Mental Illness Art Critique

This is an essay I wrote for my Psychology class a few months ago where I wrote about some artists I like. Here's the prompt. Typos and awkwardness in the following prompt are thanks to my teacher.

Critique three songs, writings, and/or pieces of art produced by somebody diagnosed with mental illness. The art and songs can be from different artists and your entry can contain a combination of both art, writings, and songs. Your entry must contain a link to the art and songs however. In your critique discuss how you think the art/writing/music is either inspired from or completely separate from the persons struggle with mental health issues.

Mental Illness Art Critique

Daniel Johnston - Some Things Last A Long Time (1990) 

Daniel Johnston was a singer-songwriter who listeners often described as an “outsider” artist due to the self-produced, amateur, childlike qualities of his music, most of which was distributed through giving homemade tapes to people he met. Johnston was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and his feelings emerging from his mental illness often show themselves starkly in his deeply personal songs. Johnston self-produced and home-recorded several records until his eleventh album, 1990, one of his most famous albums, on which this heartfelt song “Some Things Last A Long Time” can be heard. The album was Johnston’s first to have studio-recorded tracks and live recordings included on it. Johnston was a big fan of The Beatles, whom he wrote a few songs about on his other albums. The heart-stirring, catchy piano melody and sentimental lyrics are certainly reminiscent of a simpler version of Beatles songs such as “Let It Be”. The vague lyrics, which are about the lasting memories of time spent with a friend, are simple enough for any listener to relate to, but are still specific enough to fit someone specific in Daniel’s life. Lyrics such as “Your picture is still on my wall” and “The red is strong, the blue is pure” recall the album cover, which depicts Johnston standing beside a painting of his own creation that he hung up, with blue and red hues across the cover. While many of Johnston’s songs do deal with his mental illness quite directly, “Some Things Last A Long Time” is one of his most “professional” sounding and broadly relatable songs that may not particularly be informed by his experiences with schizophrenia and BPD. Some listeners may argue that the only appeal to Johnston’s music is how amateur it sounds due to mental illness’s effect on him, but I disagree. I think that this song is clear evidence that Johnston is a genuinely gifted melody craftsman and lyricist, and this song can be enjoyed whether he was mentally ill or not. 

Fiona Apple - Every Single Night (2012)

Fiona Apple is a singer-songwriter who first rose to fame in the 1990s as an alternative pop singer. However, over the years, she took longer breaks between albums and changed the style of her music to be much more artistic and esoteric, narrowing the scope of her audience. Around the time of the release of her album The Idler Wheel... where this song “Every Single Night” can be heard, Apple went public with her story about her battle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The song, the first track on the album, represents a completed shift away from the radio-friendly pop that Apple became famous for. The lyrics are filled with figurative and literal language blatantly connected to her struggle with mental illness, which certainly breaks the boundaries of today’s pop music. Throughout the song, Apple compares her struggle to the devil, “white-flamed butterflies”, “a second skeleton trying to fit beneath the skin”, and an unconventionally gruesome image of her breast busting open because of what’s happening to her heart. The repeated lyric “Every single night’s a fight with my brain” and the image of Apple fondling a human brain in the music video makes it clear that she is unwilling to remain subtle about her mental suffering. The colorful, surreal, fast-moving music video certainly contrasts with the slow, quiet instrumental of the song, and shows Apple engaging in activities that might comfort her while the world is appearing crazy around her. Apple’s direct, powerful vocals compliment her way of showing her fight with her brain, and this goes along with her constant eye contact with the camera in the video, as she is getting quite intimate and personal with the audience. 

Wesley Willis - My Keyboard Got Damaged (1995)

Wesley Willis, a singer-songwriter from Chicago, similar to Daniel Johnston, is often considered an outsider artist due to the amateur quality of his music and his schizophrenia’s effect on it. Willis’ music is often intentionally humorous, but perhaps the most bizarre aspect of his music is its structure. Most of his songs are backed by the auto-accompaniment feature on a cheap keyboard, and the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-product endorsement structure of his songs are extremely rigid between tunes. Many of Willis’s songs end up being very samey, and Willis is not a particularly gifted singer, but his strange lyrical subjects and highly unusual, highly emotional vocal delivery provide for more interesting content. “My Keyboard Got Damaged”, while sonically as humorous as the rest of Willis’ songs, is a more genuine lyrical depiction of an experience with schizophrenia. Willis’ story of being ejected off an airplane due to his adverse reaction after his “mean schizophrenia demon called me a jerk” is a relatable illustration of mental illness causing difficulties in everyday practicalities.