Down with the Sickness

"Down with the Sickness" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was recorded in 1999 and released as the second single from the band's debut studio album, The Sickness. "Down with the Sickness" is one of Disturbed's best-known songs and is a concert staple, usually played as the last song. This was Disturbed's first single to be certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.

"Down with the Sickness"
Single by Disturbed
from the album The Sickness
ReleasedOctober 31, 2000
GenreNu metal
Length
  • 4:38 (album version)
  • 3:42 (radio edit)
LabelGiant
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Johnny K
Disturbed singles chronology
"Stupify"
(2000)		 "Down with the Sickness"
(2000)		 "Voices"
(2000)
Audio sample
"Down with the Sickness" (chorus)
  • file
  • help

Music and composition

"Down With the Sickness" is a nu metal song[1][2][3] that features an unusual "ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah" staccato noise from Disturbed's singer David Draiman at the end of the intro, which reappears before the last chorus.[4] Draiman has stated the sound was made possible by effects on his vocal cords after receiving surgery for acid reflux, but he has dismissed the rumor the noise was actually caused by heartburn, further explaining, "I mean the song originally was written and just had a pause. Mikey's beat is just so tribal and you know it just made me feel like an animal... [The noise] came out one day." [5]

Guitarist Dan Donegan has mentioned that the tuning for the guitar "is drop C-sharp... your bottom five strings are half a step down and your low string will be dropped to C-sharp."[6] This is sometimes referred to as "E♭ Drop D♭", the most common drop tuning for bands who play generally in E♭ standard instead of E standard.

Lyrics

A spoken segment near the end of the song describes a child who is physically abused by his mother and who ultimately retaliates. This segment is somewhat controversial and music critics sometimes express a negative opinion of its inclusion in the song. For example, Leor Galil of the Chicago Reader opined, "Yet I still find it hard to believe that the megasingle 'Down With the Sickness,' with its vocal breakdown in which front man David Draiman crudely describes being beaten by his mom (and vice versa), guided the band on to a path that's resulted in four albums topping the Billboard 200."[7]

However, the band has disavowed that this song is about literal child abuse, and that it is instead about a metaphoric abuse. Lead singer David Draiman explained to the Phoenix New Times:

...the screamed psychodramas in metal hits like "Down With The Sickness" ... are merely inspired by personal history, not a literal journal of his own tortured upbringing. "I'm really talking about the conflict between the mother culture of society, who's beating down the child yearning for independence and individuality, and the submission of the child."[8]

The "abuse" segment is not included in the radio edit or the music video.

Music video

A music video composed of live concert footage was produced for the song. The song is known for its segment which features a boy being attacked and abused by his mother,[9] which was not featured in the music video. The music video was recorded at the "Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre" (at the time the Tweeter Center) in Tinley Park, Illinois during Q101's Jamboree 2001.[10]

In media

The song has been used often as entrance music in sports. Many college football and National Football League (NFL) teams (including the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, the Delaware Blue Hens and the Houston Texans have played it as the players enter the field, and mixed martial artists, Steve Cantwell, Rousimar Palhares, and Mark Bocek have entered to the song at various Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events. The Carolina Panthers have used the song as the team's entrance music for home games at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and used the song as its entrance music in Super Bowl 50. The drumline of Brandywine High School's marching band sometimes plays this song during football games.

The song is included in several films and video games, including Queen of the Damned, The One, Green Street, Rock Band 2, South Park, Guitar Hero Live, WWE 2K18 and as part of the Guitar Hero 5 downloadable content library (The Guitar Hero, WWE 2K18 and Rock Band version have the "abuse" segment intact, however all curse words were removed).

The 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead used the song during the end credits and the piano accompaniment by Richard Cheese that is played throughout the film.

It is currently the opening theme song on the Travel Channel show Paranormal Challenge.

The song is used as the opening track to the J. T. the Brick Show featuring J. T. the Brick and Tomm Looney on Fox Sports Radio.

An instrumental version is used in the opening video for Image Space Incorporated's game rFactor.

The song was also used by professional wrestlers Chri$ Ca$h, Lizmark Jr. and numerous other wrestlers as their Theme Song. After Chri$ Ca$h died in a 2005 motorcycle accident, Combat Zone Wrestling annually run a memorial tribute event named Down With The Sickness.

The song was featured in the season 11 premiere episode of the adult animated comedy South Park, titled "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson".

The opening of the song was also featured at the end of Episode 17 of Season 6 of the police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Accolades
Region Year Publication Accolade Rank
United States 2015 Loudwire 10 Best Metal Riffs of the 2000s[11] 3
United States 2016 Loudwire Best Metal Song of the 21st Century[12] Won

Covers

Personnel

Certifications and chart positions

Chart positions
Chart (2001) Peak
position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[13] 4
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] 8
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 5

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Silver 200,000^
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. "Paolo Gregoletto: Nu-Metal – Revered or Reviled? The Top Ten". All Axess. (January 5th, 2015). Retrieved on September 23rd, 2015
  2. Shumka, Dave. "10 nu metal songs that still hold up on CBC music". CBC Music. (February 14th, 2013)
  3. Jon Hadusek (August 20, 2015). "Disturbed – Immortalized". Consequence of Sound.
  4. "10 Best Metal Riffs of the 2000s". Loudwire. (December 26th, 2013). Retrieved on October 1st, 2015
  5. "Behind the Ball with Disturbed: Dispelling the Rumor Behind the Sickness". mtv.com. Headbangers Ball. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  6. ""Disturbed – Learn to play "Down with the Sickness"". YouTube. 22 Sep 2010.
  7. Galil, Leor (20 Aug 2015). "Disturbed – House of Blues". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media, LLC. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  8. Magahern, Jimmy (26 June 2003). "Disturbed & Disturberer". Phoenix New Times. NT Media LLC. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  9. Ratliff, Ben. "Rolling Stone Review of The Sickness, Mudvayne's L.D. 50, Relative Ash's Our Time With You, and Soulfly's Primitive". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. (September 28th, 2000). Retrieved on October 1st, 2015
  10. "Q101 Jamboree 2001 Setlists". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  11. "10 Best Metal Riffs of the 2000s". Loudwire.
  12. "Disturbed's 'Down With the Sickness' Wins Best Metal Song of the 21st Century in March Metal Madness 2016". Loudwire.
  13. "Disturbed Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard.
  14. "Disturbed Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
  15. "Disturbed Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  16. "British single certifications – Disturbed – Down with the Sickness". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 9, 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Down with the Sickness in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  17. "American single certifications – Disturbed – Down with the Sickness". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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