| Emotion Sickness | |
| Type: | song |
| Artist: | Silverchair |
| Album: | Neon Ballroom |
| Released: | 8 March 1999 |
| Genre: | Alternative rock |
| Length: | 6:01 |
| Label: | Murmur, Epic |
| Producer: | Nick Launay |
"Emotion Sickness" is a song by the Australian alternative rock band Silverchair. It was released as the first song on their 1999 album Neon Ballroom. At 6 minutes long, it is the band's third-longest song. Australian pianist David Helfgott makes a guest appearance on the song,[1] along with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.[2] In a 1999 interview with Metal Hammer, Daniel Johns said that "Emotion Sickness" is his favorite Silverchair song.[3]
Although the song is not typical of Silverchair's work, "Emotion Sickness" is a fan favorite.[4]
For "Emotion Sickness", the band's frontman, Daniel Johns, wanted "a really manic and broken piano part to break up the album".[5] The band's management had the idea to call Australian pianist David Helfgott, 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 said.[2] The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is also featured in the song.[2]
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."[6]
The music video was directed by Cate Anderson, who also directed the video for "Ana's Song".[7] It features Australian actor Dai Paterson.
Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone 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's 'Dumb'". Chonin also called the orchestration lavish.[8]
The song was covered by the rock band Storm the Sky (also from Australia) on the 2017 Silverchair cover album Spawn (Again).[9] [10] [11] [12]