Drugs in Songs Trivia

1. On 'The Needle and the Damage Done', what is every junkie like, according to Neil Young?

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: A setting sun

'The Needle and the Damage Done' was written about Danny Whitten, a guitarist with Crazy Horse, who was a heroin addict and died of an overdose in 1972. Several musicians have covered it, including Duran Duran, The Pretenders (quite fittingly, as two members died of heroin overdoses), and Laura Marling. Crazy Horse also lost a roadie, Bruce Berry, to heroin; Young wrote 'Tonight's the Night' about him.

From Quiz Green Grass, High Tunes

Answer: Bob Dylan

A song about 'stoning' in a literal and figurative sense, this Bob Dylan song was pulled from numerous radios due to the fact that its lyrics may be perceived as drug references the whole way through. Found in Dylan's seventh album, "Blonde on Blonde", the song was released in 1966, becoming one of the most popular songs on the release. "Blonde on Blonde" later became honored by the Grammy Hall of Fame as a significant release. One of the song's verses, for example, states: "Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good, They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would."

From Quiz Allusions to Drugs in Music

Answer: K's Choice

K's Choice is a Belgian rock band that were formed in the mid 1990's. "Not An Addict" was undoubtedly their breakout single, and remains their most popular hit to date. "Not An Addict" came off their 1996 album, "Paradise In Me." The song seems to take a "journey" through a possible drug addict's life; how many will generally start on the "softer" stuff, such as marijuana; become addicted to that, and then move on to the "heavier" stuff, such as morphine and heroin. It also clearly shows the denial that many drug addicts will go through before (and if) they eventually come clean.

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: Weezer

It was the second single released from their 2005 album "Make Believe" and is possibly a criticism of the widespread drug use among youth in America. The MTV version of the song is called "We Are All in Love" - though the headline "We Are All on Drugs" appears on the newspaper that Rivers Cuomo reads in the video.

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: Under the Bridge

When All Saints covered this song in 1998, perhaps unsurprisingly, they missed out the lines about heroin addiction. Hillel Slovak, a founding member of the band, died of a heroin overdose in 1988. 'My Lovely Man', another track on 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik', was dedicated to him.

From Quiz Addictive Music

Answer: One Day at a Time

I was walking through an electronics store one time when they were playing the song on an Eagles DVD on one of their big screen TVs. A man who looked like he was 45 going on 70, an obviously rough life lived, was standing there, watching it with tears running down his face. No question he was relating to the message given in the song.

From Quiz Green Grass, High Tunes

Answer: His friends

"With a Little Help From My Friends" was originally written as a conversation in which the band and Ringo Starr converse with one another over different matters, with the general theme being one of camaraderie and the sharing of good times with those who support each other. Of course one line, repeated through the chorus, suggests that the singer both "gets by with a little help from my friends" and "gets high with a little help from my friends". This was one of the many Beatles songs which Joe Cocker covered and it later appeared in the film "Across the Universe".

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: Cocaine Cowgirl

"Cocaine Cowgirl" was recorded in 2005 by Matt Mays and his backup band El Torpedo, and appears on their self-titled album. The song was nominated for the 2006 Single of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards.

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: Real Thing

The demo version of 'Real Thing' is called 'Heroin' or 'Real Thing (Heroin)'. The line 'under the hill with just a few notches on my belt' can be interpreted as an allusion to injecting heroin (i.e. the addict getting a vein up in their arm by tightening a belt around it). Other Alice In Chains songs about heroin include 'Junkhead' and 'G-d Smack'. Frontman Layne Staley died in 2002 after injecting a 'speedball', the heroin and cocaine cocktail that also killed John Belushi.

From Quiz Addictive Music

Answer: Valium

"My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her. His girl took a week's worth of Valium and slept." Lead singer and songwriter Brian Vander Ark states on his website that it is based on a true personal story, though while it was a hit he tried to make it appear as though he had simply overheard a conversation and made up the rest. However, Vander Ark also stated in an interview with G.M. Pasfield that though the pregnancy and abortion were real, the suicide was not.

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was a song recorded by the Beatles for their 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The Beatles themselves have always maintained that the fact that the initials of the title are LSD is purely coincidence. It was said that the inspiration for the song came from a picture drawn by John Lennon's son Julian, who was in nursery school at the time. Julian himself called the drawing "Lucy, in the sky with diamonds" but later said he didn't know why he called it that. Many people believe that the lyrics of the song do talk about an acid trip, and in fact when the song was written, the Beatles had been experimenting with many different drugs, including LSD.

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: Passé

According to frontman Courtney Taylor, the song is about an ex-girlfriend who was a heroin addict. The documentary film 'Dig!' revealed that the song was also dedicated to the Dandy Warhols' rivals, The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Brian Jonestown Massacre responded with 'Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth'.

From Quiz Addictive Music

Answer: Because I Got High

Afroman clearly explains the connection between marijuana use and failures in education, finances, relationships, and ultimately severe health and legal consequences. I wish my clients were so perceptive. Many of them have similar results and fail to see any correlation.

From Quiz Green Grass, High Tunes

Answer: Smokin'

"Smokin'" originally appeared as a B-side track for the then-new Boston band. In the lyrics, the band says "We're cookin' tonight, just keep on tokin'". Overall, the song is simply about having a good time, with the band emphasizing the musical feel of the night. The song is just one of numerous singles on the album to transcend years of music to become 'classic' rock titles. Nonetheless, Clear Channel Communications banned the song (along with 165 others) after the September 11 attacks due to its 'questionable lyrics'.

From Quiz Green Grass, High Tunes

Answer: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Although the song is about love lost, this double interpretation is easily made by the lyrics which say "Last dance with Mary Jane/One more time to kill the pain". The band, having been active since the mid-seventies, broke into the nineties in 1993 with "Mary Jane's Last Dance", which took the top of the charts after its radio debut. It was released as a new title on the band's "Greatest Hits" CD. Tom Petty continued to release hits with the Heartbreakers as well as fuel a solo career. His first solo CD, released four years prior to "Greatest Hits", was just as popular if not more.

From Quiz Allusions to Drugs in Music

Answer: Godsmack

"Voodoo" came off Godsmack's self-titled 1999 album "Godsmack." It was popularised through its usage on the MTV reality show "Fear." Two of the verses that are repeated throughout the song are as follows: "I'm not the one who's So far away When I feel the snakebite Enter my veins Never did I want to Be here again And I don't remember Why I came" While there is still debate as to exactly what the song's meaning is, many conclude that the "snakebite" entering someone's veins is a reference to heroin, and the next verse describes the sheer helplessness of addiction, in that many want to quit, but just can't. It's further interpreted that the heroin is like voodoo, in that it pulls you in and doesn't let you go.

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: I'm thinking it must be love

It was featured on their 2004 EP "My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue". Fall Out Boy's big break into the mainstream came in 2005, with the release of the album "From Under the Cork Tree" and the hit single "Sugar, We're Going Down".

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: Hurt

Cash covered 'Hurt' in 2005. It is reportedly Trent Reznor's favourite NIN song and one of the most personal songs he had ever written. As well as heroin addiction, the song has also been interpreted as being about self-injury and depression. Reznor himself overdosed on heroin in 2000 and went into rehab the following year.

From Quiz Addictive Music

Answer: Sober

Pink describes this song as not only seeing the benefits of being drug and alcohol free, but also being personally free. "How do I feel so good with just me, without anyone to lean on?" she said in an interview with MTV.

From Quiz Green Grass, High Tunes

Answer: Afroman

The song, nominated for a Grammy for rap in the following year, was the only popular single to come from Afroman's first album of the same name. During the song, Afroman states what happened as a result of his getting high (including him not being able to clean his room, not being able to pass tests in class, going to court, and being unable to pay child support, etc.). The music video for this song was directed by Kevin Smith who reprised his role (with Jason Mewes) in the duo Jay and Silent Bob, known for their casual cannabis use in Kevin Smith films. The song lost the Grammy to Missy Elliot for the song "Get Ur Freak On".

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: Anberlin

The song is "Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen", from the 2005 CD "Never Take Friendship Personal". Anberlin are a emo-Christian rock band who do not in any way promote drug use - in fact, that is a possible reason why original guitarist Joey Bruce left the band; according to vocalist Stephen Christian, Bruce was "all about the sex and drugs".

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: Beetlebum

To be more exact, it was written about Albarn's then-girlfriend Justine Frischmann's heroin addiction. 'Beetle' in the title is a reference to 'chasing the beetle', another term for 'chasing the dragon', i.e. inhaling the vapour of the drug. The line 'just get numb' is also a possible allusion to heroin usage.

From Quiz Addictive Music

Answer: Sara & Sarah

Although it has been stated by many that the song "Sara" is about Sara Fleetwood, ex-wife of Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood and a good friend of Stevie Nicks, there has been little agreement about what the song is actually about, and many think the song is somewhat autobiographical. Her use of Sara's name to describe her enrollment into drug treatment only furthers that speculation.

From Quiz Allusions to Drugs in Music

Answer: Esther

"Heroin Girl" came off Everclear's 1995 album "Sparkle and Fade." There is much debate as to whether the song "Heroin Girl" is about lead singer Art Alexakis's brother or girlfriend. When Alexakis was 12, his brother overdosed on heroin and died, and his mother heard the police refer to it as "just another overdose." Not too long after, Alexakis's girlfriend committed suicide (sources aren't clear as to whether her death was also heroin related). Incidentally, the line "just another overdose" is mentioned in the song.

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: China Girl

"China Girl" was originally co-written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop for Pop's 1977 album "The Idiot". It didn't become hugely popular until Bowie released it in 1983 and included it on the album "Let's Dance". The song is thought to be about heroin addiction, as "china white" is a street name for heroin, and David Bowie battled drug addiction for many years.

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: Guns 'n' Roses

'Mr Brownstone' is from G'n'R's number one album 'Appetite for Destruction'. According to Slash, it was written about his and Izzy Stradlin's heroin addictions. The name 'Mr Brownstone' is an allusion to 'brown', one of the many nicknames for heroin. According to the Songfacts website, Slash, Stradlin and Steven Adler decided to get clean after Axl Rose said at a 1989 gig that he was 'tired of too many people in this organisation dancing with Mr. goddam Brownstone'.

From Quiz Green Grass, High Tunes

Answer: Jimmy

After Daniel Powter's hit song "Bad Day" was released in 2005 to popular acclaim and his follow-up "Free Loop" was moderately well-received, the third single from his self-titled album, "Jimmy Gets High", didn't do too well in North America (though it did chart in Europe). According to the lyrics of the song, which are about a guy named Jimmy, the main character inevitably gets high as an act of rebellion. Living off rock and roll and seeking independence, Jimmy repeatedly "gets high tonight". Much of the song is done in a very high-pitched voice and failed to attract as much attention as his previous singles. His first album reached Gold status after its release.

From Quiz Allusions to Drugs in Music

Answer: Neil Young

"The Needle And The Damage Done" was written and first recorded by Neil Young, and came off his album "Harvest" in 1972. Interestingly, Young chose to record this song live instead of recording it in the studio, and you can hear a crowd clapping at the end of the song. Neil wrote the song as a "tribute" to musicians who have developed a heroin addiction. It was written about Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten's heroin addiction (but before he overdosed and died). Neil Young and the band Crazy Horse often played concerts together. Some bands that have covered the song include Seether, Green Day, Duran Duran and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Pathetic as it may make me sound, I cry every time I hear it. I think that it's truly a beautiful song, which brings to light the dangers of heroin addiction.

From Quiz Under the Influence

Answer: Givin' Up

"Givin' Up" was a track on The Darkness' debut 2003 CD "Permission to Land". The band enjoyed modest success for a couple of years, but the end came in 2006 when signature vocalist Justin Hawkins took a hiatus to check into rehab (for alcohol and cocaine addiction). After his time in rehab, Hawkins decided it would be best for his health to leave the band altogether.

From Quiz Cold Turkey

Answer: King Heroin

'King Heroin', from Brown's album 'There It Is', was written by Manny Rosen, whose daughter died of a heroin overdose. The lyrics are an example of personification; the drug is the protagonist of the song and describes how it ruins the lives of various people from all walks of life. It is also likened to a white horse that carries addicts down to Hell.

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