Freud suggested that dreams reveal unconscious conflicts and forbidden wishes too threatening for waking, conscious contemplation. Jung suggested that dreams were teachers, and that if we paid attention to the universal symbols contained in our dreams, we would know what path to take when presented with multiple paths, and multiple choices.
Scrooge, in Charles Dickens' "A CHRISTMAS CAROL," blamed the visit of a spirit in a chilling dream on "a bit of undigested beef," alluding to the physiological antecedents that likely also play a role in the formation and content of dreams. In the following song, it is suggested that dreams serve another function, that of hiding aspects of conscious, waking experiences that would rather be forgotten. In this song, the subject of the song finds comfort from heartache in the unlikely form of the dream.
After listening to the song, share a dream you have had that serves this same escapist function.
In My Dreams my Heart Ain't Broke
words and music by Dr BLT copyright 2012
In My Dreams My Heart Ain't Broke
when I went to sleep last night
I was holdin' you so tight
but you were gone when I awoke
in my dreams my heart ain't broke
last night when I went to bed
you were there inside my head
all my dreams went up in smoke
but in my dreams
my heart ain't broke
in my dreams
our love was strong
but I awoke
to a sad, sad song
the morn revealed a cruel joke
but in my dreams my heart ain't broke
"Wrap it Up" promotes responsible sexual behavior through the use of protection. "You're Not the Kinda Ho (That Santa Had in Mind)," in both versions (pop and rap), promotes responsible sexual behavior through a re-examination of sexually promiscuous behavior and the potential delerious effects that result from such activity. It's message is more a message of abstinence and monogomy. There are many ways of examining the messages contained in these songs via science. One could look at which sort of message is more effective in reducing sexually-transmitted diseases, and design a scientific study accordingly. One could look at the relationship between sexual promiscuity early victimization via sexual abuse/molestation.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to pick one of these songs as an audio backdrop for a PsychMusicVid. Create a video that reinforces the lyrics through visual images. Then discuss the experience of addressing the corresponding issue in the context of the creation of a video as contrasted with how the same issue may be addressed via scientific research.
Wrap it Up
Dr BLT: words and music by Bruce L Thiessen, aka Dr BLT copyright 2011
remix by Gary LaDuke aka GL, aka the G-L-ement
Not the Kinda Ho (That Santa had in Mind)
Dr BLT: words and music by Bruce L Thiessen, aka Dr BLT copyright 2011
Not the Kinda Ho (That Santa had in Mind: Rap Edition)
Dr BLT: words and music by Bruce L Thiessen, aka Dr BLT copyright 2011
Humanistic forms of therapy seek to equalize the playing field between "client" and psychologist, or mental health professional. Rather than approaching "clients" as aloof, and/or as the "expert," humanistic forms of treatment have therapists self-disclosing and interacting with the patients more like an equal or a peer.
In traditional, Freudian-based psychoanalytic orientations, the doctor embraced the mystique characteristic of the archetypal shaman figure or healer. Yes, it created and/or reinforced dependency in the patient, and allowed for paternal projections to abound, but this type of transference, this type of dependency on the all-knowing doctor (especially in early stages of the therapy), and this sort of mystique was deemed useful and valuable to the developmental progression of the therapy process. Rather than robbing the patient of his/her projections, Freudian-based psychoanalytical therapists used/use the transference to make important therapeutic advances. It's the fuel that keeps the therapeutic engine running.
It is from this perspective that the following song is written. Your job, as the producer-in-training of a brand new PsychMusicVid to go with the song, DOCTOR OF YOUR MIND, will be to translate the lyrics into visual patterns that are consistent with what the lyrics and the music are attempting to convey.
Doctor of Your Mind
Dr BLT (the GL redux mix)
words and music by Dr Bruce L. Thiessen, aka Dr BLT copyright 2011
Mrs. Pain is a song that is based metaphor. The main character in the song, Mrs. Pain, is a metaphor for depression, and the story is a metaphor for an individual's existential struggle with depression. The relief experienced by the depressed person in the song is expressed as a sort of prayer followed by a sort of divine exorcism. Whether offered in the form of traditional psychotherapy, or psychotherapy by experts also trained in theology (something I call psychoPrayerapy), modern-day approaches can be depicted as a sort of psychological exorcism, with the psychologist, pastoral counselor, or other type of mental health professional, serving as an archetypal priest or shamon.
Here's the PsychMusicVid challenge: Consider the experience of depression, and its relief via psychotherapy, or a combination of psychotherapy, medication, and/or alternative treatments. Describe, in phenomenological terms, the difference between how you would approach the subject of depression using scientific language, and the way you would depict the aspects of depression, and its treatment as communicated in this song, through a music video, using visual languages based on the song instead of scientific terminology. Then produce your video.
Mrs Pain
Dr BLT
words and music by Dr Bruce L Thiessen, aka Dr BLT copyright 2011
I knew a weepin' widow
who lived down the street
every night she turned out the lights
and cried herself to sleep
every day she'd drew the shades
and hung her head in shame
one day I asked and I found out
her name was Mrs Pain
she had a son named Sorrow
and she had a son named Shame
she had a daughter named
Damsel in Distress, and
her nickname was insane
she had a dog named Down in the Dumps
she had a cat named Catastrophe
fish who swim
in a bucket of tears
and though it may sound strange
her name was Mrs Pain
her name was Mrs Pain
one day she came to my house
and started knockin' at my door
and when I answered the door
she said
I'm gonna tell you what's in store
I'm gonna knock you down
down to the ground
fill your heart and soul with misery
I said no thank you please
I don't need your disease
then I begged on bended knees
please Mrs Pain
please Mrs Pain
one day I prayed to the heavens above
for this woman to be gone
I knew she darked all of my days
and I knew I lost my song
well the lightenin' struck
the thunder roared
and Mrs. Pain was runnin' scared
well she took her pets
and her children too
and where she goes
you better beware
of Mrs Pain
beware of Mrs Pain...
As a scientific phenomenon, stalking is an interesting one to study and to describe. Use scientific language to describe the experience (from either from the perspective of the stalker or the victim). Then, using the song, and the story embedded in the lyrics, retell the experience from the character in the song's point of view, using visual images (still-life or video recording) to capture and convey the phenomenological experience of being stalked.
Your Christmas Stalking
Dr BLT ft Shannon Lambert
words and music by Dr Bruce L Thiessen, aka Dr BLT copyright 2010
Remixed by Gary LaDuke aka GL
what's in your Christmas stalking
why are you stalkin' me
I love my fans but sometimes
you have to let me be
chorus:
I can't go anywhere
I can't go Christmas shoppin'
I can't go anywhere
without your Christmas stalkin'
what's in my Christmas stalkin'
you'll have to wait and see
I want an autographed copy
of your Christmas CD
(chorus)
I have to close my eyes and
I must turn out the lights
on my big Christmas tree
they won't be burnin' bright
I can't go carolin'
with all my Christmas friends
tell me when your stalkin'
will ever end
I can't go anywhere (repeat X4 or 5 times)
without your Christmas stalkin'...