35 Anti-Drug Songs

Dwelling by the creed of “intercourse, medication and rock ‘n’ roll” could be quite a lot of enjoyable. However as anybody who has tried that method possible is aware of, it could actually additionally get out of hand fairly rapidly.

Medicine in anybody’s world, however notably within the sort of fast-paced, money-soaked one which rock musicians typically dwell in — can lead some down a harmful and upsetting path, and dependancy is aware of no class, employment or business boundaries. In seemingly no time in any respect, issues can go from tremendous to in no way.

“I spotted there are experiments that go on too lengthy,” Keith Richards mentioned in 2015. In more moderen years, the Rolling Stones guitarist has been significantly open with the general public about his experiences with medication and alcohol over time. “Some folks can deal with issues and different folks cannot. If the medication develop into extra vital than the music, you’ve got misplaced the battle.”

Many rock stars have discovered this lesson the exhausting means, and plenty of have chosen a lifetime of sobriety consequently. Some have even written in regards to the topic of their songs, reflecting on the hurt dependancy — their very own or another person’s — could cause. Within the under listing, we’re having a look at 35 tracks like that.

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1. “The Needle and the Harm Accomplished,” Neil Younger
From: Harvest (1972)

5 years after “The Needle and the Harm Accomplished” appeared on Harvest, it appeared on the 1977 compilation album Decade. Younger, who didn’t use heroin himself however has had a sophisticated relationship with alcohol and marijuana over time, wrote the next in regards to the tune: “I’m not a preacher, however medication killed quite a lot of nice males.”

2. “Mr. Brownstone,” Weapons N’ Roses
From: Urge for food for Destruction (1987)

“Brownstone,” for these unfamiliar, is a slang time period for heroin, which each Slash and Izzy Stradlin of Weapons N’ Roses struggled with at one level. This tune specifically highlights the addictive nature of a drug like heroin, which the physique builds tolerance towards over time. “I used to perform a little,” Axl Rose sings, “however a bit of would not do it, so the little bought an increasing number of.”

3. “Sober,” Device
From: Undertow (1993)

In 1994, Adam Jones of Device wasn’t even 30 but, however he knew that telling folks within the throes of dependancy — and extra particularly the family and friends you care about most — to get their act collectively would not often work. Everybody should take their very own path. “The tune [“Sober”] and video are based mostly on a man we all know who’s at his creative finest when he is loaded,” Jones defined in a 1994 interview with Guitar College journal. “Lots of people give him shit for that. I do not inform folks to do or not do medication. You are able to do what you need, however it’s important to take accountability for what occurs.”

4. “Combat Like a Courageous,” Crimson Sizzling Chili Peppers
From: The Uplift Mofo Get together Plan (1987)

Again within the late ’80s, Anthony Kiedis‘ heroin dependancy bought to some extent the place his Crimson Sizzling Chili Peppers bandmate Flea had him depart the group till he bought clear. He did precisely that, however he relapsed and struggled with the dependancy till he bought clear in 2000 and has maintained that to today. “Combat Like a Courageous” was one thing he wrote after getting clear the primary time and returning to his band. “It had nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll,” Kiedis mentioned of his dependancy in 2022. “It was thrilling and harmful, like, hmmm, everyone seems to be afraid of that, I feel I am going to try this factor that simply the phrase scares folks. However it was additionally a means of trying out. … I felt entire by placing this stuff in me, till I needed to pay the toll.”

5. “Chilly Turkey,” John Lennon (Plastic Ono Band)
From: 1969 Single

Each John Lennon and his spouse Yoko Ono went by means of intervals of temporary however heavy heroin dependancy within the late ’60s, and he wrote in regards to the expertise the 2 of them had going chilly turkey from the drug in tune format — infamously not a simple factor to undergo bodily. “I by no means injected it or something,” Lennon mentioned to Rolling Stone in 1970. “We sniffed a bit of once we had been in actual ache. We bought such a tough time from everybody, and I’ve had a lot thrown at me, and at Yoko, particularly at Yoko.”

6. “One Day at a Time,” Joe Walsh
From: Analog Man (2012

“One Day at a Time” is the identify of this Joe Walsh tune, but it surely’s additionally a phrase used typically by these taking part in AA to assist remind one which sustaining sobriety is about small, day by day steps. “It is about restoration,” Walsh defined of the monitor to Billboard in 2012. “I ran out of choices, and I needed to do one thing, so I bought sober. It was not straightforward, it was the toughest factor I’ve ever needed to do, and I needed to cease and discover ways to do the whole lot over once more sober. In order that tune is about the best way it was and what it is like now, which I’ve an exquisite life I by no means may have imagined again then. So I wished to place that tune on the album for anyone that comes throughout my music and may be in hassle, too. It feels just like the cellphone weighs 80 kilos once you choose it up, however you gotta choose it up and ask for assist.”

7. “Hand of Doom,” Black Sabbath
From: Paranoid (1970)

The lyrics to “Hand of Doom” had been written by Geezer Butler about heroin dependancy, however not with regard to himself. As an alternative, it focuses on American Vietnam Battle veterans and the shortage of assist they obtained upon returning residence. “By the point that the majority troopers bought again to America, they needed to be put right into a midway home,” Butler mentioned in an episode of Basic Albums. “There was nobody reporting on it, that these troopers, with a view to get by means of that horrible battle, had been taking pictures up on heroin. So once I wrote ‘Hand of Doom,’ that is what I wrote it about.”

8. “Heroin,” The Velvet Underground
From: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

Very clearly, the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” shouldn’t be a conventional “anti-drug” tune, but it surely cleverly makes a listener take into account the darkness that surrounds the drug with mentions of “all of the useless our bodies” and the sensation of “closing in on demise.” In 1967, the yr this tune was launched, that might have been a reasonably terrifying and sobering message to come across.

9. “The Needle and the Spoon,” Lynyrd Skynyrd
From: Second Serving to (1974)

“Do not mess with the needle or a spoon,” Lynyrd Skynyrd warned on this 1974 monitor cowritten between Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant. “Or any journey to the moon / It’s going to take you away.”

10. “The Pusher,” Steppenwolf
From: Steppenwolf (1968)

You might acknowledge Steppenwolf’s “The Pusher” from the opening scenes of the 1969 film Straightforward Rider, which depict drug trafficking. However “The Pusher” is supposed to attract a distinction between a drug supplier “with the love grass in his hand” and a flat out pusher of more durable stuff. “The pusher is a monster / Good God, he isn’t a pure man.”

11. “Hey Stoopid,” Alice Cooper
From: Hey Stoopid (1991)

Alice Cooper’s “Hey Stoopid” options visitor appearances by Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. “A buddy can name a buddy ‘stoopid,'” Cooper mentioned in a 1991 press launch when the tune got here out. “If somebody was killing himself, I would say ‘Hey, stoopid, what are you making an attempt to do? They win, you lose!’ However I would by no means level a finger and do the entire lecture factor.”

12. “Mama Instructed Me (To not Come),” Three Canine Evening
From: It Ain’t Straightforward (1970)

Beneath is the model of “Mama Instructed Me (To not Come)” that was made standard by Three Canine Evening in 1970, however this tune was really written by Randy Newman for Eric Burdon‘s first solo album in 1966. It is like quite a lot of Newman’s songs in that the singer takes on the function of a personality, on this case an harmless younger man who cannot actually wrap his mind across the drug-riddled scene he is walked into — “I seen so many issues I ain’t by no means seen earlier than / Do not know what it’s, I do not wanna see no extra.”

13. “The No No Track,” Ringo Starr
From: Goodnight Vienna (1974)

It is a bit ironic that Ringo Starr launched “The No No Track,” with its lyrical warnings towards marijuana, cocaine and whiskey, in 1974, over a decade earlier than the previous Beatle bought clear for good in 1988. “Everyone believes the tune is ‘anti’ – which the lyrics are,” Starr would later recall (by way of beatlesbible.com), “however they must do not forget that the individuals who had been really working that day had been mind broken.”

14. “Pusherman,” Curtis Mayfield
From: Tremendous Fly (1972)

Sure, Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman” is a tune a couple of drug supplier, but it surely’s additionally about an individual who desires to flee a harmful world in favor of one thing safer and extra gratifying, even within the face of prejudice and assumption. “Obtained a girl I like desperately / Wanna give her somethin’ higher than me / Been advised I am unable to be nuthin’ else / Only a hustler despite myself.”

15. “Grasp of Puppets,” Metallica
From: Grasp of Puppets (1986)

“‘Grasp of Puppets’ offers just about with medication,” James Hetfield defined of this title monitor to Thrasher journal in 1988 (by way of Steel Hammer). “How issues get switched round, as an alternative of you controlling what you are taking and doing it is medication controlling you.”

16. “Cocaine Blues,” Johnny Money
From: At Folsom Jail (1968)

Johnny Money did not write “Cocaine Blues” — a person named Troy Junius Arnall did — however Money’s dwell recording from Folsom Jail in 1968 delivers the message loud and clear: “Come on you hypes pay attention unto me / lay off that whiskey, and let that cocaine be.”

17. “Obtained to Give It Up,” Skinny Lizzy
From: Black Rose: A Rock Legend (2979)

If it wasn’t clear from the title, Skinny Lizzy’s “Obtained to Give It Up” is about quitting medication and alcohol after a protracted journey with them. Six years after this tune appeared on the band’s 1979 album Black Rose: A Rock Legend, lead singer Phil Lynott handed away on the age of 36 following years of dependancy struggles. “I feel [Lynott] was writing that about himself,” guitarist Scott Gorham mentioned to Songfacts in 2013. “We hadn’t actually hit the height of our drug factor at this level. We weren’t feeling the down drag, if what I imply. However I feel Phil additionally realized the hazards of it; nicely, all of us knew the hazards of the entire drug world. And I feel he was being trustworthy. ‘I’ve bought to present this up. I’ve bought to present this shit up or it will kill my ass.’ Ultimately it did, as everyone knows.”

18. “Flight of the Rat,” Deep Purple
From: Deep Purple in Rock (1970)

Right here, “the rat” seems to be a metaphor for drug dependancy, and within the case of Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, that meant booze. Ultimately, Gillan modifications programs. “At an early stage in my life I made a decision I needed to change,” he defined to The Unbiased in 2024, noting that he would not drink or smoke whereas on tour with the band. “I used to be too wild and there have been issues occurring that had been simply not good if I wished to have a future as a musician. I began meditation at that time and I discovered quite a lot of issues that you could possibly management. That was vital, to start out meditating and clear the decks of a load of the irresponsible conduct, if you are going to survive. It is fairly vital to get up to the mark. You bought to ship, whether or not you are on stage that night time or whether or not you are writing 14 songs. There is not any level laying round being drunk.”

19. “Gold Mud Girl,” Fleetwood Mac
From: Rumours (1977)

Stevie Nicks went to rehabilitation packages a couple of instances over time and he or she lastly bought completely clear from cocaine within the early ’90s. “Gold Mud Girl” referred to that individual drug and its means of deceiving. “Everyone was doing a bit of bit — , we by no means purchased it or something, it was simply round — and I feel I had an actual severe flask of what these items may very well be, of what it may do to you,” Nicks recalled to Spin in 1997. “The entire thing about how all of us love the ritual of it, the little bottle, the little diamond-studded spoons, the fabulous velvet baggage. For me, it match proper into the incense and candles and that stuff. And I actually imagined that it may overtake the whole lot, by no means considering one million years that it could overtake me. I will need to have met a few those that I assumed did an excessive amount of coke and I will need to have been impressed by that. As a result of I made it into an entire story.”

20. “The Needle Lies,” Queensryche
From: Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

“The Needle Lies,” from the rock opera album that’s Operation: Mindcrime, focuses on a drug addict named Nikki. “Geoff [Tate] had wished to put in writing in regards to the ethical decay of society,” guitarist Michael Wilton would later clarify of this album and story. “It may simply have backfired on us if we would carried out a sloppy job.”

21. “Cocaine Choices,” Frank Zappa
From: The Man From Utopia (1983)

Frank Zappa’s “Cocaine Choices” takes particular intention at these of a better tax bracket — medical doctors, legal professionals, and many others. — and the way their wealth and energy lends itself simply to greed. Throw some coke into the combo and you have got an unsightly scene. “And the cocaine selections that you just make at present / Will imply nothing afterward / If you get nostril decay.”

22. “White Strains,” Duran Duran
From: Thank You (1995)

“White Strains” is definitely a canopy Duran Duran did — it was initially recorded by the hip hop artist Melle Mel, of Grandmaster Flash fame. The purpose right here is that cocaine is simply as addictive as it’s costly. “Pay your toll, promote your soul / Pound for pound it prices greater than gold.”

23. “Chilly Blue Metal and Candy Hearth,” Joni Mitchell
From: For the Roses (1972)

“I by no means was a lot of a druggie,” Joni Mitchell mentioned in 2015. “Cigarettes and occasional — that is my poison.” Nonetheless, she spent quite a lot of time round individuals who had been concerned in that world, specifically together with her one-time boyfriend James Taylor who struggled mightily with heroin within the ’70s. It is a tune about that treacherous path: “Bashing in veins for peace / Chilly blue metal and candy hearth / Fall into woman launch.”

24. “Amphetamine Annie,” Canned Warmth
From: Boogie With Canned Warmth (1968)

Canned Warmth’s “Amphetamine Annie” actually begins with phrases of deterrence: “It is a tune with a message / I need you to heed my warning.” It then continues to inform the story of a girl who leans on pace, to the purpose the place she hears and sees issues that are not there and it winds up killing her.

25. “Unintended Suicide,” John Mayall
From: Again to the Roots (1971)

John Mayall’s “Unintended Suicide” begins with a point out of Jimi Hendrix‘s overdose demise. And although Mayall concedes “all people has to discover a method to ease the pressure,” there may be warning to be thought of —  “Medicine might convey you pleasure, however the hazard there’s that they destroy / So watch what you do otherwise you could be the subsequent to go.”

26. “Johnny’s Gonna Die,” The Replacements
From: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981)

The Replacements’ “Johnny’s Gonna Die” is a reference to Johnny Thunders, guitarist for the Heartbreakers and New York Dolls, and extra particularly a reference to his heroin dependancy — “all the time takes greater than he wants.” Thunders died in 1991 at 38 years previous and the official trigger listed by the coroner was an overdose.

27. “Little Billy,” The Who
From: Odds & Sods (1974)

It is a little little bit of a distinct method. Within the Who’s “Little Billy,” the central character, whose weight is some extent of unfair ridicule at school, outlives all his bullies as a result of he by no means picks up a cigarette to start with. “Most of them smoke possibly forty a day / A behavior Billy would not share / One after the other they’re passing away / Leaving orphans to Billy’s care.”

28. “Suicide Answer,” Ozzy Osbourne
From: Blizzard of Oz (1980)

Many, a few years in the past, Ozzy Osbourne claimed that “Suicide Answer” was about Bon Scott of AC/DC, who died because of alcohol poisoning in 1980, the identical yr the tune appeared on Blizzard of Oz. However one in every of Osbourne’s cowriters and the first lyricist, Bob Daisley, later mentioned that it was about Osbourne himself, who struggled with alcoholism for many years. “I wrote these lyrics about his consuming,” Daisley defined in 2018, “or as a warning to anyone that is consuming themselves into an early grave.”

29. “Medication Jar,” Wings
From: Venus and Mars (1975)

This tune was cowritten by Colin Allen (not a member of Wings) and Jimmy McCulloch (member of Wings from 1974 to 1977), again after they had been in a band known as Stone The Crow. It is about Jeanette Jacobs, who was a part of a British lady group trio known as the Cake. “‘Medication Jar’ was born out of my frustration, brought on by Jeanette’s fixed use of Mandies,” Allen as soon as defined. “The tune’s line I understand how you’re feeling now your pals are useless, associated to associates who had died due to medication.”

30. “Use the Man,” Megadeth
From: Cryptic Writings (1997)

“Once I was engaged on [Cryptic Writings], I went to a 12-step assembly in a spot proper subsequent to the studio,” Dave Mustaine recalled to Rolling Stone in 2017. “The man who runs it advised me he had one thing to point out me, and he had this field and goes, ‘Examine this out.’ And I am trying by means of it and he goes, ‘That is Bob,’ for lack of a greater identify. Then he advised me that earlier within the day, a man had gone to a gathering after which shot up and died on the midway home and that this field was all his stuff. … He was making an attempt to get a message throughout to me and it labored – I am nonetheless alive. I wrote the lyrics to ‘Use the Man’ instantly.”

31. “Operating to Stand Nonetheless,” U2
From: The Joshua Tree (1987)

“Operating to Stand Nonetheless” is a tune U2 penned about heroin dependancy, and extra particularly about how dependancy can land an individual in terribly determined locations. “As a result of for lots of people, there aren’t any bodily doorways open anymore,” Bono mentioned to Sizzling Press again then. “And so if you cannot change the world you are residing in, seeing by means of totally different eyes is the one various. And heroin provides you heroin eyes to see the world with; and the factor about heroin is that you just suppose that is the best way it truly is. That the previous you, who worries about paying the lease, the previous you who simply worries, shouldn’t be the actual you.”

32. “Superb,” Aerosmith
From: Get a Grip (1993)

Steven Tyler has been fairly candid about his journey with dependancy, which has included stretches of sobriety in addition to relapses. An important factor, Tyler has famous, is remembering the issues in life that actually matter — household, associates, one’s artwork. “Superb” is a tune Tyler cowrote with Richie Supa about discovering the sunshine in darkness and taking issues day-to-day. “I simply cannot inform simply what tomorrow brings,” he sings, “It’s a must to be taught to crawl earlier than you be taught to stroll.

33. “Harm,” 9 Inch Nails
From: The Downward Spiral (1994)

It is true that “Harm” could be interpreted numerous methods, however from our perspective, there is a concentrate on self hurt and on presumably heroin dependancy — “the needle tears a gap / the previous acquainted sting.” Trent Reznor went by means of a darkish interval of scuffling with dependancy, however he is been sober now since 2001. “I had romanticized the thought of what medication and alcohol’s function in my life was,” Reznor advised Kerrang! in 2017. “I am not saying it did not present nice moments of nice escape and aid, and easing of ache, but it surely wound up creating chaos and destroying issues – destroying creativity in my case.”

34. “Cocaine,” Eric Clapton
From: Slowhand (1977)

Initially by J.J. Cale, “Cocaine” is a deceptively efficient anti-drug tune. Strains like “when your day is completed, and also you wish to run, cocaine,” suggest that the drug is the sort of escape that will not really convey actual aid from the stresses of life. Or take into account the primary line: “should you wanna get down, down on the bottom, cocaine.” Being down on the bottom actually would not make for a really completely happy existence. Clapton, after all, has not solely been sober for quite a few years, he additionally based an dependancy therapy facility in 1998 known as the Crossroads Centre.

35. “Barrel of a Gun,” Depeche Mode
From: Extremely (1997)

Whereas Depeche Mode was making 1997’s Extremely, Dave Gahan’s dependancy reached one thing of a breaking level. It was throughout classes for this album that he was arrested in Los Angeles and subsequently sought therapy. In “Barrel of a Gun,” Gahan’s bandmate Martin Gore kind of identified the depth of the state of affairs. “I used to be really grateful for being arrested, for the decide that promised me that I’d go to jail if I did not keep clear, as a result of I listened to him and one thing clicked,” Gahan mentioned to Leisure Weekly in 2023. “These two years once we had been making that album and I needed to trip to courtroom to show to the decide that I would stayed clear, it gave me this time to abruptly understand, ‘Oh, I can do that, I can crawl my means again, I can get higher. And I do wish to be right here.'”