15 Songs About Mental Health That Everyone Should Listen To At Least Once
9 November 2016, 17:08 | Updated: 19 November 2018, 16:11
"My happy little pill / Take me away / Dry my eyes / Bring colour to my skies"
Ever wondered how much music is written about mental health? Well, perhaps this won't be a surprised to you but there's a lot.
In one study, 71% of musicians and music industry workers surveyed said they had suffered from panic attacks or high levels of anxiety, and 65% said they had suffered from depression. This compares with just 19% of the general UK population that experience depression.
It got us thinking, what songs by our faves are about mental health? Many of them, like Halsey, who is bi-polar, have bravely spoken out about dealing with mental heath issues and we were happy to see so many other artists who are sharing there experiences in their music too. The more we talk about mental health, the more we can normalise it and tackles the issues head on.
1. Panic! At The Disco – 'Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks'
Key lyric: "The hospice is a relaxing weekend getaway / Where you're a cut above all the rest / Sick and sad patients / On first name basis with all the top physicians"
2. Troye Sivan – 'Happy Little Pill'
Key lyric: "My happy little pill / Take me away / Dry my eyes / Bring colour to my skies"
3. Foals – 'Spanish Sahara'
Key lyric: "I'm the fury in your head / I'm the fury in your bed / I'm the ghost in the back of your head"
4. Lana Del Rey – 'The Blackest Day'
Key lyric: "Ever since my baby went away / It's been the blackest day, it's been the blackest day / All I hear is Billie Holiday / It's all that I play"
5. Melanie Martinez – 'Mad Hatter'
Key lyric: "Where is my prescription? / Doctor, doctor please listen / My brain is scattered / You can be Alice, I'll be the mad hatter"
6. Halsey – 'Control'
Key lyric: "And I've grown familiar / With villains that live in my head / They beg me to write them / So I'll never die when I'm dead"
7. Twenty One Pilots – 'Car Radio'
Key lyric: "I hate this car that I'm driving / There's no hiding for me / I'm forced to deal with what I feel / There is no distraction to mask what is real / I could pull the steering wheel"
8. The Neighbourhood – 'Afraid'
Key lyric: "Being me can only mean / Feeling scared to breathe / If you leave me then I’ll be afraid of everything"
9. Fall Out Boy – '7 Minutes In Heaven'
Key lyric: "I'm sitting out dances on the wall / Trying to forget everything that isn't you / I'm not going home alone / Cause I don't do too well on my own
10. Green Day – 'Wake Me Up When September Ends'
Key lyric: "Wake me up when September ends / Like my father's come to pass / Twenty years has gone so fast / Wake me up when September ends"
11. Blink 182 – 'I Miss You'
Key lyric: "This sick strange darkness / Comes creeping on so haunting every time / And as I stared I counted / The Webs from all the spiders / Catching things and eating their insides"
12. Alessia Cara- 'Here'
Key lyric: "I don't dance, don't ask, I don't need a boyfriend / So you can go back, please enjoy your party / I'll be here, somewhere in the corner under clouds of marijuana"
13. All Time Low – 'Kids In The Dark'
Key lyric: "So let the world sing / "What a shame, what a shame / Beautiful scars on critical veins" / Come together / State of the art / We'll never surrender / The kids in the dark"
14. Mariana And The Diamonds - 'Obsessions'
Key lyric: "We've got obsessions / I want to erase every nasty thought / That bugs me every day of every week"
15. My Chemical Romance – I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
Key lyric: "You said you read me like a book / But the pages all are torn and frayed"
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