you guys need to provide some context with your lists in general. Lists without them are empty, pointless and just a list of words.

Oh my god! paranoid and crazy train are the best two songs ever. Ozzy is the best front man ever and Randy (R.I.P)was one of the best guitarists of all time.

I`d have added Lithium by Nirvana but that`s a solid list

pretty lame list, guys.

I think many will be dissapointed that

“NO RAIN” BY BLIND MELON

was harshly left off the list

ECT is not happening here when I say that I’m shocked, shocked the song all others must be judged against is not listed???

“They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha! Ha! by Napoleon XIV

What’s up with that, hmmmm??? !
~JBK

blind melon no rain???

yeah, “frosty the snow man” didn’t make it either!

lithium isn’t about insanity. it’s about drugs

Lithium is given to people with bipolar disorder.

“The Trial” by Pink Floyd
“Crazy…toys in the attic…I am crazy…surely gone fishing” (great)

Anything off the Wall can go on this list basically. Esp: Hey You.

I would also consider “20th Century Schzoid Man” by King Crimson.

Vegetable Man: Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd (never officialle released but widely available on the www for downloads): chilling look into Syd’s destroyed mind:
‘I’ve been looking all over the place for a place for me,
But it ain’t anywhere, it just ain’t anywhere.
Vegetable man, vegetable man,
He’s the kind of person, you just gonna see him if you can,
Vegetable man.’

never officialle released but widely available on the www for downloads):

“officialle”

I don’t think I’ve seen a spelling mistake that grotesque before!!!

I am the walrus:surely the (great) work of a temporarily deranged writer,in this case,John Lennon on lsd.

also,”I’m deranged” and “the Bewly Brothers” by David Bowie.”Sound and vision” and “Breaking glass” too…

David Bowie;sound and vision,breaking glass,the bewley brothers,I’m deranged…
The Cure:: “Pornography”in its entirety
Paul McCartney:monkberry moon delight

21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson. That song is insane.

1) Pink Floyd-”Jugband Blues”, it first sounds like Syd’s angry at being kicked out of HIS band (it’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here…and I’m most obliged to you for making it clear that I’m not here….” but then he caps off the song letting us know he’s going crazy with “what exactly is a dream, and what exactly is a joke”…a very schizophrenic song, and unlike “Vegetable Man” and “Scream thy Last Scream” this song is pretty decent, even if it’s creepy.

2) “Mad John” by the Small Faces. This is a fantastic song, really the whole second half of Odgen’s Nut Gone Flake is pretty much an insane weird little concept album….but brilliant nontheless. THis tune’s at least got the Mad John title, so that’s why it’s chosen.

3) Postures (leave your body behind) by the 13th Floor Elevators….this song is fabulous and fabulously weird. Dig the philosophical and likely drug induced lyrics, it’s easily their best moment.

4) Todd Rundgren, the entire first half of A Wizard A True Star is pretty much insane, but brilliantly insane……the music is much more schizophrenic maybe than the lyrics, besides Onionhead/Da Da Dali. It’s great record in general in my top 10 all time. Even weirder is it’s follow up (the double album) Todd that is so incredibly bizarre I couldn’t really get into it at all, yet despite it’s flow problems, it has it’s peaks but more than it’s fair share of valleys.

5) Donovan “Mad John’s Escape” from A Gift from a Flower to a Garden….strange how psychedellic music inspires songs about insanity or have an inherant insane feel to them. Mad John is made memorable by Donovan’s speak-singing parts where he answers his singing voice. Sure it’s got a dated 60s earthy vibe, but it’s brilliant and something this guy born long after the song was made totally enjoyed. It’s a classic regardles of the genre… Donovan is ridiculously underrated as a Dylan wantobe, when he was more of a genre bending maverick in his own right, unfortunately one with what could at times a too heavy hippy/dippy streak, still at his best he’s worthy of Rock Hall status.

6-10) I was going to cap this at 5, but feel “She Said She Said”–I know what it’s like to be dead?, I think Peter Fonda must have been pretty messed up in the 60s to inspire this song with his rambling quote, “I am the Walrus” (what the f?), “Tomorrow Never Knows” (eastern philosophy meets heavy psychedellics and the genius that was John Lennon, “The Inner Light”, sure it’s philosophical and the lyrics are brilliant–both religious and not pompous, but it’s also fabulously weird, and “Hey Bulldog” (Another what the f? moment on a kids record, with lines like You DOn’t know what it’s like to listen to your fears” deserve billing here.. all from the psychedellic beatles. I’m not going to list then in any order at all, even though I prefer some to others.

You could also throw any of the “Whole Lotta Yoko”–Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, Two Virgins, Life with the Lions, unfinished music stuff, Revolution 9 (which I actually enjoy very much), Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band stuff here…bizarre stuff, and while it’s avante garde, it’s also made by folks not at the time playing with the right deck of cards….

Tom Waits is an artist to check out “9th and Hennepin”, etc.

Pearl Jam’s ode to Waits and drugs “Bugs” could get a mention

As could their node to Revolution 9 “heyfoxymophandlemamathat’sme” …

One more

A TERRIBLE song, but “the Laughing Gnome” by David Bowie (or Jones at the time perhaps) is ridiculously weird……it’s catchy as hell though, ha ha ha, hee hee hee.

i’d hurt a fly by built to spill.

Syd Barrett-Dark Globe (the original from the Madcap laughs).
“ I tattooed my brain all the way”

comfortably numb?, crazy train should be at the top.

Isn’t “Paranoid Android” about going crazy? or being “Paranoid”? I would have picked that over “Climbing Up The Walls” for a Radiohead song…”Please could you stop the noise I’m trying to get some rest?”

Brain Damage deserves to be at top…But what about Comfortably Numb?

“There is no pain you are receding/A distant ship on the horizon/You are only coming through in waves/Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying”

Where is Comfortably Numb?

black flag – nervous breakdown

Cypress Hill Insane in the Membrane

“Voices” — Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick – ELO Kiddies; The Ballad of TV Violence; Heaven Tonight; Dream Police; Can’t Stop It But I’m Gonna Try; Anytime

no eminem? he has like a butt load of songs about insanity, hell he calls himself insane in most of his songs…

Monkberry Moon Delight (McCartney)

What?!! No “Psychotherapy” By The Ramones?

this list makes for a badass itunes mix

No NIN?

most of these songs aren’t even about insanity: lithium? (bipolar), the end? (death/oedipus), white rabbit? (acid), every breath you take? (stalking). Good choice for #1, although there’s about 20 pink floyd songs that could go there.
pretty lame list overall, though.

p.s. – ozzy is HORRIBLE – go buy an animal collective record!

I know it’s all PC, but using the phrase “nutcase” is a bit insensitive, for Syd or anybody.
And Syd was a nutcase ? How dare he make records and then quietly live out his life as well as he could painting and minding his own fookin’ business……

is r.e.m.’s ‘losing my religion’ considered an insanty song?
if so, it definately needs to be near the top of this list

How bout “Sugar” by System of a Down?

It may not be about “insanity” per se, but most would agree that he sounds pretty off his head there.

BUT:

“lithium” and “where is my mind” are arguably about drugs.

And isn’t “the end” more tended to suicide ?

And she’s lost control is about
having an epileptic fit.

is never a good word to use in any context but based on the litterature available on Syd he was not just a reclusive but also seriously non-functional in long periods (read Gilmour’s notes from the Madcap/Barrett sessions…). One writers also suggest he has aspberger’s syndrom (in layman terms a syndrom that share many of the same characteristics of autism).

I adore Syd Barrett’s music. However, he was mentally ill and the heavy use of acid made it worse. He could not deal with the pressures of being a musician and the fame the came with The Pink Floyds first album and that is why he chose to quietly live out his life as well as he could painting….

I’d include “Ballad of Dwight Fry” by Alice Cooper. The man sings it in a strait jacket.

Aerosmith: Toys In the Attic

basket case is my fav song… does that make my insane?O.o lol^_^

Comfortably Numb is about the use of drugs

GREEN DAY IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY! Green Day!

GREEN DAY is the best band!!! =D
I`m waiting for the new CD!!!

Green Day *___*

I think that BASKET CASE could be number 1 because of the lyrics and the explosive and energetic sound of the song… and the video saids IT ALL..!

green day
*-*

basket caseeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen Daaaay rlz!!
Basket case ♥

the ramones go on the list, but i think that “psychco therapy” go there instead, and way clasoer to the top

My God, you Green Day kids, how old are you? Really now, not to insult your taste in music but there IS better out there than friggin Green Day. Try Psychotic Reaction.

all these green day fans?

I think i puked in my mouth a little.

I think that all those “green day fans” might just be one person leaving multiple comments under a different name. I like the list, think it’s great. Welcome Home is my favourite

And I’m a big green day fan and do listen to a lot of other bands too, not every green day fan is rabid or… idiotic.

No Alice Cooper?
I didn’t expect him to get the #1 spot, but he should be on the list at least (a couple times over, even). Ballad of Dwight Frye is a great one but he also has Inmates(We’re All Crazy), The Quiet Room, Millie and Billie, This Maniac’s In Love With You and you could even say Steven and Killer were about insanity.

What about Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac song “Green Manalishi?” That’s such a haunting song which he wrote when struggling not to fall into madness. Sadly he did…

Don’t forget Nazareth’s “Crazy”… it’s a suitable case for treatment!

How about “The Writ” by Black Sabbath…a song isn’t crazy/insane just because the lyrics contain the words “Crazy/Insane”

David Bowie – Quicksand

The End (The Doors)and White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) are definitely not about insanity!
Is there no editor?

Fleetwood Mac – Green Manalishi sounds like a good addition, although Peter Green always claimed the song was about money.

A rather comedic song could be “Batty Rap” by Robin Williams.

The logic is erratic,
Potato in a jacket,
Toys in the attic,
I rock and I ramble,
My brain is scrambled

Oh, the Green Day fanbase is embarrassing. Green Day is by no means the best band alive. They’re good musicians, Billie Joe Armstrong is a good lyricist, and they have quite the legacy of albums. But their song is just fine where it is on the list. Though everyone’s entitled to an opinion I guess.