Miles-tones

Happy World Mental Health Day! 5 Crazy Songs

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3. Alice Cooper, "The Ballad of Dwight Fry"

Dwight Frye was known for playing mentally unstable characters in early horror films, the most famous of which is Renfield in Tod Browning's Dracula. Alice's tune is told from the point of view of these characters, and often involve him being put in a straitjacket onstage. It may be blasphemy, but we've always preferred the version from Brutally Live more than the original, despite being only half as long.

2. Eminem, "Stan"

Love him (we don't) or hate him (we do), Eminem is one of the most influential rappers ever, and "Stan" may be his best work. Lots of artists have written songs about obsessed fans, and sometimes things get quite out of hand. Anyone remember when someone tried to send Bjork an acid bomb?

Eminem's chronicle of a depressed man's descent into suicidal depression and projection onto an icon remains one of the most disturbingly real portrayals of a psychosis that led to the murders of John Lennon and "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott among others.

1. Nueroticfish, "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!"

Originally released by Napoleon XIV, "They're Coming to Take Me Away" has the dubious distinction of being the song that has dropped the furthest in the Top 40. After it hit No. 3 on the charts, radio programmers began banning the song fearing that there would be a backlash from groups who might think the song was a mocking the mentally ill. The track dropped to No. 37 the next week.

We went with the Nueroticfish version over the original because it rocks a bit more and we have a nurse fetish. Oh, and by the way, did you know this song was about a man who has a breakdown because his dog ran away? Neither did we.


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Jef Rouner (not cis, he/him) is a contributing writer who covers politics, pop culture, social justice, video games, and online behavior. He is often a professional annoyance to the ignorant and hurtful.
Contact: Jef Rouner