This feature article from American Songwriter picks out three well-known hit songs that explore themes of paranoia and the unsettling sensation of being watched, tracing how each artist channelled anxiety into their music. It highlights how the topic resonates particularly strongly with musicians, who are genuinely subject to constant public scrutiny, making these songs feel especially authentic. The piece frames paranoia as a universal feeling that has long provided rich material for songwriters across different genres and eras.

The three tracks singled out are Rockwell's 1984 hit "Somebody's Watching Me", notable for its Michael Jackson-sung chorus that lends real weight to its theme of lost privacy; the Jonas Brothers' 2009 single "Paranoid", an upbeat pop-rock song about anxiety within relationships; and Radiohead's "Paranoid Android", praised as one of the definitive musical expressions of modern alienation, greed and loneliness through Thom Yorke's lyrics.