"Down With the Sickness" is a nu metal song by the band Disturbed. The song was recorded in late 1999, and was featured on their 2000 debut album, The Sickness. One of its more memorable traits is the scream at the beginning of the song (approximately thirty one seconds into it). It is also well known for a "child abuse" segment not played in radio-friendly versions. The "child abuse" segment has vocalist David Draiman portraying a boy begging his mom not to hit him anymore, after which it shifts to bitter and extremely profane words toward the mother. It can be heard about 3:27 into the uncut version. The song has become one of Disturbed's best-known songs and is their only single to have gone Gold.
Draiman has stated that it is meant to be "Mother Society" beating her child who is different. It is a satire on how society looks down on anything not conformed to "the mainstream." It is, in fact, not to convey actual child abuse.
A music video was produced for the song, which is composed of live concert footage. The music video cuts out the "child abuse" segment.
The song rose to number 5 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks, number 8 on the Modern Rock Tracks in September 2001, and number 31 in the Hot Ringtones category, making it one of Disturbed's most successful songs. The song has been used in numerous movies and TV shows.
