Neurasthenia?

Neurasthenia?

We could all use some joy 

and … sleep!

Neurasthenia was once very familiar to Americans 

• Not neurasthenic! you were feeling good and healthy.
• Neurasthenic! for some reason, you were feeling run down.

The usual problems of happiness and comfort were given a name and medicalized; like a kind of a catch-all for nearly every discomfort or unhappiness.

Being neurasthenic became rather popular

It had appeal as a disease! 

It allowed people that just felt unhappy or low, to reexplain the world to themselves, to reexplain their feelings to themselves.”

Neurasthenia has shaped so many things

• We see its legacy in how we talk about health, and lifestyles
• We hear its echoes in the self-help books that promise happiness
• We find it in the yoga classes offering inner peace.
• We find it in poems & songs fretting over love, loss and hurt.

 

I’m bringing you here 3 “neurasthenic musical samples” and I’m asking you to … (pair work): 

PAINT IT BLACK
CREEP
PEOPLE ARE STRANGE

• After having a look at the lyrics and the music, write a short essay (about 7/10 lines) explaining why, in your opinion, I’ve chosen them as samples.
• Find in the net two samples of your own and write a short essay (about 7/10 lines) explaining why you’ve chosen them.

Written parts should be individual; which means that I’ll be expecting two papers from each pair (as you can see I know my maths).