I Don't Like the Drugs But I Like the Songs

I still have The Twilight Singers "Powder Burns" in heavy rotation. While a few of Dulli's previous songs have been about drugs, (See "Fountain and Fairfax" - "Angel, forever/Don't you promise me what you cannot deliver Angel, together/I'll be waiting for you on Fountain and Fairfax") his album "Powder Burns" is his "getting clean" album.

Often such albums don't really work. It's sad, but often some musicians are just better on drugs and booze. Anyway, there are a couple great drug songs on the album, "Bonnie Brae" and "Forty Dollars." Forty Dollars turning of the word "love" to mean drugs takes a twist when using The Beatles chorus of "All You Need Is Love" for its refrain.

This got me thinking about other great drug songs. I tried listing a top ten, but then it kept growing. This is by no means a complete list, but those that came from the top of my head. Actually, this list barely scratches the surface. They do cover all facets of the drug world: using drugs, buying drugs, selling drugs, trying to get off drugs, etc. Add your favorites in the comments.


"All Down The Line" - The Rolling Stones
"Flying High (In the Friendly Sky)" - Marvin Gaye
"Heroin" - The Velvet Underground (Actually see almost the whole Lou Reed catalog: "Perfect Day" "Sweet Jane" etc. The same goes for David Bowie)
"Master of Puppets" - Metallica
"Sugar Blues" - Thin Lizzy
"White Lines (Don't Do It)" - Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel
"Another Girl, Another Planet" - The Only Ones
"Mr. Brownstone" - Guns N' Roses
"The Needle And The Damage Done" - Neil Young
"Needle In The Hay" - Elliott Smith
"Something For The Weekend" - Super Furry Animals
"Fools Gold" - Stone Roses
"There She Goes" - The La's
"And She Was" - Talking Heads
"I Wanna be Sedated" - Ramones
"Don't Stop Me Now" - Queen
"Pusherman" - Curtis Mayfield
"Chinese Rock" - Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers