A hedonistic lifestyle practically prescribes sex and drugs, with rock n roll bringing up the rear. It seems these three activities combine well: Case in point, I Googled "psychopharmacology" and this image came up on the first page. Songs about sex seem almost as popular with rockers as having sex on drugs... while listening to rock. Anyway you slice it, the sinful trifecta of pleasure had been done.
But what of songs about drugs? Not nearly as many as about sex, and they have always tended to be more cloaked in mystery than in outright bragging joy. Out of curiosity I compiled a mix of songs when I noticed that so many particular drugs were mentioned by name--which seems to be a relatively recent development, far as song writing goes.
These are listed in chronological order. In general, there's clouded discussion starting in the late 1960's and 1970's to the well-known illicit substances at the time. With poetic metaphor, description and nicknames for the drugs of the era, acid (LSD), cocaine, marijuana and heroin were sung of in terms of various degrees of love/hate relationships. Should the topic of a song be called into question, it could all too easily be passed off as a cryptic tune about a lover.
As we progress into the 1980's, we see the appearance of those old standbys come out as more boldly spoken about, especially in the context of getting rehabilitated for addiction. "Angel dust" (PCP) peaked in popularity in the early 1980's so it should be no surprise that this song was written then (imminent to the group's disbandment).
In the 1990's, however, the drugs get more complex, as do the songs about them. Newer, "designer" drugs (Ketamine, Ecstasy) and commonly abused name-brand prescription drugs, most commonly painkillers, (Thorazine, Dilaudid) make their rise in music. The question is, is this a reflection of a rise in the use of said substances, or just a commentary on a culture that more openly tolerates discussions about it? (Perhaps, if you can answer this question, you deserve the Master's degree and not me.)
Finally, in most recent years we see a longing to return to the days when drugs were just the medicine in great-grandpappy's medicine kit. Morphine? Codeine? I'm waiting for a song about whiskey being used as a toothache cure before the year is out.
The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.mp3
The Velvet Underground - Heroin.mp3
Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf.m4a
Peter Laughner - Amphetamines.mp3
The Ramones - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.mp3
Odyssey - Angel Dust.mp3
Nirvana - Lithium.mp3
Eels - Novocain for the Soul.mp3
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - Tea & Thorazine.m4a
The Magnetic Fields - Take Ecstasy With Me.mp3
Jolie Holland - Old Fashioned Morphine.mp3
Placebo - Special K (Timo Maas Remix).mp3
the Mountain Goats - Dilaudid.mp3
John Vanderslice - Tablespoon Of Codeine.mp3
Sia - The Girl You Lost To Cocaine.mp3
Finally, one for the namesake of this post:
Firewater - Psychopharmacology.mp3
