Walking Paranoia

Album: Odd Soul (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In our interview with Mutemath drummer, Darren King, it was revealed this song is about the paranoia which can emerge from a religious upbringing: "That song is all about how we were raised. You're raised in this scene where there's a lot of talk of demons and you just talk of the Rapture, and as a kid, when a little airplane would fly overhead and you'd hear the sound, I would literally run and go check to see if my mom was still there, because I wanted to make sure that that sonic boom wasn't the Rapture. And if it was, I knew my mom would be gone for sure, because she was the best person I knew. So if Mom got raptured, and I'm still around, then I'm in trouble. So it was this paranoia. Or if you look at a dirty magazine for the first time when you're 11 or 12, and then for the rest of that year you wonder if you're going to go to hell – that's a true story of mine – and then toil over that. And then I went back to the gas station and I tried to apologize to the gas station attention for looking at the dirty magazine, and it was a completely different person that owned the place, they didn't have dirty magazines anymore. Weird stuff like that."
  • "Walking Paranoia" features on Odd Soul, Mutemath's third album. King told us the entire record carries this theme of religious upbringing and social awkwardness: "Well, to me, it represents the idea that I'm strange. I mean, I remember growing up as a kid thinking that to be me, to be a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant teen, growing up in Missouri, was sort of the absence of culture. I thought that I was raised with a blank canvas regarding culture and that I had nothing in that regard. And then as I get older, I do start to see it differently. And I bear both this pride and also embarrassment for who I am culturally and religiously. And I feel strange. I feel like a weird person."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Michael W. Smith

Michael W. SmithSongwriter Interviews

Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.