Monday 3 September 2012

My Top Ten Psycho Songs


"Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."


10. Space - Mister Psycho

Hey, remember Space? Bunch of Scouse psychos.

9. Tindersticks - 4.48 Psychosis

At 4:48
When sanity visits
For one hour and twelve minutes I am in my right mind
When it has passed I shall be gone again


8. The Ramones - Psycho Therapy

If ever there was a band who needed to self-medicate...

7. Spearmint - Psycho Magnet

You are the star
I am a psycho-magnet


6. Imelda May - Psycho

She goes with a psycho.

5. Richard Thompson - Psycho Street

Richard Thompson looks through a mirror darkly crack'd and sees the Neighbours theme tune, distorted and disturbing.

A man has an inflatable doll made that looks exactly like his wife
He murders his wife, dissolves her body in acid, and marries the doll
Three years later he leaves her for another doll


4. Black Box Recorder - Child Psychology

Life is unfair: Kill yourself, or get over it.


3. Huey Lewis & The News - Hip To Be Square

If you don't know what this is doing here, you probably shouldn't click the link above. specially if you're offended by gratuitous violence against yuppies.

In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.


2. Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

I hate people when they're not polite.


1. Elvis Costello - Psycho


Many artists have covered Leon Payne's dark and haunting first person psycho narrative, but Elvis is the one who nails it for me. Sends shivers down my spine every time... especially the bleak twist at the end.



Those are the songs that set my sanity slipping. Which one sends you to the rubber room?


13 comments:

  1. Huey Lewis?

    The most subversive band on the planet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Huey Lewis Top Ten cannot be very far away.

      Delete
  2. Hip To Be Square rocks, I used to play it every week in my DJ set a couple of years back.

    Space were better than anyone seems to be remember,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Huey rules.

      Space were never going to conquer the world, but they did what they did very well.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. You can't please all of the people all of the time...

      Delete
  4. Only kidding - some great stuff there.
    Unfortunately, I always associate Huey Lewis with Noel Edmonds House Party, which taints the flavour a bit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my mind, I'm now imagining Huey taking an axe to Noel Edmonds.

      THANK YOU.

      Delete
  5. 1) how are the Ramones not number one?
    2) if Hip to be square fits in here simply by film association then so does 'just like honey' because of the album name and it's a considerably better song.
    3) how are the Ramones not number one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Not this time.

      2. Much as I dig the JMC, we'll have to agree to differ on that.

      3. Still not this time.

      Delete
  6. Riders on the storm.
    Into this house we're born
    Into this world we're thrown
    Like a dog without a bone
    An actor out on loan.
    Riders on the storm.
    There's a killer on the road.
    His brain is squirming like a toad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good call. I'd say The End is even more psychotic though, considering what Jim does to his mother and father...

      Delete
  7. I haven't heard any of these songs. The only songs I know titled "Psycho" are by Muse, Puddle of Mudd, and System of a Down.

    ReplyDelete

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