"Child Psychology" is the debut single by English
indie rock band
Black Box Recorder, released in 1998 from their debut album ''
England Made Me''. The song features a mixture of
spoken word and a sung chorus. The spoken word tells of various incidents from childhood, including refusing to talk,
expulsion from school for disruptive behaviour and parents arguing at Christmas.
The sung chorus featured a highly controversial line, "Life is unfair, kill yourself or get over it". This led to the song being banned by some UK radio stations (with the exception of
Xfm
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
who gave it some daytime airplay) and
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
. However, the sardonic nature of the song also gained praise from critics, with one calling it 'refreshingly blunt'.
The chorus was featured in a series 3 episode of ''
Monkey Dust'' and in the season 1 episode 19 of the ''
Gilmore Girls'' titled "Emily in Wonderland", and consequently featured on the ''Gilmore Girls'' soundtrack, ''
Our Little Corner of the World''.
The song was released in the US shortly after the
Columbine massacre
On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth grade, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and ...
, this led to the line "kill yourself" being played backwards on the US release.
Uncovering The Ballardian Universe Of Black Box Recorder
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References
1998 songs
1998 debut singles
Chrysalis Records singles
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