Anger: an emotional response related to one's
psychological interpretation of having been threatened or hindered in some way.
It often indicates when one's basic boundaries are violated. Well, sometimes it
seemingly comes out of nowhere. Sometimes I just get angry at everybody,
myself, and the neighbour's (otherwise super
sweet) dogs. Don't get me wrong – I believe I'm a total beatnik at heart
and I have a soul of an old hippie – you know, all that "I mean no harm, I
come in peace" mumbo jumbo. I think of mosquitos as joyful harbingers of
summer even when they bite the hell out of me, for god's sake. But sometimes an
indescribable anger settles into my brain and soon it takes over my whole body.
As a psychology student I believe that there are tons of harmful effects of
suppressing your anger, so let it out: break something, yell at your teddy
bear, rip off your old Barbie's head if you have to. Stay calm and count to 10?
Yeah, that's common sense, but sometimes we don't need to hear that shiz.
Sometimes we need to pump up the volume of our favourite "angry"
song. Meet my top 6 "I'm angry as hell and I'm not going to take this
anymore" songs:
1. Suicidal Tendencies: Institutionalized – "Could smash the TV with a baseball bat"
kind of anger.
"I was in my room, and I was just like, staring
at the walls thinking about everything but then again I was thinking about
nothing, and then my mom came in, and I didn't even know she was there
She called my name and I didn't hear her, then she
started screaming, "Mike! Mike!"
And I go, "What? What's the matter?"
She goes, "What's the matter with you?"
I go, "There's nothing wrong mom"
She goes, "Don't tell me that, you're on
drugs!"
I go, "No mom, I'm not on drugs, I'm okay, I'm
just thinking, you know? Why don' you get me a Pepsi?"
She goes, "NO! You're on drugs!"
I go, "Mom, I'm okay, I'm just thinking."
And she goes, "NO! You're not thinking you're on
drugs!"
I go, "Mom, I'm okay, I'm just thinking!"
And she goes: "NO! You're not thinking you're on
drugs! Normal people don't act that way!"
I go, "Mom, just get me a Pepsi, just one
Pepsi," and she wouldn't give it to me, just a Pepsi!"
Jeez, all that Pepsi and drugs, right? Yeah, but it's
considered the band's most popular song and has remained a live staple since it
was first played in 1982. I love how the lyrics in the verses are not sung, but
spoken in a run-on sentence style. That only makes me even more angry and
agitated, which can result in a sudden anger burst. Preach, Mike!
2. Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the U.K. – "I'm feeling agitated as shit" kind of
anger.
"I am an anti-Christ,
I am an anarchist,
Don't know what I want
But I know how to get it
I want to destroy the passerby"
The older I get, the more awesome this band seems to
be. While the lyrics advocate a distinctive sense of over-the-top confusion,
anger, restlessness, economic and social frustration, I wanna smack everything
in my surroundings up and bang a cello to the wall (I don't own a cello, don't know where that came from). I wanna
show my middle finger to everybody that even just looks at me. It still has the
power to make me dance furiously and boy, I do mean furiously. All hail to the
disenfranchised youth of 1970s, all hail to Johnny (ok, and Sid.).
3. NOFX: Wolves in Wolves' Clothing – "I have too much energy, I'm angry at
everybody and I want to put fire to the neighbour's trash can" kind of
anger.
"We are Animal Farm Pigs, we are a Terry Gilliam
film
We are fear Oligarchy, we are wolves in wolves'
clothing,
we are this planet's kidney stones.
In the process of getting passed, metamorphosis from
first to last
A system breaking down beyond repairs
A product of three million millionaires, a hundred
million easy marks."
Aaaah, the sweet sound of catchy melodic punk. This
one takes me to a trip down memory lane since we were listening to NOFX
religiously during the elementary school. The drummer, Eric Sandin, was my
biggest love at that time. It was serious: I had his poster on the wall which
is the highest form of admiration when you're 13. Otherwise I think the song is
a great example of NOFX's smart ass-ish writing and an admirable play on words.
It also makes me wanna do something a bit bad to someone else's property.
4. Garbage: I'm Only Happy When It Rains – "I'm on my period" kind of anger.
"I only smile in the dark
My only comfort is the night gone black
I didn't accidentally tell you that
I'm only happy when it rains
You'll get the message by the time I'm through
When I complain about me and you
I'm only happy when it rains."
You may think that this is a pretty light song, a real
"pussy song", if you will. It's not a particularly angry song either,
but there's that one riff in it that I find extremely angry and a bit sad. And
lord do I found it satisfying when the monthly period nagging begins. The
song's about wanting love but knowing that life will always get in the way of
it, yet not being obliterated by that. It's also supposed to be a song for
people who know what's like to live on the dark side, but I don't think I agree
with that - let's not get too deep. I like to alternate between sobbing and
anger when this song is playing. Anyhow, I always love me some ironic bubble
gum pop-noir.
5. Body Count: Cop Killer – "that officer's face really pisses
me of, just because" kind of anger.
"I got my brain on hype
Tonight'll be your night
I got this long-assed knife
And your neck looks just right
My adrenaline's pumpin'
I got my stereo bumpin'
I'm 'bout to kill me somethin'
a pig stopped me for nuthin'!"
Oh boy, that beat, that energy, the lyrics; Ice-T
nailed it. It's a classic protest song, sung in the first person as a character
who is fed up with police brutality. It also serves great as an anger filter
when you're really mad at your lame-ass professors at Uni. Just swap the word
"cop" with "professor". It works. But don't get too carried
away, you don't really want to kill anybody.
6. "The honourable mention" (I kinda stole
this one from Fran's list): Drowning Pool: Bodies – "I'm just plainly pissed off"
kind of anger.
"Skin against skin blood and bone
You're all by yourself but you're not alone
You wanted in now you're here
Driven by hate."
"Let The Bodies Hit The Floor"! The lyrics
build up gradually, counting up from one to four, shouting the number each time
until reaching the highest level of aggressiveness. This one's for when you're
about to explode, when the anger is pressing on your temples and the pressure
simply hits the roof. Basically, this is it: the time to do something evil is
upon you.
Now let's all take a deep breath and count to ten.
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