Songs About Neglect
1. ‘A Gunshot to The Head of Trepidation’ by Trivium
We take a direct plunge into the dark waters of neglect and abuse. Trivium are a heavy metal band unafraid to express their feelings about topics that some stay well clear of.
It was composed by Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu, who both sing and play the guitar on the track. The idea behind the song was that someone who had suffered abuse or neglect could perhaps turn the terrible experience into something that you learn from.
It is written to illustrate the possible point of view of someone who is experiencing abuse or witnessing domestic abuse. This track was featured on the band’s second album that they titled ‘Ascendancy’ (2005).
2. ‘Alive’ by Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam released its debut album in 1991. Its title was ‘Ten’ and ‘Alive’ was the single the band put out before their album. It was a big success, charting at number 16 on the UK charts.
The music was composed by Pearl Jam’s guitarist Stone Gossard, and vocalist Eddie Vedder penned the lyrics. At the time, Vedder wasn’t a member of the band, but they were on the hunt for a front man.
Vedder wrote the lyrics and recorded a vocal part, then mailed the demo tape back to the band. Naturally, they asked him to Seattle, and the rest is history.
This is a mighty, potent song that is supposedly a fictional account of a boy who discovers the man who he thought was his father is not. The real father is dead, and his mother seems to taunt the boy with the news, free of regret and compassion.
Vedder describes the song as a curse for the boy he sings about. He remains alive whilst his father is gone.
Interestingly, Vedder comments that it was the fans that turned these lyrics around and ‘lifted the curse’, by singing the line ‘I’m still alive’ as if they had overcome the loss and trauma, making the song a shot of light in a dark world.
3. ‘Adam Raised a Cain’ by Bruce Springsteen
Drawing on the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, Springsteen focuses, in this song, on how Adam reflects on his raising of his son Cain. Cain was the wayward son. Jealous of Abel, Cain’s brother, he tricks him into a field and murders him.
What Cain did not expect was that God could see what he’d done and determines that Cain will live his life as a wanderer, restless and without the possibility of death.
‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ was the album on which Springsteen placed this track. A powerful rock track, it arrived on the shelves in 1978.
Springsteen freely admits the song is semi-autobiographical, exploring his relationship with his father. The song has been featured in several movies, including ‘Baby It’s You’ by John Sayles.
4. ‘The Blue Flashing Light’ by Travis
Perhaps only the true devotees of Travis found this track as it is what became known as a hidden track. After the final track on the album ‘The Man Who’, there are nearly three and a half minutes of nothing.
If you’re still listening by this time, you’ll get to hear the song ‘The Blue Flashing Light’. This hidden gem is quite a departure from the other tracks on the album. Simply, this is a song about abuse.
The lyrics make for disquieting reading even without the amplification of the music. What makes this particular song all the harder-hitting is that it directly relates to the lead singer’s relationship with his parents.
It’s an angry song of frustration and misery at the hands of an alcoholic.
5. ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’ by Eminem
From Eminem’s 2002 album titled ‘The Eminem Show’, this is an upfront track that highlights relationships and emotions buried in the rapper’s early past. The song firmly sits in the familiar Eminem bracket of hip-hop with a touch of rock for good measure.
Verses contrast with the choruses throughout the song. Eminem seems in conflict with himself as he rails against his mother in the verses, then seems to apologise in the choruses.
You can unmistakably feel the hatred Eminem feels towards his mother and his absentee father. The professional drum programming by DJ Head cleverly underlines the hostility in this rap.
The critical response was mixed with this track. For some, the feeling was that the rapper had overstepped the mark into territory you did not place in the public domain. Others like Dr. Dre understood Eminem’s origin and supported the album.
6. ‘Cousin Kevin’ by The Who
From a band that became famous for destroying their instruments at the end of their live performances came a ground-breaking album they called ‘Tommy’. This album, complete with astonishing artwork by Mike McInnerney, came out in 1969.
Pete Townshend had been exploring ways of extending musical ideas and moving away from the standard song models toward something far more substantial and interconnected. Tommy was the result; a rock opera.
The plot, to say the least, is a complex one. What’s key to this track is that Tommy’s parents neglect him, and he finds himself abandoned by his nasty, sadistic cousin named Kevin. This song was composed by Jon Entwistle, the Who’s bassist.
Cousin Kevin becomes increasingly annoyed and frustrated by Tommy’s disabilities and decides to torture him.
Entwistle comments that this track was based on his childhood experience with a boy who lived across the street from him who his parents thought was an appropriate playmate. The truth was completely different from his parent’s impression of the boy.
7. ‘Dead Babies’ by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper said of this track that “It started as a simple song about neglect. Bob Ezrin (Canadian Producer and keyboardist) turned it into a Gothic classic”“. The track comes from the 1971 album called ‘Killer’ and is the seventh song on that album.
To call this, a sobering song is a huge understatement. Cooper sings about massive parental neglect in this song that ultimately results in the death of baby Betty, who eats aspirin when she is left to her devices.
The parents are self-obsessed, ambitious people with no interest in the child. They split, and the father fulfils his ruthless ambitions whilst the mother languishes in poverty, unable to or unwilling to care for Betty.
A soul-destroying story that shouts an uncomfortable message about human frailties, failures, and the death of the innocent.
8. ‘Hell Is for Children’ by Pat Benatar
Benetar recorded and released this hard rock song in 1980. It appeared on her second studio album titled ‘Crimes of Passion’ and was almost an instantly popular song on Rock Radio Stations.
It is not a song Benatar based on personal experience but one she decided to write after reading articles in the New York Times about abuse. She was so shocked at what she read that she understandably felt compelled to write a song to express her feeling and expose the nature of these terrible events.
Benatar intends to make you feel uncomfortable and experience the pain that transfers through the song. This track is an anthem to the suffering of child abuse and calls everyone to do something about it.
9. ‘Luka’ by Suzanne Vega
From the 1987 album titled ‘Solitude Standing’ this song made a massive impact across the world. In a similar vein to the song above, this gentle but robust song centres on child abuse.
Vega has talked in many interviews about the song. She recalls seeing children playing outside her apartment building and noticing a boy whose name was Luka, somehow distant from the other children.
From here came the song title, although Vega admits she knew no more details about the boy’s life. The song was inspired by this experience, and Vega chose to follow the difficult path and write about a subject that no one want to hear.
What I feel is innately clever about this song is its musical understatement. The structure, melody, and chords are simple, immediate, and inviting, allowing you comfortable space to absorb these difficult lyrics.
10. ‘Me and My Gun’ By Tori Amos
Heralding from Tori Amos’s debut album ‘Little Earthquakes’, this track was released in 1991. With this song, we are right back to personal experiences of abuse. As beautiful as the song is, Amos wrote this track from candid suffering, having been raped at knife-point, at twenty-one.
The rapist was a man who offered her a lift home following a gig she’d done at his venue. She puts emotion, hurt, venerability and grief into this single song that partly challenges the offender as well as the listening public. Was she the one at fault? Should she have dressed differently?
Tori Amos regularly included this song in her live performances, which has made a profound mark on many who hear it. Amos was given a ‘Visionary’ award following her 1994 performance at the DC Rape Crisis Centre.
11. ‘Two Beds and a Coffee Machine’ by Savage Garden
From the 1999 album titled ‘Affirmation’, this song directs our attention toward the awfulness of an abusive relationship. In this track, it is a woman who is ensnared in a relationship that is toxic and damaging both to her and her children.
The song shows how she runs away from time to time to escape the abuse of cheap hotels with a bed and a coffee machine. It’s a dark picture of a lonely life. No matter which way she turns to get away, she knows that, eventually, she’ll return to the horrors of home.