Disturbed’s “Down With the Sickness” Lyrics Meaning

“The Sickness” which serves as the title and subject of this song (“Down with the Sickness”) is an allegory. It has been put forth that what it actually points to is a negative state of mind. But there is more to it than that. 

For example, the singer is actually encouraging the audience to “get down with the sickness”. And he is not doing so to cause them any sort of harm or to inspire them to behave negatively per se.

Rather the cause of said “sickness” is the way society treats the singer and others. That is to say that the singer implies that we laymen are compelled to be subservient and self-loathing by the powers that be.

Or put differently, he is under the impression that we are being dehumanized by our rulers and mainstream influencers. But the vocalist isn’t having it. More to the point, being treated as such has “woken up the demon in(side)” of him. 

But the said transformation doesn’t occur just like that. Instead upon the vocalist “looking at (his) own reflection” – or let’s say analyzing how he has personally evolved – he realizes that something simply isn’t right, as detailed above. And this causes a violent reaction, i.e. “the sickness”, within.

The Controversial Interlude

Then there is an interlude near the end of the song which has proven to be quite controversial. It features the vocalist taking on the role of a child who is being physically abused by his mother. But by the time all is said and done, he flips out and is apparently on the verge of likewise counter-abusing her.

This narrative is actually symbolic of the overall story of the song. Or as Disturbed frontman David Draiman puts it, the mother in this short story represents the “mother culture of society”, i.e. the powers that be. 

And his growing intolerable of her abuse and ultimately spazzing back is representative of “the sickness” manifesting itself in him.  Moreover the implication behind it all, if taken more literally, is that the on top of his above-mentioned gripes with the powers that be, the vocalist also perceives society’s authority figures as being violent. 

Furthermore just as a child is dependent on its mother, he seems to understand that citizens likewise have a dependency on the government, if you will.

Also interesting to note is that leading up to the interlude, he precedes it with the phrase “when I dream”. So ultimately the narrator rebelling against the machine like this comes off more as a fantasy than reality.

And along those lines, we can close by saying that the idea being presented in this song, of someone like a hard rocker asserting that the system is corrupt, is absolutely nothing new. But the way Disturbed presents said scenario, being akin to a mother-child relationship, is quite different.

Disturbed

Disturbed is a heavy-metal outfit which formed in Chicago back in 1994. They are still active as of the 2020s, though going on hiatus for a few years during the early 2010s. 

Below is the lineup of the band when this track came out on 7 March 2000:

• David Draiman (vocalists)
• Done Donegan (guitarist)
• Steve Kmak (bassist)
• Mike Wengren (drummer) 

And as of the early 2020s all of them, with the exception of Kmak, are still down with the group. And Steve has been replaced by bassist John Moyer.

Disturbed has been highly-successful throughout the years, especially as far as their albums go. In fact out of the seven studio albums they dropped between 2000 and 2018, five of them reached the pinnacle of the Billboard 200. And those were:

• “Believe” (2002)
• “Ten Thousand Fists” (2005)
• “Indestructible” (2008)
• “Asylum” (2010)
• “Immortalized” (2015)

On which Disturbed album does “Down with the Sickness” appear?

This particular track is from their debut project, “The Sickness” (2000). The album managed to achieve quintuple-platinum status in the US about a decade after it was released, despite barely breaking the top 30 of the Billboard 200.

This song also had a somewhat humble showing chart-wise, only appearing on three Billboard lists altogether (Alternative Airplay, Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and Mainstream Rock), though making it onto the top 10 in all of those cases. 

However, it still achieved platinum certification stateside (again in 2009) and silver certification across the pond. Or put differently it proved to be a fan favorite, i.e. one which Disturbed performs regularly as the closing act of their shows.

Notable Usage of “Down with the Sickness”

This song has also possesses a pop media presence reserved for a hit song. This includes being featured on these movies:

• “The One” (2001)
• “Queen of the Damned” (2002)
• “Dawn of the Dead” (2004)

It has also featured on the television show “South Park” (2007) and the videogames “Guitar Hero Live” (2015) and “WWE 2K18” (2017).

Resurgence in Popularity during the Pandemic

This song experienced an unexpected surge in popularity during mid-2020 due to many people seeing its having a strong relationship with coronavirus pandemic. And considering what the song’s meaning as detailed above, that basically means a lot of people were mad at the system due to the lockdowns, etc. that were being imposed by the government.

Who wrote “Down with the Sickness”?

“Down With the Sickness” was written by the previously-mentioned members of Disturbed – Draiman, Donegan, Kmak and Wengren.  And the entire band as a unit produced the song in conjunction with Johnny K.

NOTE:

Some people have obviously found the interlude of this song to be too disturbing – no pun intended. As such they the version you will hear on the radio, as well as the one used for the music video, is devoid of that particular section. And as such it is almost a minute shorter than the original.