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Updated 19-Jan-2024
OCD
Grin and Bear It
Rational Doubt?
Tourette Syndrome
Other Disorders
Music Therapy
*from "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" (1910, Wikipedia) performed by Herman's Hermits with Peter Noone.
Music collected mostly in the early 2000s. Much more can now be found on YouTube and similar sites.
'Original MP3.com' indicates a link to an archived page from the hugely popular, original MP3.com service, which ceased operations at the end of 2003. Unfortunately, audio files were not archived.
'Wayback Machine' indicates a link to an archived copy of a now-defunct website. In many cases, audio files were archived too. (Usually MP3s and RealAudio files which can be converted to MP3s.)
Archived websites aren't always rendered correctly in modern web browsers. Simpler problems include missing images hiding links and invisible text. Hover the mouse over an image placeholder to check for one or more clickable links. Press Ctrl-A ("Select All") in Windows to hopefully make invisible text visible.
I did purchase and download the albums and songs for the actually-about-OCD music. (And some of the not-about-OCD music!) Thank you to the artists for all the music!
Music that is definitely OCD-related! (The artists in this section are listed, I believe, by the order in which I discovered them on the web.)
"O.C.D. or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is something that I've had for years ... instead of avoiding it, I wrote a song about it. The song, like O.C.D. has a couple of different moods to it. I'm very proud of this one."The song is from his beautiful Moments CD. (Original MP3.com)
No boys date my sister They know she's quite strange Diagnosed as OCD I admit she's deranged I once tried to take her to the park But she hid in the bushes until it got dark Washed her hands a hundred times more Bloody suds On the bottom of the floor Chorus: My obsessive compulsive sister Purely a manic schizo No thorazine's gonna do the trick Can't help a girl who's just plain sick Took her to the doc Prozac is the way But she puts foil on her head to block the Martian rays 'O' is for obsessive 'C' is for compelled Her brain lacks serotonin As far as I can tell Washes through the night Has heart palpitations Delusions of grandeur And lucid hallucinations Chorus: My obsessive compulsive sister Purely a manic schizo No thorazine's gonna do the trick Can't help a girl who's just plain sick |
OCD! OCD! OCD! Can't help a girl who's just plain sick (To get control of a mind like that) What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' When will we ride into Jerusalem? When will we ride into Jerusalem? When will we ride into Jerusalem? When will we ride into Jerusalem? What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin' What's the buzz? 1! 2! 3! 4! Chorus: My obsessive compulsive sister Purely a manic schizo No thorazine's gonna do the trick Can't help a girl who's just plain sick OCD! OCD! OCD! Can't help a girl who's just plain sick (music by E. Ottens, lyrics by B. Smiley) |
Where are you going, sweet daughter of mine? I can't hang the clothes by myself ... Everyone's watching, I need an opinion, Are they straight in line? Where are you going, sweet daughter of mine? My hair is blowing away ... The pictures are crooked, the dust is staring, Holes into my spine ... Can't drink the water, The specks will poison me, Daughter, don't leave me, I'm dying. Where are you going, sweet daughter of mine? The soap bars must be replaced. Can't touch my piano, my bed isn't made, Oh, please, don't leave me behind. |
Where are you going, sweet daughter of mine? Was it something I said, have I been unkind? Please stay here, oh daughter, I'm afraid to move. I may be losing my mind. The blood is spilling, Across my wrists, The germs are killing, My hopefull bliss. I can't sing for you tonight, When you ever return. You'll have no home to sleep, girl. I'm here, watching it burn. (by KT Pierce and Anthony Willingham) |
Washed my hands again(Brandon Garrett, Tim Solomon, Mike Espar, and Josh George) (Brooklyn, New York, USA)
Before I wave you goodbye
Stop to count to ten
Recurrent threat, don't know why
Broken glass
People might get cut
Sweep it with bare hands
Arrange it in the shape of a gun
O! C! D! It's not you, it's me.
Right hand Wash the left hand Wash the right hand All night long I need another cigarette Just one more holds me through the night I'm gonna need so many more Chorus: The summer time is coming too fast for me now I want to stay I want to play Please show me how And take me to a doctor who'll see me for free I want to stay I want to play Please let me be |
Right hand Wash the left hand Wash the right hand 'Til it's gone I haven't slept an hour long But don't you tell me that it's wrong I've got so many things to do Chorus ... solo ... Chorus (by R.k. Kombrinck and Holly Knepfle) |
(Green light, go! Green light, go! Yeah!) Oh, you can walk on the water You can fly like a bird You can run like the wind Taste fire and not get burned Oh, but Jesus is all one man might do He'd hang from the cross as a favor to you Must have been righteous to see I imagine that He Could have stopped you as sure As He could have stopped me But He couldn't stop Judas Judas couldn't stop OCD Oh, no, no, no, no Oh, you can win the rich man's lottery and buy a big white house on a hill You can marry for love, you can marry for money Get that rock to the top o' the hill Yeah, yeah, but when you're gone, each day will dawn One o' your young will come undone They'll be unable to breathe 'Til they come and see me 'Cause we will tell them the truth and then we'll teach them to see That you can't stop OCD Oh, no, no, no No, you can't stop OCD I say so - hey go |
Oh, you may be just like me You may walk your house at night You may lie awake Your eyes wide in the dark, Check Please, Please, check that light You may rip your skin from your legs and your arms Count down each hour until tomorrow dawns Now you see three sure things for you Poor, poor me giggle Birth, death, taxes, and OCD Oh, no, no, no, No, you can't stop OCD I say so - stop, go No, no, no, no No, no No, no No, no, no whoop Oh, you can walk on the water You can float to the bottom But you can't stop No, you can't stop, ... No, you can't stop, no, no (The End) (by Michael Wisti and Jacques Wait) |
Well, I washed my hands today But the dirt wouldn't go away What else can you say About a dirty world? So I washed my hands again 'Til my skin was raw and then I understood where I'd been Was in a dirty world. And I spell it D I-R-D Y-W O-R L-D So I washed my hands three times 'Til I couldn't cut the grime Washing, washing wastes my time In this dirty world The dirt was in the ground But now it's spread around And it sits here by the pound In this dirty world And I spell it D I-R-D Y-W O-R L-D I was a man, a fan of mud as a right I believed that dirt was part of my life |
I don't wash much anymore Now I won't be running sores But I'm seeing more and more That it's a dirty world My sheets will all come clean But I just get more mean And it gets more obscene It's a dirty world And I spell it D I-R-D Y-W O-R L-D I wore my rope-a-soap like it was a crown I learned to sell by smell and by sound I was a pope of hope to boys and girls They followed me around As I drove my clean machine from town to town Rub-a-dub-a-dub-a-dub-dub I write self-improvement books alone in my tub Me and Dale Carnegie We give seminars for free Now all I see is dirty mirrors here to scrub (by Michael Wisti and Jacques Wait) |
The songs are strong little ditties about life in New York City and John's day-to-day dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The first cut of the recording "Everybody's Normal But Me," talks about his illness and it really opened my eyes as to what the people with OCD deal with every day.("Everybody's Normal But Me", the song, on YouTube.)
(At the tone, 1 hour, 57 minutes, Coordinated Universal Time)
I've got a problem
(I can't control)
I keep it well hidden
(Nobody knows)
I never acknowledged it
(Could never admit it)
I accidentally mentioned it
I hope you just forget about it
Chorus:
Obsessive Compulsive Behavior
(1, 2, 3, 4)
wash my hands again, look behind the door
Obsessive Compulsive Behavior
like human nature, you can't ignore
(At the tone, 1 hour, 58 minutes, Coordinated Universal Time)
I never knew I had it
Sometimes I doubt it
Maybe they won't notice it
if I just joke about it
I thought I was superstitious
But maybe there's just a snag
in my synapses
Chorus
(At the tone, 1 hour, 59 minutes, Coordinated Universal Time)
(Uncontrollable
Emotional
A hole you can't patch
An itch you can't scratch
When you're sleeping
You're dreaming
of counting and cleaning
and double checking
It's never ending)
(At the tone, 2 hours, 0 minutes, Coordinated Universal Time
...
At the tone, 2 hours, 1 minute, Coordinated Universal Time
...
At the tone, 2 hours, 2 minutes, Coordinated Universal Time)
I never thought the worst enemy
would be in my mind - my mind!
And how long must this persist?
I'm know I'm strange,
but not strange as this.
And OCD is killing me.
And how many years must I be with this?
I hope it passes and it passes quick.
...
...
There's no need for me to feel shame, it's not my fault.
It's just a case of OCD, I know I'm right, regardless of, what they say.
...
God, why am I cursed with this racing mind?In the last 30 seconds of the song, a phrase is repeated over and over, but I can't understand it.
...
Obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are the product of his or her own mind.
I can't understand this(Tucson, Arizona, USA) (MySpace)
misfiring in my brain
Obsessive acts are
so very hard to explain
...
I touch the dog,(Tucson, Arizona, USA)
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
Turned out the light,
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
I ate some food,
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
Another hand,
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
...
(It's never clean enough.
It's never clean enough.
It's never clean enough.
It's never clean enough.)
...
Open the door,
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
When I touch the sink,
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
I use the soap,
I wash my hands, I wash my hands.
I wash my hands, I wash my hands,
I wash my ... wash ... my ... hands.
...(Justin Allingham & Simon Groth, Brisbane, Australia)
Don't touch the line
That's where we know
The cracks reside
We're lost it seems
Where can we be
Where can we be?
Get it right
...
So just clean it!
Polish, scrub, bleach!
Mr. Sheen it!
Reveal that clean layer,
and conceal it!
Don't get dirt on me.
So just clean it!
Cuz I got OCD!
Alisha's Attic - a late 1990's duo featuring Karen and Shellie Poole. An article by John Harp, "Like a Roman in Your Heart", touches on Shellie's OCD.
Evelyn Smith (Wayback Machine) - a Christian song writer and singer who suffers from OCD. Additional pages are not accessible via the home page, so here they are (archived in the Wayback Machine): songs, reviews, books.)
OCD Music Group, Inc. (Wayback Machine) - had a cool logo: two hands washing a CD. (The logo on the archived web page can't have been what I was describing. It's a CD, but I can't see the two hands ...) The company renamed itself Hang Productions at some point.
Faith No More's song, "From Out of Nowhere", is not about OCD, but it has a line I've seen used in an OCDer's E-mail signature line:
"Obsession rules me ..."
And unwittingly borrowing from Faith No More's lyric, my own "Obsessions Rule Compulsions' Fool".
Food Safety Music - "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince of Pesticides"? The "Elvis of E. coli"? The "Sinatra of Salmonella"? No, Dr. Carl K. Winter and the FOODSAFE Program. To the tune of "I Want To Hold Your Hand", Winter's "You'd Better Wash Your Hands" (YouTube):
"Oh yeah I'll, tell you something
I think you'll understand
For the sake of sanitation
You'd better wash your hands
You'd better wash your hands
You'd better wash your hands
...
And when you're finished you'll feel happy inside
Washin' so thorough that microbes
They can't hide, they can't hide, they can't hide"
Music that is not OCD-related or that I'm not sure about (i.e., I haven't heard it or seen the lyrics, etc.).
In the heat of the moment
In the dark of the night
You never see his face
For he's the ghost inside
In the heat of the moment
He will laugh at you
How can you make peace
When he's at war with you
In the heat of the moment
You're a perfect guy
Born to make mistakes
He knows the reason why
He's a shock to the system
He's a wicked clown
No matter what you do
He turns it upside down
Hu hu hu hu hu hu
Ghost in the machinery
Hu hu ...
(music by Frank Peterson, lyrics by Peterson and Mark Ravenhill)
"...
Once in my mind it never goes away
I close my eyes but it still remains
Inside my head and there it's gonna stay
Once in my mind it never goes away
..." (lyrics by Wojciech Godzisz)
Amazing Meet Project - has a song called "Obsessive Compulsive" (YouTube, lyrics) on their Undrugged album. The song begins:
"Obsessive compulsive, counting to ten a thousand times ..."
Arab on Radar - is a now-defunct band whose members were Mr. Type A on guitar, Mr. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on vocals, Mr. Clinical Depression on guitar, and Mr. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder on drums. (Connecticut, USA)
Branded (original MP3.com) - has a song called "O.C.D" on their Now What? album (or Next to Nothing album?). The lyrics, on the song page, are not OCD-related: "No matter what I do, no matter what I try, I can't seem to forget that I've made you cry."
Compulsive Behavior (Wayback Machine) - released a CD in 1998 called Trichotillomania; the lyrics don't seem to indicate an OCD connection. (Original MP3.com) (Mike Walls, John Glancy, Nick Mansperger, and Mike Quade; Baltimore, MD, USA)
Compulsives (Wayback Machine) - "Music to Obsess by". (Maryland, USA)
The Corrections (formerly The Fallout Trust) - recorded a song, "OCD" (YouTube), for their 2008 Repeat After Me album. (Wayback Machine) There's no obvious OCD relation in the lyrics, that I could tell, but it's a great rocker. (Joe Winter, Matt Winter, Guy Connelly, ...; London, England)
Joey Daddario - when asked in an interview, "Is there anything else you want to mention?", responded: "I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. I have an obsessive compulsive disorder. I have an obsessive compulsive disorder."
Depths of Despair (original MP3.com) - performs electronic music (no vocals), with song titles such as "obsessive compulsive", "bipolar moodswings", etc. (Haifa, Israel)
Double Bind (Wayback Machine) - recorded an album, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Casebook. (Tampa, Florida, USA)
FLUXad - released an EP titled "Obsessive Compulsive" in 2000. I liked the band's music, but there is no OCD connection, the title being chosen simply to follow the name of their previous album, Passive Aggressive. FLUXad is pronounced "flux" — the "ad" is silent! (The link above is to Jen Davina's collection of Canadian indie rock interviews, reviews, etc. Elsewhere, FLUXad's own, archived www.fluxad.com and their original MP3.com website.) (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Hibernate (Wayback Machine) - released in 2004 an electronic music CD called OCD: "After spending so long on this project I figured that OCD could be the only fitting name." (Joey Borg and Kevin Bottero; original MP3.com; SoundClick) (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Jiveharp! (original MP3.com) - recorded a song, "Obsessive Compulsive". (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Love Child - featuring Alan Licht. Their 1992 Witchcraft album includes a song, "Obsessive Compulsive" (YouTube). Piero Scaruffi's review (in Italian) had this to say: "... Obsessive Compulsive, ma il baricentro e` una forma di psichedelia molto disordinata ..." (Google Translate: "Obsessive Compulsive, but the center of gravity is a very form of psychedelia disordered".)
Lowcloudcover (Wayback Machine) - recorded "O.C.D." (YouTube) for their 2006 album, Separation Anxiety. (Dario Izarraras, Jay Richardson, Greg Russell, and Bekkah Walker; original MP3.com) (San Diego, California, USA)
Mr. O.C.D. (Wayback Machine) - "a modern pop/rock band" based in Connecticut, USA.
Obsessive Compulsive - a Manchester, England band consisting of Kelii and others. No obvious OCD connection. (Biography, music.)
Obsessive Compulsive (original MP3.com) - a New Mexico, USA band; no obvious OCD connection.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - a Liverpool, UK heavy-metal/industrial band founded in 2000 and subsequently renamed Number One Son. I couldn't understand the lyrics on the songs I downloaded, but the blurb on the web page alone is worth reading: "[Listeners] feel anxious, distressed and guilty but are powerless to cope with the flood of impulsive and irrational thoughts, brought on by such a varied and unpredictable style. Many become taken over by habits and rituals: they cannot stop themselves from the endless cycle of ... Insert CD, press Play, repeat ... repeat ... repeat ... Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - virus or musical phenomenon[?]"
OCD (original MP3.com) - the one track available sounded like a repetitive mandolin riff with some drums and rhythmic clapping in the background. (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA)
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) (original MP3.com) - industrial rock. The song lyrics don't appear to be OCD-related, but the artist's and song stories do hint at severe depression and OCD. The album name, D-VOID, and cover look very familiar to me, so I'm pretty sure I purchased the CD back in the day. (I can't get to my CDs to verify this.) (Mountain View, California, USA)
The OCD (original MP3.com) - mosh pits and stuff. (Covina, California, USA)
OCD (Wayback Machine) - a power trio with great guitar playing; no apparent OCD connection. (Morristown, New Jersey, USA)
O.C.D. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) (original MP3.com) - released three albums: their 1994 debut, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and the 1996 follow-up, Hoard•Wash•Pray•Repeat, and, in 1999, Ritualistic. I listened to several tracks from the latter — not too bad, but not for the faint of heart! (O.C.D.'s own archived website; New York City, USA)
OCPD: Obsessive Compulsive Percussion Disorder (Wayback Machine) - is a drumline drummer's/teacher's page with a humorous play on "obsessive compulsive personality disorder". That's Jared O'Leary's archived website from back in the 2000s, but the website is still active and considerably updated, albeit with a different name: Multiplicity. (You can still get OCPD t-shirts!)
Pretty in Stereo - has a song, "OCD" (YouTube), on their Ugly in Mono EP. (Christine Fullwood, Cassandra Clawson, Jodi Joy, and Natalie E. Poole; interestingly, both Clawson and Poole have backgrounds in astrophysics!) (Laguna Beach, California, USA)
Publik Records (original MP3.com) recorded an electronic track, "O.C.D.". (By Nat Eichler?) (Gainesville, Florida, USA)
Samicide (original MP3.com) - has a song, "O.C.D. - (first passing)", on his samicide ... like pesticide but less useful CD. (ReverbNation) (Long Island, New York, USA)
Secondhand Saviour/Peter Hassall (original MP3.com) - recorded "Obsessive and Compulsive", by Timothy Hassall, Benjamin Jones, and Gregory Cargopoulas. The lyrics are not OCD-related: "And all the things you dream about ... have suddenly become real ... become so real ..." (Dubai, UAE)
Sergeant Buzfuz - released an album in 2001 called Obsessive Compulsion Pour Homme. (London, UK)
Silence (Wayback Machine) - "big fun songs with lots o' orchestration, big guitars, and kill vocals". Their 1994 Wave Without a Shore album includes a song called "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder". (Their MP3.com page is not archived.) (Bothell, Washington, USA)
Smug (original MP3.com) - recorded a song, "OCD", which was available from their page on the original GarageBand site. (Matt Leeder, Tim Jaggard, Ali Nursey, and Toby Cornwall) (Norwich, England)
Super Villain (original MP3.com) - recorded a song, "OCD", whose lyrics are not OCD-related. (Super Villain's archived website) (Nanuet, New York, USA)
theOCD (Wayback Machine) - "the OCD music Rock Band not related to obsessive-compulsive-disorder." And also not related to the "The OCD" band from California! (MySpace) (Solihull, England)
throdL (Wayback Machine) - recorded a live 2004 performance of a song, "OCD". (Working MP3 download and more band information on archived StereoKiller page.) Although I'm not a slasher fan, I liked the song. (MySpace) (Reading, Pennsylvania, USA)
You seem very well, then there's a tremor(SoundCloud has some tracks from the album; AirPlay Direct has a biography and reviews.)
You know you're very well and there's a twitch of your head
You are very well until they look at you
like you're completely out of your head
They say you're a drug addict, with much conviction
They say something ain't right with your nerves
Healers guess at the potions, you guess at their systems
that drive you in and out of your bed
You know very well that you're not crazy
Maybe it's no sleep, maybe it's just dread
Maybe it's your fear, maybe it's your fate
It just got inside and closed the gate
You say this unwelcome companion
It stays in time, tuned to your head
And like the free will that is in nature,
it drinks you up and knows you're led
You seem very well but there's a tremor
You know you're very well and there's a twitch of your head
You are very well even though they look at you
like you're completely out of your head
(©1999 Debbie Norton, Where's Anita Music, BMI)
"Tourette's" (YouTube, live) - is found on Nirvana's In Utero album. It probably helps to be a Nirvana fan. No obvious connection to Tourette's in the lyrics, but the guitar tablature notes (or used to note): "this song has no words. tourette's is a disease that causes uncontrollable noises to emit from the aflicted person, sometimes curse words, mostly just gutteral noises. kurt just screamed whatever came to mind ..."
Tourette 23 (original MP3.com) - one song, but more musical than some of the other bands' songs! (Vienna, Austria)
Tourettes (Wayback Machine) - "More energy than talent" — who knows?! (Holden McWorm & Sean Lucas, New Jersey, USA)
Tourettes Syndrome (original MP3.com) - heavy metal or something ...
Tourette's Without Regrets - "Vallejo's bi-weekly poetry slam/carnival".
The late Duster Bennett's "Jumping At Shadows" (YouTube), often performed by Peter Green, seems to have psychological overtones. From Peter Green's performance (YouTube):
What can you say?
There isn't much to tell.
I'm going down hill
and I blame myself.
I've been jumping at shadows,
thinking about my life.
Everybody points their hand at me.
I know I'm just a picture
of what I should have been.
I've been jumping at shadows,
just thinking about my life.
God have mercy,
I think I'm going insane.
The Devil's been gettin' at me,
he's got me down again.
Got me jumping at shadows,
just thinking about my life.
Manic Street Preachers' 1998 This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours album has a song about depression, "Black Dog on My Shoulder" (YouTube, includes lyrics):
"...
My dilemma but not my choice
Winston Churchill can you hear my voice
...
This black dog is out of control
My mouth is so dry
My eyes are shut tight
There's a black dog a coming tonight
Black dog's a coming tonight
..."