Psycho Soundtrack

“Sad Tomorrow” - The Muffs:

I don’t think this song was written about anything related to Psycho but, when heard with the movie in mind, the lyrics take on a different meaning. The opening lyrics of the song are: “I don’t even know why. Do you think I’m a mess? Maybe someday but now you’re gone.” To me, this can be read as Norman talking to his mother. He knows she’s dead because he killed her but he is still talking to her. He still cares about her opinions. The song continues, “When I do as I please, I’m no different to me. Am I crazy or have good luck?” Norman should, by all means, be free to do whatever he wants. His mother is not alive to control him anymore. But nothing is different, she still makes him powerless just now it’s from inside his own head. The chorus of the song goes, “I don’t know why you’re so glad, when my head’s filled with sorrow. So maybe if I fade away, There’ll be no sad tomorrow.” This is still from Norman’s perspective, but now he’s talking to Marion. He resents her for being of sound mind when he is very much not. His way of coping is for Norman to fade away into Mother, who then kills Marion.

“Stronghold” - Classics of Love:

This song connects to Psycho in Norman’s backstory. The song starts, “Fight to prevail, to be the first one. To climb up and break the lower rungs. So nobody tries to come up from behind. So nobody tries to take what’s mine.” These are the kind of things I imagine Norman was thinking when his mother remarried. He wanted her all to himself and considered the new husband competition. The song continues, “Defend yourself. Protect yourself. Assert yourself. Elect yourself.” I think the way these lines are delivered does an especially good job mimicking the way I imagine Norman was thinking. It’s very aggressive with short, explosive phrases that sound almost fragmented. This seems what Norman’s head was like right as he was about to murder his mother and her husband. He’s trying to protect his relationship with his mother but ends up assuming her personality. The “yourself” mentioned in the song becomes Norman and his mother. The chorus of the song goes, “Who’s gonna run, who will run the show. Who’s gonna lose, who will take control. Stronghold. Strong till your blood runs cold.” These lines can describe the power struggle between Norman and his stepfather, but I think they make more sense in relation to his two personalities. Each of them take control and “run the show” at different moments.

“Padded Cell” - Black Flag:

This song starts with the lines: “Earth’s a padded cell, defanged and declawed, I’m living in hell, it’s a paradise fraud.” This reminded me of the conversation Norman and Marion had where they talk about everyone’s “private traps.” Norman says, “You know what I think? I think we’re all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever climb out. We scratch and claw… but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.” Both the song and this monologue describe a feeling of confinement and utilize animalistic imagery. The song continues, “I’m invisible, nowhere to hide. I’m obscene, the living dead. See the flies in your head. Looking at you, I’m inside you. It’s Walden too but the flower’s dead” Norman is both invisible and has nowhere to hide because he is only a personality. He can no longer escape his mother because she is always with him in his mind. When Norma takes over, he is “the living dead,” but she is still a corpse. He can “see the flies in your head.” Another verse of the song goes, “Suspect, the stranger in disguise. Forced itself upon me something I can’t hide. See it in, maniacs! Their eyes, maniacs!” This can be read as one of Norman’s victims. He is a “stranger in disguise” when he murders. He’s a “maniac,” a psycho.

“Operator’s Manual” - Buzzcocks:

I interpret this song’s relation to Psycho as the Norma personality being Norman’s operator’s manual. He uses the way she ran his life when she was alive to run his own life without her. The song starts, “Operator’s Manual tells me what to do when emotions blow a fuse.” Norman turning into his mother is his fallback for when he doesn’t know how to handle a situation. His feelings for Marion confuse him so he uses Norma to get rid of her. The chorus goes, “Oh, operator’s manual, I’d just fall apart without you. If only I had a mechanic. Then somehow I know I’d pull through.” Norman can’t function without his mother to guide him so he continues to act as if under her control even in her death. He is a very lonely person and needs someone to fix him, like a mechanic. Whether or not he could actually be fixed, he definitely longs for human connection.

“What’s My Name” - The Clash:

The opening lines of this song have a clear connection to Psycho. “What the hell is wrong with me? I’m not who I want to be.” Once again, this is from Norman’s perspective, although more self aware than he is portrayed in the film. I don’t know if Norman knows something is wrong with him, but I get the feeling he’s not who he wants to be. He definitely seems like he has issues with identity, it’s just unclear what they are, aside from the obvious. I think that this song fits with Psycho if it wanted to portray Norman as more struggling with his issues instead of just crazy. The titular chorus goes, “What’s my name?” This shows the internal struggle of Norman versus Norma. The last verse of the song is: “Now I’m round the back of your house at night. Peeping in the window, are you sleeping tight?” This really reminded me of the scene where Norman is watching Marion through the hole in the wall.