The Wall would’ve been quite as operatic (e.g. musical themes that recur throughout the album).
3. “Knocking ‘Round The Zoo” - James Taylor (from James Taylor)
   Welcome to the early James Taylor. Before he was the laid-back, lanky, cool cat of the adult contemporary set, he was a young, hip, singer-songwriter with a nasty double-whammy case of bipolar disorder and heroin addiction. More than once, he found himself checked into mental hospitals, and this song documents one of those visits. For all the upbeat music that this song has, its lyrics are quite dire. It’s amazing that this young musical talent was one of the first signees to The Beatles’ Apple Records label (though JT’s commercial success was only realized once he moved to Warner Brothers for his second album). The “Kootch” he mentions during one of the refrains is Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, one of JT’s long-time musical partners.
4. “Help, I’m A Rock” - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (from Freak Out!)
   Leave it to good ‘ol Zappa, the antithesis of the late-60s drug culture (he never partook of anything hard back in the day), to come up with this crazy song. It’s a reaction to all of the whacked-out psychedelia that took over the rock world in 1966, and seems to sum up the mania that could be induced from listening to the chemical strangeness with a sober mind.
5. “Lithium” - Nirvana (from From The Muddy Banks Of The Wabash)
   Kurt Cobain was a depressed and confused man. Lithium was but one drug prescribed to help him find some happiness in life. Obviously, it failed to exorcise his demons.
6. “Tom Cruise Crazy” - Jonathan Coulton (from Thing A Week 3)
   Want some modern-day crazy? Tom Cruise has it in spades - and Jonathan Coulton is quite happy to sing about it.
7. “Dark Globe” - Syd Barrett (from The Madcap Laughs)
   Rather than look at the post-Barrett Floyd, I decided to go to the source. This song, from Barrett’s first solo album, is a plea for help from a man whose world is crumbling around him. This is a poetic illustration of schizophrenia, penned and performed by a person deep in the throes of his own psychotic breakdown. A haunting close to this disturbing setlist.

Download: “Helter Skelter” - The Beatles (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “The Real Me” - The Who (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Knocking ‘Round The Zoo” - James Taylor (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Help, I’m A Rock” - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Lithium” - Nirvana (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Tom Cruise Crazy” - Jonathan Coulton (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Dark Globe” - Syd Barrett (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)