Discussion Suicide in Pop Culture

[Lra888]

What are some of your early memories of hearing about suicide and what were your feelings? How did others react and how did that shape your views on suicide? Did you relate to the person?

One of the earliest for me was the suicide of Kurt Cobain. I was very young at the time and I remember hearing the news on TV in the living room with my sister. She called up to my mom in the kitchen and my mom ran downstairs to watch the news story. They were both saying how awful it was. I was upset myself because all i knew is that the singer from one of my favorite bands was dead. I loved In Utero which had been released a short time before and it had a much angrier sound with some hopeless and somber lyrics. I had that Beavis & Butthead album which had the track 'I Hate Myself and Want to Die". It was fascinating to be a child and have the media be saturated with articles about suicide and I saved many of the magazines like Spin, and Newsweek because they had KC on the cover.

Anyway as I grew up into my teenage years and into depression, mental illness and suicidal thoughts myself I would often think back to this. KC was this person who I thought so highly of and he decided to leave this world and it effected me. It made it somewhat acceptable for myself to have depression and my own suicidal thoughts were not to be ashamed of.

 

[Lra888]

I still like this song. It was going to be released on the "Pennyroyal Tea" single but that was cancelled after Kurt CTB. Luckily it was released on this compilation months prior.

The album In Utero was originally going to be titled I Hate Myself and Want to Die but KC was convinced to change it.

 

[worldexploder]

Jeremy by Pearl Jam was the first time I heard about someone shooting themselves I think. Loved that song since 1991. Still one of my favorites.

 

[Lra888]

Jeremy by Pearl Jam was the first time I heard about someone shooting themselves I think. Loved that song since 1991. Still one of my favorites.

Excellent video as well. MTV censored the gun in mouth shot (ending the video with the students splashed with blood) so I remember not knowing if he had killed himself or the students.

 

[worldexploder]

Excellent video as well. MTV censored the gun in mouth shot (ending the video with the students splashed with blood) so I remember not knowing if he had killed himself or the students. View attachment 3516 View attachment 3517

One of the most powerful music videos I have ever seen.

 

[Lra888]

One of the most powerful music videos I have ever seen.

Such deep and important things to discuss in a popular song/video : depression, bullying, suicide.

 

[Xerxes]

I was 13 years old when Devils Advocate came out, and the scene where Mary Anne kills herself with shards of glass via exsanguination stuck out to me for years, then of course Al Pacino's speech about God sealed the deal.

 

[The Blackangel]

The problem I have is that it seems that there is a growing number of people who treat suicide as a fad. It's like armband tattoos, or sandals with socks. they think it's something that is cool and fun. They either don't or won't see what people like us are going thru every day. It pisses me off, as I'm sure it does you too.

 

[ChickenAndPotatoes]

Such deep and important things to discuss in a popular song/video : depression, bullying, suicide.
View attachment 3519

I had no idea "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam was based on a true story. Thanks for sharing the article.

 

[Lra888]

The problem I have is that it seems that there is a growing number of people who treat suicide as a fad. It's like armband tattoos, or sandals with socks. they think it's something that is cool and fun. They either don't or won't see what people like us are going thru every day. It pisses me off, as I'm sure it does you too.

Yeah. Often when there's a news story about suicide it's framed as how suicide is on the rise, and the writer/newscaster etc forces the individual's story into context of the suicide trend in culture/increased statistics.

 

[The Blackangel]

Yeah. Often when there's an news story about suicide it's framed as how suicide is on the rise, and the writer/newscaster etc forces the individual's story into context of the suicide trend in culture/increased statistics.

I guess that's all we are. A fucking statistic. Not people in pain. They dehumanize us like that and then they wonder WHY suicide is "on the rise".

 

[TheGoodGuy]

Such deep and important things to discuss in a popular song/video : depression, bullying, suicide.
View attachment 3519

Omg this was the dream as a teenager with all the hormones in our bodies and still living in the moment imagining killing myself at school or even just kms in general and how fascinating it would be to every one now if I killed myself people wouldn´t care at all and I don´t feel excited thinking of it since I am 24yo and no racing hormones like I had in my teens. Damn it would be amazing to be able to go back to my teenage years to kms while being extremely excited about it because of all the fresh hormones, sigh.. back then just thinking about how everyone would miss me it felt like the whole world would end because of all the attention it would get but now I know how fast time goes by and it will be forgotten in the blink of an eye while only my close family will be sad and I am all out of hormones so the only emotion I feel in connection to suicide is guilt over how it will ruin my parents life in contrary to how as a suicidal teenager you´re mostly very egocentric and think me me me! People will miss me, they will be talking about me, girls would feel sorry for me!

 

[Threads]

Jeff Ward

Jeff Ward (November 18, 1962 – March 19, 1993) was a drummer for various rock bands including Skafish, Hammeron, Nine Inch Nails, Revolting Cocks, Ministry, Lard (Drums and Vocals), and Low Pop Suicide. He died by suicide in 1993 from carbon monoxide poisoning.[1] Revolting Cocks' 1993 album Linger Ficken' Good, Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral,[2] Ministry's 1996 album Filth Pig, and Lard's 1997 release Pure Chewing Satisfaction all featured dedications to him, while Ward's friend (and Nine Inch Nails bandmate) Richard Patrick dealt with his death in the Filter track "It's Over." He provided vocals and drums for the 1000 Homo DJs and the song "Hey Asshole" where he impersonated a cop.

The Downward Spiral

The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records and Interscope Records in the United States and by Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the destruction of a man from the beginning of his "downward spiral" to his death by suicide. The Downward Spiral features elements of industrial rock, techno and heavy metal music, in contrast to the band's synthpop-influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989), and was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and Flood.

Hurt

he song includes references to self-harm and heroin addiction, although the overall meaning of the song is disputed. Some listeners contend that the song acts as a suicide note written by the song's protagonist, as a result of his depression, while others claim that it describes the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain and does not have much to do with the storyline of The Downward Spiral

Mr. Self Destruct

The lyrics of the song introduce the protagonist of The Downward Spiral;[17][18] who ominously calls himself "the voice inside your head."[19][20] He represents the urges of sexuality, powers of addiction, and inescapable feelings of guilt and fear.[19][21] He appears to be violent, even sociopathic, at certain points ("I am the bullet in the gun"), but also claims to represent the purposes of religion, and the ultimate, unattainable goal of all human desire.

Further Down The Spiral

Further Down the Spiral is the second remix album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It is the companion remix disc to the band's second studio album, The Downward Spiral, and was released on June 1, 1995 in two editions, one denoted as Halo 10 (released in the United States and in the United Kingdom on the morning of release, to be pulled and replaced with Halo 10 V2 by lunch time[citation needed]) and the other as Halo 10 V2 (released in Japan, Australia, and the UK), each containing a different set of tracks

Hesitation Marks

Hesitation Marks is the eighth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released on August 30, 2013, by Columbia Records. It was the band's first release in five years, following The Slip (2008), as well as their first release through Columbia, their first album released on a major record label since Year Zero (2007). The album's title is derived from the term "hesitation wounds", which is used to describe marks that are produced by testing a bladed weapon before attempting suicide or self-harming.[1]

Alone I Break - Korn

"I wrote it when I was going through a rough time. And it's basically a song about checking out. About things getting so bad that you don't want to be here anymore". - Jonathan Davis

 

[Lra888]

Jeff Ward



The Downward Spiral



Hurt



Mr. Self Destruct



Further Down The Spiral



Hesitation Marks



Alone I Break - Korn

William Tucker - a guitarist from Ministry also committed suicide : On May 14, 1999, 38-year-old Tucker was found dead in his apartment of an apparent suicide after taking an excess of prescription pills and slitting his own throat.