Here’s a post to share songs that are loosely related to autism. They don’t have to specifically mention autism, but be related to it in some fashion. It would be helpful if you include an explanation as to how you find it is related to autism and what the song means to you.

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    69 months ago

    Somos Abnormales by Residente (Spanish song by Puerto Rican artist)

    Lyrics in Spanish:

    spoiler

    Tres ojos, cuatro orejas

    Mucho pelo entre medio de las cejas

    Con los cachetes, llenos de granos

    Sin brazos ni piernas como los gusanos

    Imperfecciones en todos los lugares

    Cicatrices, jorobas, lunares

    Juanetes, en los dos pies

    Con ocho dedos, en vez de diez

    Blanco, que se te ve la venas del cerebro

    Como café, sin leche, bien negro

    Mal distribuido como las vacas

    Mucha barriga pero con las patas flacas

    Cabeza grande, cuerpo chiquito

    Celuliticos, los muslos blanditos

    Mucho labio, bembón o bembona

    Una nariz que parece otra persona

    Aquí todos somos deformes

    Y nos resistimos a usar uniforme

    Lo más feo de la flor es el tallo

    La belleza se alimenta de fallos

    Cómo nos vemos curiosos

    Ponemos a los lindos nerviosos

    Que toda la gente nos señale

    Lo que no es igual, sobresale

    Soy Anormal

    Somos anormales

    Lo que me gusta de ti

    Es que tu eres anormal

    Nuestra sexualidad se despierta

    El ADN con las piernas abiertas

    Los cromosomas bailando bolero

    Las hormonas con hambre

    Lamiéndose los cueros

    Y procreamos una cosa bien rara

    Como nosotros pero con otra cara

    Nuestra genética, un laberinto

    Somos igual de distintos

    Lo que se mezcla es más interesante

    Como una mosca con orejas de elefante

    Los colores se triplican, nadie pierde

    Amarillo con azul hacen verde

    Original, no lo pueden copiar

    Lo que es impuro no se puede duplicar

    La raza se arregla, cuando se daña

    Somos de la tribu que con sucio se baña!

    Soy Anormal

    Somos anormales

    Lo que me gusta de ti

    Es que tu eres anormal

    Soy Anormal

    Lyrics translate to English:

    spoiler

    Three eyes, four ears

    Much hair between the eyebrows

    With the cheeks full of pimples

    Without arms or legs, like worms

    Imperfections everywhere

    Scars, humps, moles

    Bunions on both feet

    With eight fingers instead of ten

    So white that the veins of your brains are visible

    Like coffee, without milk, very black

    Poor body mass distribution like cows

    A big belly but with skinny legs

    Big head, small body

    Cellulitis with soft thighs

    Big lips, bembón or bembona (terms for big lipped man and woman)

    A nose that looks like another person

    Here we are all deformed

    And we resist using uniforms

    The ugliest part of the flower is the stem

    Beauty feeds on mistakes

    Because we look curious

    We make the pretty people nervous

    Let all the people point at us

    What isn’t the same stands out

    I’m abnormal! I’m abnormal! I’m abnormal!

    We are abnormal

    What I like about you

    Is that you are abnormal

    I’m abnormal! I’m abnormal! I’m abnormal!

    We are abnormal

    What I like about you

    Is that you are abnormal.

    Our sexuality awakens

    The DNA with spread legs

    The chromosomes dancing bolero

    The hungry hormones licking their leathers

    And we procreate a very strange thing

    Like ourselves but with another face

    Our genetics, a labyrinth

    We are equally different

    What gets mixed up is more interesting

    Like a fly with elephant ears

    The colors triplicate, no one loses

    Yellow with blue make green

    Original, it cannot be copied

    What is impure cannot be duplicated

    The race fixes itself when it is damaged

    We are the tribe that washes with dirt

    I’m abnormal! I’m abnormal! I’m abnormal! We are abnormal What I like about you Is that you are abnormal

    I’m abnormal

    I share this songs for several reasons:

    One, the artist is openly autistic, saying in one of his songs that he was diagnosed as a kid. To me, it seems like he also takes special effort to be authentic and engage in his uniqueness without any shame.

    Two, the song is called “We’re Abnormals”. My Hispanophone family nicknamed me Arnold Mal, which was pretty clever on multiple levels. I was the first American-born and native Anglophone in the family, so the name Arnold was fitting in that they saw it as an English name. Also, when read in Spanish, “Arnold Mal” sounds like they are calling me abnormal. That was fitting because I was definitely the weirdo of the family. Before diagnosis, it made sense since I grew up with my father’s side of the family, yet stuck out as being oddly different from them. They often told me that I reminded them of my mother my entire life. I had embraced it because I was proud to not take after a lot of their traits, which I found did not match well with my ethical standards. After diagnosis, it makes even much more sense since I’m autistic and they aren’t (bonus: my mother was very likely autistic). I stuck out for being odd in my manner of doing things, preferring order, limited socialization compared to them, interacting softly, and having a strong moral code. Related to the strong moral code, the artist has a history of composing songs that stand up for underdogs and disadvantaged people, which I can relate to my whole life.

    Three, because of my experiences and projecting that onto the artist, I see it as him having similar experiences, probably being labelled as abnormal since childhood. By the way, abnormal is a common term for those that aren’t neurotypical in Latin America. He taking on the identity as if saying, “If I’m abnormal, then I’m going to be proud of being abnormal with all my other abnormals,” then, celebrating being abnormal and its benefits. Basically, the song is about being prideful of being different, and I love that. Ultimately, the song is about being proud of being you, especially if you’re abnormal 🥹

    Four, the song also has lyrics that relate to common autistic traits.

    • “We resist using uniforms,” which is common among autistics to resist conformity.

    • “Because we look curious.” Special interests! But also confused in social situations and I know I have a staring problem when I try to figure people out.

    • “What I like about you is that you are abnormal.” Yep! I naturally gravitate to autistics, even before knowing I was autistic. But also, there’s research to support that with the concept of the double-empathy theory that argues that autistic people aren’t lacking empathy, they’re just better at empathizing with other autistics. The same goes for neurotypical people in that they also empathize better with other allistics.

    • “Our sexuality awakens, the DNA with spread legs.” I’ve read that autistic people tend to have atypical sexual preferences, from asexuality to uncommon kinks.

    • “Our genetics, a labyrinth.” This reminds me of the autism evaluation process when the evaluator tried to figure out who else in my family was autistic.

    • “We are equally different”. Yeah, we’re just different. No worse, no better.

    • “What gets mixed up is more interesting…What I like about you is that you are abnormal.” To me, autistic people tend to be much more interesting. They have their uniqueness and special interests.

    • “I’m abnormal.” I’m Arnold Mal, and I’m abnormal.