If you’ve ever struggled with an anxiety disorder or just felt the complex emotions that come with being anxious, I bet the following three songs will resonate with you in a big way. Sometimes, it just feels good to be seen and understood.
“How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths from ‘Hatful Of Hollow’ (1985)
“I am the son, and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar / I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular.”
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“How Soon Is Now?” might sound different from much of The Smiths’ discography, but it’s a fan favorite nonetheless. This alt-rock classic only contains one single verse, in addition to the chorus and bridge. But it manages to fit many complex emotions into such a simple piece of music. The subject of the song struggles with being anxious and shy. It impacts them so much that they find themselves perpetually alone, without a partner.
“How To Disappear Completely” by Radiohead ‘Kid A’ (2000)
“I’m not here / This isn’t happening / I’m not here / I’m not here.”
This folky post-rock gem from Radiohead is on a similar wavelength to “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths. However, it does stand on its own as one of Radiohead’s most unique releases. This ballad was written by the whole of the band, though it was primarily written by Thom Yorke. According to Yorke, the song was inspired by a dream he had on the night of a particularly weather-beaten show, in which he had a strange vision of himself being pursued, naked, by a tidal wave in the River Liffey in Dublin. The whole of the song was inspired by the stress and anxieties the band endured while on tour.
“Pressure” by Billy Joel from ‘The Nylon Curtain’ (1982)
“But you will come to a place / Where the only thing you feel / Are loaded guns in your face / And you’ll have to deal with pressure.”
This Billy Joel classic makes it to our list of songs about anxiety, and it’s an experimental new wave hit unlike much of his previous releases. “Pressure” is all about the anxieties that come with being a provider for a family, or just oneself, once entering into adulthood.
“When I was starting out and trying to get things going, the pressure was if you don’t get things going, they’re going to throw you out of this apartment,” said Joel of the song. “There was that kind of pressure. ‘I’m hungry,’ my stomach was going, ‘pressure, food.’ I think that’s pretty intense pressure. The pressure I was writing about in this song wasn’t necessarily music business pressure, it was writing pressure.”
Been there.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)