What better way to purge the stress of your constantly pulsating social-media life than by listening to music? And not just any music, but rock ‘n’ roll that accurately reflects the emotional state of your “fragile eggshell mind.”
Perhaps those of you in need of catharsis the most earn your (PayPal or Bitcoin) cash managing social media (accounts and campaigns) for clients. Other digital citizens who might benefit from musical relief are bloggers and other online publishers (e.g., e-newsletters, SlideShare presentations, white papers, e-books, etc.). Y’all know who you are.
Me, I’m a writer. Music is a not-so-guilty pleasure that soothes my soul in between client deadlines and my next blog post. Consider adding these songs to your playlist when seeking relief from your 24/7 digital life:
The Rolling Stones Will Coach You Through Your 19th Nervous Breakdown: This song, possibly/probably drug related, is a bit “seasoned” (from 1966). And yet, the sentiments expressed by the Rolling Stones (especially the opening stanza) are eerily reminiscent of business-networking and social-media experiences in modern society:
“You’re the kind of person you meet at certain dismal dull affairs / Center of a crowd, talking much too loud running up and down the stairs / Well it seems to me that you have seen too much in too few years / And though you’ve tried you just can’t hide your eyes are edged with tears…”
Whoa! “You’d better stop, look around–here it comes…” Need I say more? I think not–“19th Nervous Breakdown” is purged perfection!
It’s No Coincidence That “Manic Depression” Is on Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced? Album: Now clinically identified as bipolar disorder when diagnosed, “Manic Depression” is the epitome of digital highs and lows. But with an assist from Jimi, you can ward off your troubled feelings via “music sweet music, I wish I could caress…”
The story goes that Hendrix was told by his manager at the time (from 1966-68), Chas Chandler, that he sounded like a manic depressive.
In reaction to that proclamation, Hendrix purportedly wrote this song the very next day. Besides the fact that “…Manic Depression’s a frustrating mess,” here are my favorite lyrics from the song:
“Manic Depression’s touching my soul / I know what I want, but I just don’t know how to go about getting it…”
David Bowie’s and Queen’s “Under Pressure” Is the Best Way to Give Yourself One More Chance: Are you “under pressure” from the perpetual demands of plying your trade on social media, “Wish upon, wish upon, day upon day…”? If so, this tune can function as your release valve.
The story behind how Bowie and Queen collaborated on the song is well explained in an Open Culture article. (It includes a 2014 interview with Brian May of Queen.)
Only a ferocious performer such as Freddie Mercury could capture the emotion of a human scream in song format. Here are the lyrics that snap me to attention every time I hear “Under Pressure” on the radio:
“It’s the terror of knowing / What this world is about / Watching some good friends / Screaming, ‘Let me out!'”
Shine On (You Crazy Diamond), But Don’t Follow in Syd Barrett’s Footsteps: From my second-favorite Pink Floyd album, Wish You Were Here, (my first favorite being Dark Side of the Moon) comes this heartbreaking song about the band’s original vocalist, Syd Barrett. Syd split from Pink Floyd in 1968 due to multiple issues, including drug abuse and mental illness.
When the band was in the studio (in 1974) recording “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a tribute to Barrett, guess who showed up during that particular session? Yep, it was Syd. And because he had shaved all the hair from his body (including his eyebrows) and was exceedingly overweight, his former bandmates did not recognize him.
It’s a sad story and song, but the lyrics, written as a multi-part suite by the band, are amazing:
“Well you wore out your welcome / With random precision, / Rode on the steel breeze. / Come on you raver, you seer of visions, / Come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!”
Honorable mentions for “emotional rescue” via the Pink Floyd library include: “Brain Damage” (Dark Side of the Moon), “Welcome to the Machine” (Wish You Were Here), and “Comfortably Numb” (The Wall).
For the Ultimate Escape from Your Digital Life, Go Green (Day): Notice I’m not singling out one particular song in my section header. That’s because Billie Joe Armstrong’s semi-autobiographical lyrics have dripped with increasing amounts of emotional ranting and raving over the years.
The one standout that should help liberate your inner social-media slave is “Basket Case” (from the Dookie album). Don’t be afraid to play it loud and sing along:
“Do you have the time to listen to me whine / About nothing and everything all at once / I am one of those / Melodramatic fools / Neurotic to the bone / No doubt about it…”
I guarantee this song will grow on you like rambling kudzu in Georgia or Alabama.
Other Green Day songs to include in your digital detox plan are “Give Me Novacaine” (from American Idiot–for your social-media migraine!), “21st Century Breakdown” (from the album of the same name), and “Mass Hysteria/Modern World” (also from 21st Century Breakdown).
On a personal note: Congratulations to Green Day on the band’s induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame (April 18, 2015)!
Most Digital Illnesses Are Diagnosable with a Ramones Song: I doubt the Ramones were advocates of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They just liked to provoke people. The primary way they accomplished this was definitely with their deadpan, self-deprecating lyrics.
If you don’t know much about the Ramones, it’s easy to criticize their song library as one consecutive, self-looping, super-fast brain freeze. And I might agree with you, except for the fact that the band’s collectively written lyrics are brilliant. Allegedly, Dee Dee Ramone wrote the lion’s share of the songs.
For example, here’s the second verse from “Teenage Lobotomy” (on the Rocket to Russia album):
“Slugs and snails are after me / DDT keeps me happy / Now I guess I’ll have to tell ’em / That I got no cerebellum / Gonna get my Ph.D. / I’m a teenage lobotomy…”
Other Ramones songs to listen to while howling at Facebook or Twitter or Instagram: “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” “Psycho Therapy,” and that fraternity-party classic, “I Wanna Be Sedated.” Leather jacket and Forest Hills, Queens, (NYC, baby!) accent sold separately…
The Honor Roll of Rock Songs to Help Ease Your Online Mental Woes:
Alice In Chains, “Phantom Limb” (As in “I’ll just haunt you like a phantom limb;” from 2013’s The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.)
Black Sabbath, “Paranoid” (All hail Ozzie Osbourne–running black mascara, a bat’s decapitated head, and other madness!)
The Doors, “Go Insane” (Jim Morrison may have been an alcoholic, but he was no mental imbecile. This demo song is available via certain Doors box sets…)
Radiohead, “Climbing Up the Walls” (If you purchase/download only one Radiohead album, it should be OK Computer…)
Nirvana, “Lithium” (From the Nevermind album. Please, no Kurt Cobain jokes–he was a talented but depressed soul.)
When the digital habitat has you in a tizzy, what songs help you to decompress and realize there’s more to life than posting and tweeting and updating (and…)? How do you use music while working–to motivate yourself, or to purge cluttered thoughts and emotions?
My main objective here was to help clear your head of all things digital/social media for a brief moment in time. I hope I’ve succeeded. If trouble is still brewing inside your neurotransmitters and between your synapses, my final cathartic suggestion to you is: Go ask Alice (I think she’ll know…).
Lori Shapiro is the owner of By All Writes LLC, a business-to-business (B2B) writing, editing, and research company in Marlton, New Jersey. She revels in shielding her clients from the pain of writing their own print or web marketing and educational copy. Please call Lori Shapiro at 856-810-9764 or email By All Writes LLC at lori@byallwrites.biz for a no-obligation project quote today!
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