The Right to Go Insane
Endgame
2009
Duration: 4:20
Track number: 11
Times played live: 19
Writers
Lyrics by: Dave Mustaine
Music by: Dave Mustaine
Theme
A direct social commentary that deals with the mental and economic stress following the **2008 financial crisis/recession**. The narrator describes being pushed to the breaking point by losing their home, money, and life savings, to the point of feeling they have earned the **'right to go insane'**. The song contrasts this personal collapse with the optimistic, misleading statements from authorities ('The recession is over...'), suggesting betrayal and inevitable breakdown.
Lyrics
I barely get to the graveyard shift on time
After pulling another grueling nine to five
I live from credit card to check
The paper money's whirling by
And I hardly just, just barely
Only just survive
I'm living on the edge
Reality is teetering
My mind is on the brink
How will I face the day tomorrow
If I can't make it through today?
I've got nothing left to lose
But my sanity
And the right to go insane
I've got nothing left to lose
But my mind
I've got nothing left to choose
So I think I'll go insane!
My stomach aches
Insufficient funds
My cheeks are gaunt
And my guts are overdrawn
My head pounds
Starvation's giving me the shakes
Too much squalor, too much pressure
Now I'm getting pissed!
I'm living on the edge
Reality is teetering
My mind is on the brink
How will I face the day tomorrow
If I can't make it through today?
I've got nothing left to lose
But my sanity
And the right to go insane
I've got nothing left to lose
But my mind
I've got nothing left to choose
So I think I'll go insane!
Musicians
The complete chronology of the legacy: Timeline, facts and more
