"Emotion Sickness" is a song by the Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Silverchair Silverchair was an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

. It was released as the first song on their 1999 album ''

Neon Ballroom ''Neon Ballroom'' is the third studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair, released in March 1999 by record labels Murmur and Epic. The songs " Anthem for the Year 2000", " Ana's Song (Open Fire)" and " Miss You Love" were r ...

''. At 6 minutes long, it is the band's third-longest song. Australian pianist

David Helfgott David Helfgott (born 19 May 1947) is an Australian concert pianist whose life inspired the Academy Award-winning film '' Shine'', in which he was portrayed by actors Geoffrey Rush, Noah Taylor and Alex Rafalowicz. Biography Early life Helfgott ...

makes a guest appearance on the song,McFarlane
'silverchair'
entry. Archived fro
the original
on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 23 December 2018. along with the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

. In a 1999 interview with

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

Daniel Johns Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the Lead vocalist, frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the Rock music, rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociat ...

said that "Emotion Sickness" is his favorite Silverchair song. Although the song is not typical of Silverchair's work, "Emotion Sickness" is a fan favorite.

Background

For "Emotion Sickness", the band's frontman,

, wanted "a really manic and broken piano part to break up the album". The band's management had the idea to call Australian pianist

, who also shared the same lawyer with Silverchair, and the band agreed without hesitation. "Daniel wanted a manic piano part. It suited the song. He wanted it so it wasn't typical - didn't want something that was nice and kinda polished. He wanted something that was manic and off-chords. David Helfgott was the perfect man for the job", bassist

Chris Joannou Christopher John Joannou (born 10 November 1979) is a Macedonian-Australian musician best known as the bassist for the Newcastle-based alternative rock band Silverchair. He is a twin to sister Louise Kipa. He was the first of the three band me ...

said. The

is also featured in the song. Daniel Johns said about the song:

It's about fighting against the need to get some kind of medication and trying to pretend that you've got a normal state of mind when you know for a fact that you haven't."

Music video

The music video was directed by Cate Anderson, who also directed the video for " Ana's Song". It features Australian actor Dai Paterson.

Reception

Neva Chonin of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called the song "mopey" and said that when the song's last words are "lessons learned," "it’s hard to suppress a sigh at the overt lyrical reference to

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

's ' Dumb'". Chonin also called the orchestration lavish.

Covers

The song was covered by Australian rock band

Storm the Sky Storm the Sky were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne. History The band was formed in Melbourne in 2011 and consisted of vocalists Daniel Breen and William Jarratt, the guitarists Andy Szetho and Billy Green, as well as bassist Krist ...

on the 2017 Silverchair cover album ''Spawn (Again)''.

Personnel

– vocals, guitar *

Ben Gillies Benjamin David Gillies (born 24 October 1979) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of Australian rock band Silverchair from 1992 until the band went on hiatus in 2011. In 2003, Gillies formed Tambalane with Wes Carr, initially ...

– drums *

– bass ;Additional personnel *

– piano *

Larry Muhoberac Lawrence Gordon Muhoberac, Jr. (February 12, 1937 – December 4, 2016) was an American musician, record producer, and composer who was also known under pseudonyms "Larry Owens" and "Larry Gordon". Career in America Muhoberac is widely known a ...

– piano

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

– strings

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1999 songs Silverchair songs Songs written by Daniel Johns Songs about depression Song recordings produced by Nick Launay 1999 singles