# Songs about or heavily featuring opiate drugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515 "2008-04-08T21:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/41 "2008-04-10T00:33:50Z")
I almost forgot about “Lit Up” by **Buckcherry**. Now that’s a song to get a party started. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/42 "2008-04-10T01:01:24Z")
**D12** ’s [Purple Pills](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Purple-Pills-lyrics-D-12/BFC679DCFC834E0448256AC000289AA3) [lyrics site link] is about just about every drug you can find, including coke and heroin. [Cocaine Blues](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine_Blues), made famous by **Johnny Cash**. **The Dead Milkmen** have a song called [My Best Friend Is a Junkie](http://www.lyricstime.com/dead-milkmen-junkie-lyrics.html) [link to lyrics site] which isn’t exactly about heroin but a quick punk romp about having a friend who’s a junkie. Oh, and I’m pretty sure [Afroman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=305vRNoofr8) is just a pot smoker. (re: post #9) ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/43 "2008-04-10T01:18:19Z")
Chinese Rocks was written by Dee Dee Ramone but The Ramones originally didn’t want to do it because of the drug content, so The Heartbreakers recorded it. Later The Ramones did a version with the title changed to “Chinese Rock”. Elliot Smith’s song “Needle in the Hay” is about shooting up. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/44 "2008-04-10T01:39:05Z")
Damn. I hadn’t expected quite so many responses. Keep 'em coming. Oh, and it’s no big deal, but just FYI: cocaine isn’t an opiate. Pretty much the polar opposite, actually. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/45 "2008-04-10T04:45:18Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] by Laid Back I think that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” is about heroine, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] Thanks. I have always liked that song, although it does seem like they are suggesting Cocaine is a good sub for Heroin. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/46 "2008-04-10T05:25:23Z")
How about Jefferson Airplane’s _White Rabbit_? They don’t go into exactly what’s in that hookah the caterpillar is smoking, but I think it’s a bit stronger than tobacco… ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/47 "2008-04-10T05:45:48Z")
[“Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=9mgjZK46_uw&feature=related) by the Dandy Warhols. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/48 "2008-04-10T11:40:19Z")
I read somewhere that _Black Magic Woman_ by Santana is about smoking opium - “magic sticks.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/49 "2008-04-10T12:15:07Z")
Cindy’s Crying and Hooker by Tom Paxton How do you spend your days? How do you spend your days? When you can sleep no more How do you spend your days? I rise at four in the afternoon. I take a match and a kitchen spoon. I wrap my arm in an old necktie And I find religion on the very first try. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/50 "2008-04-10T12:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn] I read somewhere that _Black Magic Woman_ by Santana is about smoking opium - “magic sticks.” [/QUOTE] Black Magic Woman was written by Peter Green and was first performed by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac - which of course evolved into the FM we know and love. Santana covered the song as an homage to Peter Green, just like Clapton covered Freddie King’s Hide Away with the Bluesbreakers - and Clapton took his cover to much greater popularity, just like Santana did with his… Santana worships Peter Green - with good reason; he sounds exactly like Peter Green with a bit of Latin influence added. Unfortunately, Green went 'round the bend, another 60’s drug casualty, like Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. To my knowledge, he was an acid casualty, but I have no problem seeing opium / opiates involved - I just can’t find a specific reference to this song… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/51 "2008-04-10T19:12:20Z")
Don’t forget _Minnie The Moocher_ and _Kicking The Gong Around_ performed by Cab Calloway in the 1930s. There were surprisingly many drug related songs in that era. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/52 "2008-04-10T19:32:15Z")
The only one that’s coming to me off the top of my head, that hasn’t been mentioned is: Styx - Snow Blind ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/53 "2008-04-10T20:03:33Z")
The Prodigy named an entire section of their second album (_Music for the Jilted Generation_) for opiates, _The Narcotic Suite_; it was made up of \*3 Kilos, Skylined \* and _The Claustrophobic Sting_. There aren’t actually any lyrics, though, so I don’t know if you’d count that. Also, _Bug Powder Dust_ by Bomb the Bass includes the quote ”I think it’s time to discuss the philosophy of drug use as it relates to artistic endeavour” from _The Naked Lunch_, but doesn’t really go into drugs much in the lyrics (well, it might but it’s virtually impossible to figure out what most of the lyrics are.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/54 "2008-04-10T20:15:08Z")
Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/55 "2008-04-10T22:04:25Z")
_Carmelita_- Waren Zevon > [@Warren Zevon](#): > > And I’m all strung out on heroin on the outskirts of town ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/56 "2008-04-10T23:13:19Z")
Rush - A Passage to Bangkok ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/57 "2008-04-11T02:37:41Z")
[QUOTE=Tool of the Conspiracy] That was by a one-hit-wonder, **K’s Choice**. I don’t know the song well, but wasn’t it about love addiction, like “Junkie” by **Poe**? [/QUOTE] No, it’s pretty explictly about actual drugs. _Breathe it in and breathe it out Pass it on, it’s almost out… […] The deeper you stick in in your vein The deeper the thoughts, there’s no more pain…_ ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/58 "2008-04-11T02:51:31Z")
One of my favorite songs: ‘I Love You’ - Ass Ponys "As my habit forms, the morphine drips Lean on over and read my lips… …I love you" ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/59 "2008-04-11T03:57:44Z")
If you ask me, _Clint Eastwood_ by the Gorillaz is all about heroin. (ETA: I should explain this, since most people ask. > [@The Gorillaz](#): > > I’m happy, I’m feeling glad > I’ve got **sunshine in a bag** > I’m useless, but not for long > **My future is coming on** The whole stanza screams “heroin” to me, but the parts I bolded are especially key. Lots of drugs come in bags, but the only one with enough euphoric, carefree lift for anyone to call it “sunshine” with a straight face is heroin, IMO. And “my future is coming on” sounds to me like the nostalgia-twinged apathy of the last few minutes of heroin’s effect, when it slowly dawns on you that you’ll be coming back to the world of emotions and needs soon enough. Tough to explain to anyone who hasn’t been on heroin. Oh, and “I’m useless, but not for long” sounds to me like a rough translation of “my high is wearing off”, in general. YMMV.) > [@Sam Stone](#): > > Lynyrd Skynyrd - That Smell Um…opiates? You sure about that? > [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Cause I got High, Afroman (?) Nope. > [@sinjin](#): > > Cocaine by Eric Clapton. Nope… And **Bridget Burke** , AIUI, it’s dextromethorphan, not codeine, that’s such a heavy influence on Houston’s music scene. It’s not an opiate per se, although it has many opiate-like effects–even, IIRC, strongly resembling codeine in brain scans. > [@DrDeth](#): > > it does seem like they are suggesting Cocaine is a good sub for Heroin. It is, actually. It’s quite a bit less addictive, generally more pure, much less expensive and less dangerous (generally because of the first three reasons). Did you see the movie _Ray_? Remember when Ray got his first shot of heroin and his junkie players were trying to convince him not to do it, saying, “This ain’t no lady”? “Lady” is short for “the white lady”, a (then-)common slang term for cocaine (“white girl(s)” or just “girl” is more common these days). The implication is that Mr. Charles had been openly using cocaine and was fully in control of it, which is quite a contrast to what heroin eventually did to him. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515/60 "2008-04-11T04:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] And **Bridget Burke** , AIUI, it’s dextromethorphan, not codeine, that’s such a heavy influence on Houston’s music scene. It’s not an opiate per se, although it has many opiate-like effects–even, IIRC, strongly resembling codeine in brain scans. [/QUOTE] Lean/purple drank/ten-other-slang-names is prescription codeine/promethazine cough syrup. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-or-heavily-featuring-opiate-drugs/444515.md?page=4)