Mötorhead - “Overkill” (1979)

“Know your body's made to move
Ya’ feel it in your guts
Rock 'n' roll ain't worth the name
If it don't make you strut”

On this classic speed-metal tune, Lemmy Kilmister reaffirms rock and metal’s purpose as a way to express emotion and provoke arousal- it’s not worth your time if it can’t make you move.

“Late at night, all systems go, you've come to see the show
We do our best, you're the rest, you make it real, you know
There's a feeling deep inside that drives you f***in' mad
A feeling of a hammer-head, you need it, oh, so bad

Adrenaline starts to flow
You're thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac…
Whiplash!”

Perhaps the most famous metal song about emotional arousal, (from unquestionably the most well-known band included here) Metallica’s ode to rowdy concerts illustrates not only the actual actions of the crowd, but the rising emotions within them that drive them to “thrash all around.” One wonders if James Hetfield read some of Schacter and Singer’s work- the progression of adrenaline rising to thrashing around and “acting like a maniac” sounds remarkably similar to a treatise on two-factor theory.

“Here's a new dance craze that's sweepin' the nation
It's called the Toxic Waltz and it's causin' devastation
You're jumpin' up and down like a psycho circus clown
Slammin' with waltzers all the way around
You get caught up in the whip, you're thrown into a flip
Then you aim for someone's head to stain the floor red
Give someone a kick to prove you're truly sick
Bounce back from some blows and blood runs out your nose”

Again, it’s inadvisable to actually commit this kind of violence in a mosh pit- you’d almost certainly be thrown out and banned from the venue by security, if not by your fellow concertgoers themselves. Mosh pits are, as stated, generally supposed to be fun, sporting situations where someone may get bumped or bruised, but not mauled as described in the lyrics. Still, this song stands as a celebration of the mosh pit at its rowdiest and most fun, translated into Exodus’ overexaggerated macho vernacular. The decision to refer to the act of moshing as a “waltz” might also seem like just another joke or comedic exaggeration at first, but in truth, it legitimizes moshing by placing it alongside a more traditional style of dance (the waltz) in listeners’ minds; it’s a different style of movement for a different style of music.

Saxon - “Heavy Metal Thunder” (1980)

“On the wings of an eagle
You're hoping to fly
Holding your hands to the sky
In a blue sea of denim
Checkin' the band
With your banners and scarves held on high”

Biff Byford’s commanding vocals reference not only crowd surfing, (as seen in the quote above) but headbanging (“you’re shaking your heads to the band) and moshing (“shake your body if it’s too loud”) in the lyrics- that’s an emotional arousal trifecta!

“A dose of Metal you need
To bang your head 'til you bleed
Ooh, it’s time for snapping necks
Slashing, thrashing to Megadeth”

Though banging your head to the point of physical injury is not recommended, every metalhead can relate to just a needing “a dose of metal” after a long, frustrating week of work or class to wring out their emotions and let their body loose in the pit. Dave Mustaine and Chris Poland’s face-melting guitar work will surely do the trick for anyone in need of such a dose.

“Now in times when society needs us
This is where the sin begins
We're aware they're going to free us
Rage from our hearts within
Born of this world, which is a living hell
But we'll be closer to heaven

So now, this is the art to shred
It’s only emotion”

Pantera’s take on emotional arousal and metal isn’t just a love letter to the boisterous joy found in the crowd, but a defiant battle cry for metal and its relationship with emotion as a shield against a broken world. Trapped in an irrevocably divided society with “[their] lives in the hands of madmen,” Pantera choose to use their internalized rage and love for metal to get “closer to heaven” and escape the tyranny they live under. Their love of “shredding,” or skilled, fast guitar playing, seems to be the catalyst for their emotional furor, and they intend to use it to change the world, no matter how powerless they may feel. It’s perhaps an overly idealistic take on the subject, but a unique one nonetheless.

For this page’s citations and attributions, please see the “Discography” section of the citations page.

Venom - “Black Metal” (1982)

“Freaking so wild, nobody's mild
Giving it all that you've got
Wild is so right, metal tonight
Faster than over the top
Open the core, enter Hell's door
Black is the code for tonight
Atomic force, feel no remorse
Crank up the amps, now it's night”

Despite its title, this song isn’t actually an example of the black metal subgenre- it’s closer to original-recipe thrash metal. Still, it’s an excellent example of a band using themes of emotional arousal in their lyrics in combination with references to damnation, war, and an exhortation to “lay down your soul to the gods rock and roll.”

“Can't stand it for another day
I ain't gonna live my life this way!
Cold sweat, my fists are clenching
(Stomp, stomp, stomp) The idiot convention!

Which one of these words don't you understand?
Aw, I'm caught in a mosh
Talking to you, is like clapping with one hand

(What is it?) Caught in a mosh!”

In an interesting twist on the subject of emotional arousal and metal, songwriter Scott Ian likens dealing with a particularly stubborn and incorrigible person in his day-to-day life as being similar to being caught in the middle of a sudden mosh pit without being ready. The other people in the situation probably mean well, and you might be alright with them otherwise, but they’re too caught up in their own affairs to realize they’re impeding you.

“We’ll dig up our fan base
The real ones that count
We'll bring up their corpses
And toss them all out
The body count rises
Each fan that we slay
Adding grave divers
Each night that we play”

Though metal songs about the joys of emotional arousal have been somewhat harder to come by since the early 90s, that doesn’t mean the trend is completely dead. Richmond-area thrashers Municipal Waste rose to prominence in the 2000s due to their legendarily raucous live shows and a return to an aesthetic of wild emotional arousal to the point of violence- similar to what Exodus was espousing on “The Toxic Waltz.” Not to be outdone, this song’s lyrics include passages about reanimating dead metalheads- presumably ones who died in the awesome chaos of a Municipal Waste mosh pit- and turning them into “grave divers.” This is certainly a reference to the practice of “stage diving,” an even more dangerous form of crowd surfing in which the would-be surfer leaps from the stage into the crowd, hoping to be caught and surfed across their expanse. In this song, Municipal Waste boasts that even after death their fans will have the trust and interpersonal bonds required to catch legions of their fellow metalheads leaping into the crowd- not to mention the fact that their music is allegedly so emotionally potent that it can kill people from pure excitement and then bring them back to life again. It’s ridiculous, but it’s all in good fun and good spirits- and it’s in the spirit of emotional arousal.