This song is one of the few that everyone knows, by one of the bands that everyone knows. Have you ever noticed that just about everyone actually seems to LIKE Nirvana, not just know them?
Well anyway, what I'm here to say is that the song Lithium happens to be the perfect anthem for clan Malkavian of Vampire: the Masquerade (I hear Danny groaning already).
Okay, if you don't believe me, here's the whole damn song analyzed line by line (I won't repeat lines for obvious reasons) for Malky paralells (it tells the story of a recently embraced Malk):
I'm so happy,
'Cause today I found my friends,
They're in my head.
All Malkavians communicate with each other over the "Madness Network", which allows them to hear the "voices in their heads" not only of their dementias but of actual fellow Malks, past and present.
I'm so ugly,
But that's okay 'cause so are you,
Malkavians, like all vampires, suffer from the loss of humanity and this angst this causes. This guy is trying to offset this by pointing out that there are others like him.
We've broke our mirrors.
The symbol of Clan Malkavian is a broken mirror.
Sunday morning
Is every day for all I care,
And I'm not scared.
Light my candles
In a daze 'cause I found God,
Yea.
Malkavians seve as the Kindred harbringers of the Apocalypse, predicting the end of the world. This guy says that he doesn't care if the Apocalypse is coming or not, he'll predict it anyway.
I'm so loney,
And that's okay, I shaved my head,
And I'm not sad.
Of course he's lonely. Malkavians don't fit in well with vampire society, and obviously can't go back to their past lives. So he shaved his head. Go with it, he's nuts.
And just maybe
I'm to blame for all I've heard,
But I'm not sure.
He's commited crimes while demented and now is wondering if these atrocities have really been done by him, and if yes, if he's to blame.
I'm so excited,
I can't wait to meet you there,
And I don't care.
Malkavians psychically call each other to meetings. This meeting is a pretty mild affair, and if the Malk in question is lonely, he has a reason to be excited about meeting his fellows soon.
I'm so horny,
But that's okay, my will is is good,
Yes.
This can be applied to anything from feeding (which is pretty sexy) to being in love with a mortal and restraining yourself from Embracing them (or just chowin' down on 'em or ghouling 'em).
I like it,
I'm not gonna crack.
I miss you,
I'm not gonna crack.
I love you,
I'm not gonna crack.
I'll kill you,
I'm not gonna crack,
Some real vampire angst here: the Malkavian misses his old life and is telling himself that he actually likes his current life better. He fears that if he goes back to his mortal loved one, he might harm her in a fit of frenzy.
I'll admit that I don't for a moment believe that Kurt Cobain even knew of the existence of Clan Malkavian, if it was even around back then (see how little I know?). However, this song does serve as a great anthem for Malkavians. Other songs deal with insanity too, and seve as great Malkavian mood music, but this one's the one that can truly claim to be Malkavian (even thought it's not).