Institutionalized (song)

Infobox Single
Name=Institutionalized


Artist=Suicidal Tendencies
from Album=Suicidal Tendencies
Released=1983
Format=Vinyl
Recorded=1983
Genre=Hardcore punk
Thrash metal
Length=3:49
Label=Frontier
Writer=Mike Muir
Louiche Mayorga
Producer=Glen E. Friedman
Chart position=
Reviews=
Artist=Suicidal Tendencies
Last single=
This single="Institutionalized"
Next single="Possessed to Skate"
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Suicidal Tendencies
Type = album
Tracks =
# "Suicide's an Alternative / You'll Be Sorry"
# "Two Sided Politics"
# "I Shot the Devil"
# "Subliminal"
# "Won't Fall in Love Today"
# "Institutionalized"
# "Memories of Tomorrow"
# "Possessed"
# "I Saw Your Mommy..."
# "Fascist Pig"
# "I Want More"
# "Suicidal Failure"

"Institutionalized" is a song penned by frontman Mike Muir for Suicidal Tendencies' 1983 self-titled debut album. It is often classified as the band's signature song and would be re-recorded for the album "Still Cyco After All These Years" ten years later. The song was also nominated for the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1994, eleven years after its first release.

The song follows "Mike", presumably a teenage Mike Muir, through a series of social conflicts with friends and, more significantly, parents. The lyrics in the verses are not sung, but spoken in a run-on sentence style. The lyrics are complimented by the lead guitar, which is more subdued at the start of the verses, but becomes more frantic and powerful with the protagonist's confrontations and emotional outbursts, mainly based on a heavy, funk-influenced riff that increases in speed several sections before each chorus, one of the few examples of funk influence in the band's music before the entrance of bassist Robert Trujillo, the member who introduced the genre to the band with the recording of "Lights...Camera...Revolution!". Although "Institutionalized" was never a hit in the charts, it was the first hardcore punk and Thrash metal song to receive significant airplay on MTV and is considered to be one of the songs to define both genres. [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=suicidal_tendencies]

Apart from already being one of the band's most famous songs in 1983, the song's popularity increased with its inclusion in the music video game "Guitar Hero II" for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. It was also included on the Repo Man Soundtrack. The song was also featured in the game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX (2002). It was also popularly covered by the band Senses Fail, and this version can be heard in skateboarding video game "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland" (where one notable difference is that "Buddy" replaces "Mike" on the lyrics).

Part of the song "My Chemical Imbalance" by punk rock band Guttermouth parodies this song. You can hear it on [http://www.xxx-guttermouth-xxx.com/audio.htm this page] of Guttermouth's official website.

The song appears in the 2008 Iron Man movie. The video was also featured in an episode of "Beavis and Butt-head".

"Institutionalized" is referenced in the Sage Francis song "Slow Down Gandhi" in the line "It's death penalty vs. suicidal tendencies / All I wanted was a fucking Pepsi / Institution / Making you think you're crazy is a billion dollar industry." Limp Bizkit also referenced it in the song "Stuck" with the lines "All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi. So far from suicidal but still I get them tendencies bringing back the memories that I really miss."