Philippakis has never had therapy on his own, but says some of the lyrics in the album's closing track, What Remains, refer to a period of family therapy, which involved three psychiatrists staring at the Philippakises from behind glass: "And you'd feel the pressure from behind the glass, being relayed into the room … It felt like being in quicksand." He says he found the process frustrating and pointless, and though he doesn't want to reveal more about what he calls "family mental illness", he says he is haunted by the fear of turning into his father, and repeating the cycle of abandonment. "I do look up to him, but my mother says that I've inhabited his [emotional detachment] to try and understand him," he says. "The person you least understand in the family or is most distant, you become them. And that's how the cycle continues. You flip the damage on to yourself." However, songwriting is therapy, and Philippakis says singing about his troubles every night on stage makes him feel better. "It feels voodoo, like an exorcism," he says.
Philippakis has never had therapy on his own, but says some of the lyrics in the album's closing track, What Remains, refer to a period of family therapy, which involved three psychiatrists staring at the Philippakises from behind glass: "And you'd feel the pressure from behind the glass, being relayed into the room … It felt like being in quicksand." He says he found the process frustrating and pointless, and though he doesn't want to reveal more about what he calls "family mental illness", he says he is haunted by the fear of turning into his father, and repeating the cycle of abandonment. "I do look up to him, but my mother says that I've inhabited his [emotional detachment] to try and understand him," he says. "The person you least understand in the family or is most distant, you become them. And that's how the cycle continues. You flip the damage on to yourself." However, songwriting is therapy, and Philippakis says singing about his troubles every night on stage makes him feel better. "It feels voodoo, like an exorcism," he says.
guardian.co.uk/music/2010/may/06/foals-total-life-forever