Songs about drug addiction (List)

Songs about drug addiction – A guide to understanding what some songs express about drug addiction.

In this guide, we will discuss which songs talk about drug addiction

Songs about drug addiction

Since the beginning of humanity, songs have had some influence on the development of people. The songs have been used to express various feelings that a person has and as a way of protest. Many are the artists who use the songs to express injustices, inhuman acts and the way they perceive the world in which we live.

Most people in the world enjoy listening to a song. A song, apart from that makes people dance and have a good time, is a way in which someone can identify and discover how they feel. Many things are said through the letters that are sometimes difficult to express otherwise.

It is common to listen to songs that express a series of ideas, problems, diseases and any type of situation that someone may be going through. Something that can be found also is songs about drug addiction.

It is no secret to anyone listening to songs about drug addiction. Many artists have expressed in their lyrics the struggles they have had against drugs, how they have tried to escape from them and the destiny that can await them but seek a solution.

Many people can identify with songs about drug addiction for several reasons, one of which is that they may become misunderstood by the people around them. The person who has drug addiction understands that the people around do not understand the reason why they have reached the point of having this disease and seek refuge in the songs. They feel that listening to a song that reflects how it feels is a kind of cure at the moment.

Another reason why a person can identify with songs about drug addiction is that a person knows someone who is suffering from the disease and does not understand the reasons why that person is immersed in the world of drugs. The songs artistically detail how a person can fall into drugs or how it feels to be with that disease.

Like every song that expresses some kind of feeling, interest or situation, songs about drug addiction can express an entire experience of how a person became addicted. Listening to them is also a way of knowing everyone’s perception of drugs.

You cannot point out a reason why a person falls into drug addiction, since it is a disease that has a multifactorial picture, so it is important to know what it is and how it develops.

Drug addiction

Drug addiction or also known as substance use disorder is a disease characterized by the inappropriate use of a person when consuming a substance without taking into account the problems that this may cause. This disease affects the brain, altering its functioning. Substances such as alcohol, nicotine, coffee considered drugs.

A person can start with the excessive use of a drug when they are in social situations. It can be seen in a situation where a person uses a recreational drug and over time it can become more frequent. Other people can start when they have prescribed some type of drug as opioids.

A person has a greater or lesser risk of becoming addicted depending on the type of drug it uses. Some have a faster effect than others in the brain. Over time, a person will need to consume larger amounts of the drug to continue feeling the effects that it causes because it got used to the initial dose and does not cause any effect. 

When the person wants more drugs their anxiety levels begin to increase since they need it more and do not see it without having it.

With time and if the person continues with this type of behaviour will not be able to leave the drug addiction alone, it will need the help of family and friends to find a solution.

Symptoms of drug addiction

There are several behavioural and physical symptoms that a person suffering from drug addiction presents. Some of these may vary, but in general, most are present. Symptoms include:

  • Excessive use of the drug, where the person needs to consume more and more of it.
  • Spending money to consume the drug. Sometimes the person does not have enough money to buy and resorts to actions such as borrowing or stealing.
  • Inability to fulfil their responsibilities and perform some activities due to the effects of the drug.
  • You experience withdrawal symptoms when you try to leave the medication by yourself.
  • It has a careless appearance. As time goes by, the person stops caring as they know, their focus is on getting drugs.
  • Lack of energy, weight loss, red eyes.

Causes of drug addiction

There are various causes for which a person can fall into drug addiction. Some of the most common causes are:

Environmental causes: Growing up in an environment where the person is exposed to drugs by other members of its family, suffering from some type of abuse or some traumatic experience, in general, can lead to the person’s first steps in the world of drugs.

Also causes where the person is in social groups where drugs are used and due to the pressure they exert, it decides to consume. The need for acceptance in a group leads to the person using drugs.

Genetic causes: There are people who, once they use some type of drugs, are more likely to develop the disease. A previous illness can lead to the person taking drugs.

To treat drug addiction, Topiramate can be given as an anticonvulsant drug.

Songs about drug addiction

Songs about drug addiction express various feelings about who suffers from it. Anger, fear, sadness, anger, are some of the emotions present. Next, some songs that express in different ways the drug addiction and the reasons why their artists were inspired to write them.

The A Team – Ed Sheeran

The A team was the first single released by artist Ed Sheeran. The reason that led this artist to compose this song was after a visit he made to a homeless shelter. In the shelter, the singer heard several of the life stories of the people who were in that place. The experience of a woman who was there led him to compose the song. In the song, Sheeran talks about the woman’s life, one of the paragraphs expresses the following:

Cause we’re just under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple of grams
And she don’t want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland
Or sells love to another man
It’s too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly

The Girl You Lost to Cocaine – Sia

The Girl You Lost to Cocaine is a song written by singer Sia. The singer expresses that it was the song that took the longest time to write. The singer expresses that the song is about a person who moves away from her friend in need since she got tired of her friend using her as a crutch.

This song can be interpreted as one of the problems caused by drugs. Drug addiction ends up destroying all kinds of relationships. The addicted person chooses his addiction above all and in the end, the people around him move away. One of the paragraphs of the song expresses the following:

No I just don’t wanna, so I’m walking away
There is nothing that you can do I will not stay
No I don’t need drama, so I’m walking away
Yeah I am a girl with a lot on her plate

The Needle and the Damage Done – Neil Young

The Needle and the Damage Done is a song composed by acclaimed artist Neil Young. This is one of the songs about drug addiction where the singer describes the damage that a particular narcotic caused to several of his friends. Among some of those friends is his bandmate Danny Whitten from Crazy Horse. Young expressed in Tonight’s the Night that the song reflects the pain he went through the death of fellow Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry.

In the lyrics of the song, you can read how the singer expresses the damage caused by addiction. An addicted person destroys his life completely. One of the paragraphs says:

I hit the city and
I lost my band
I watched the needle
take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done

Lullaby Whiskey – Brad Paisley

Another of the songs about drug addiction is Whiskey Lullaby recorded by Brad Paisley. It is inspired by the divorce of one of the co-authors of the song which, after this, went through a series of eventualities in his life that led him to drink heavily.

The song focuses on the suffering that went through his divorce and how he reaches alcoholism and dies. Alcohol ingested in excessive forms can lead to a person being addicted and if he does not seek the help he can have a disastrous end such as death. In the first paragraph you can read the following words:

She put him out, like the burnin’ end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart, he spent his whole life tryin’ to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night 

BetterHelp: A Better Alternative

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FAQs about songs about drug addiction

Is it legal for a person to sing a song about drug addiction?

There is no problem if a person wants to sing a song or another topic in general. Illegal could be if the person who sings about someone who has a drug problem finds out that his story is used without consent.

What happens if a person is not treated for drug addiction?

The person who is not treated for drug addiction can get worse because their consumption will continue. The person can develop other diseases that interfere with his physical and mental health, leading him to death.

How positive is listening to songs about drug addiction?

Listening to songs about drug addiction can help people understand differently the damage that addictions can cause. Through the lyrics, many artists express how their life has been under the addiction and experience of others.

How to help a person who is addicted to drugs?

To help a person addicted to drugs it is important to make this person aware that he has a problem and that he needs medical treatment. You have to do it calmly, without offending the person and without making it feel guilty. You have to make the person feel understood and loved and that everything that is being done is for their well-being.

Does a person choose to be addicted to drugs?

No, a person does not choose to be addicted to drugs. What happens is that there are people who due to certain factors are more likely to be addicted to others. When a person consumes a drug, it does not do so to become addicted. Addiction is generated when it has a behaviour not appropriate to the substance ingested, where the person wants more and more regardless of how they get it. In the end, it is too late for the person to want to give up consumption on their own and will need help to do so.

Conclusion

Some of these songs about drug addiction are intended for people to know about the disease from another facet and the harm that any addiction can cause. In many of the songs about drug addiction, you can feel the pain and sadness that singers feel because they relate very close experiences they have had or people around them due to drug addiction. The songs can be seen as a way of raising awareness about the dangers of a non-moderate consumption of certain substances.

If you’ve enjoyed the Songs about depression mentioned above, I would recommend you to take a look at Is Tyler Joseph suicidal?

  1. High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict’s Double Life
  2. Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions 
  3. Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story 

References

  1. 10 Songs About Addiction That Capture the Experience
  2. Drug addiction 

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