Ongoing History Daily: Music and psychologist Arthur Janov

You may not know the name Arthur Janov, but he had an unusual influence on music.

Janov was a psychologist, psychotherapist and writer who, back in the 60s, came up with a theory that all our problems are rooted in past traumatic experiences. The only way people can move forward, he said, was to relive it by something they called “primal therapy.” This basically involved regression to those distressing, disturbing, progress-blocking, “primal pain” memories. He details everything in a 1970 book called The Primal Scream.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono became big fans of how therapy unblocked things for them, spiritually, emotionally and musically. The name of the band Tears for Fears is derived from Janov’s teachings. And then there’s the Scottish band, Primal Scream, who did the same thing.

Arthur Janov died on October 1, 2017, at the age of 93.