Green Day’s “Basket Case” (1994) is a rock song from the perspective of an individual trying to understand their difficult psychological experiences. The lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, has since commented that it is about him coming to terms with his own experiences of anxiety, before later being diagnosed with panic disorder. He states: “the only way I could know what the hell was going on was to write a song about it”¹.

Lyrics

The music video for the song was filmed in a disused psychiatric hospital, and features the visually disorientated band members being escorted to their respective instruments before playing the track. Reference is made to depictions of the psychiatric hospital in the film One flew over the cuckoo’s nest (1975) where the staff also wear white shirts with black bow ties. In addition to the track being commercially successful and having a positive critical reception, the music video was nominated for nine awards at the 1995 MTV Music Video Awards.

The drummer, Tré Cool commented²:

“We made a video at an old, decommissioned, mental hospital. It was a jail for people who were mentally ill and it was completely scary in there.”                                                     

We put this in the museum because

This exhibit is an example of mental health topics being explored in popular music. In addition, the music video is an example of stereotypically depicting treatment in psychiatric hospitals. It is similar to the music video for the Kasabian song “You’re in love with a Psycho” (2017). However, unlike Green Day’s video, Kasabian’s was met with criticism and controversy.

In recent years, musicians have been praised³ for sharing their experiences of different mental health symptoms, including as part of their music, like Billie Joe Armstrong. However, one can question whether this can be achieved without reinforcing stereotypes associated with psychiatric treatment. In addition, it can also be questioned whether the potential benefits of musicians sharing their experiences are undermined by the potential harms reinforced by their videos.

Tell us what you think

• What are the benefits and harms of musicians like Billie Joe Armstrong sharing their experiences and depicting mental health topics in their music videos?
• How can mental health topics be explored in music without reinforcing stereotypes?
• Can the sharing of musicians’ personal experiences offset any negative effects resulting from stereotypical depictions in their videos?

References

1. https://www.loudersound.com/features/green-day-basket-case
2. https://genius.com/Green-day-basket-case-lyrics
3. https://www.billboard.com/lists/stars-mental-health-issues-struggles

Further links to explore

• “You’re in Love With a Psycho” (2017) by Kasabian exhibit
• One flew over the cuckoo’s nest (1975) exhibit (forthcoming)