Psychiatry and The Beatles: Lennon’s Take on Psychotic Depression

Abstract

Background: Mental illness and related phenomena are no strangers to art. In popular music, there are numerous examples of formulations and images that contribute to our knowledge about internal experiences. The translation of these subjective experiences carries an immense value for psychiatric knowledge, which is based on the empathic movement as a means of exploration of psychopathological states. The Beatles, an English group of significant creative expression, exhibit, in their lyrics, what could be considered as psychopathological peculiarities. The song She Said She Said is particularly rich in this aspect.Aims: We aim to discuss the presence of psychopathological expression, both in the musical catalog of the group and in a particular song, She Said She Said. We propose that this song may be viewed as a representation of a state of psychotic depression.

Methods: We used phenomenological concepts and descriptive psychopathology to analyse the lyrical content of the song while presenting a brief review of the psychopathological elements found in the Beatles' musical work.

Results and Conclusions: In The Beatles' lyrics, we find passages that can be considered as psychopathological states. She Said She Said constitutes a particularly rich example, regarding psychopathological notions, such as depressive and psychotic phenomena, as well as depersonalization.