Posted in: Rock by B Nelson on February 16, 2008 | 15 Comments
A lot of songs have references to drugs or drug-use but not all of them are actually about drugs. Many songs are mistakenly referred to as drug songs.
Some are about fighting it, or dealing with it, or dealing with a person struggling with their additions. It should be noted that many songs have drug references in them, but may not actually be about drugs….
I want to note as well that many songs about drugs, are actually anti drug.
The Doors. I am not even going to list songs, but the name, “The Doors” is a reference to a book by Aldous Huxley named “The Doors of Perception” about his experiences with LSD-25.
All too often perfectly innocent songs are said to be about drugs, sometimes drugs are not even referenced in the song. Here are some songs commonly misinterpreted as drug songs.
borhap June 1st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Just wanted to point out that The Doors of Perception wasn’t about Huxley on LSD, it was him on mescaline; there’s a difference. Please correct this error
B Nelson June 1st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Thank you borhap, from different sources there are different takes on this, I will look further into it.
john June 16th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Let me just open the book and look just as far as i need: its about mescaline.
Mike June 17th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I’m sorry, but someone didn’t do their homework here… Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is ABSOLUTELY about LSD.
crispeater June 26th, 2008 at 7:57 am
I read somewhere that the phrase “electrical banana” refers to an adult toy.
crispeater June 26th, 2008 at 8:32 am
John Lennon himself said numerous times that Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was the title of a picture that his son Julian drew. I’ve actually seen the original drawing in a Beatles book.
So I guess whether you think it’s a drug song or not comes down to who you believe; the man that actually wrote the song or “music experts”.
crispeater June 26th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Here’s a page that contains the original drawing of Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds http://www.angelfire.com/rock3/rayorama/lsd.html
KeeJay September 3rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I have my doubts that many of the songs in the first list are anti-drug. Who but the artists themselves can say whether a song is for or against? Also keep in mind that just because a writer or artist says something, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.
Dicktar November 19th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Richard Ashcroft wrote “The Drugs Don’t Work” while he was trying to quit heroin AND his father was dying–so the refrain is a double entendre. On the acoustic version, he sings “the drugs don’t work/they just make you worse” the first verse, and then “they just make me worse” for the other verses.
urdad February 23rd, 2009 at 1:08 pm
k im soooo gay that its not even funy
Jessica March 24th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Another song that I always thought was about drugs but come to find out it isn’t. It’s about lying. If it makes you happy- Sheryl Crow…. “if it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad- if it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad”
belvin May 7th, 2009 at 9:14 am
wack peeps
smiley June 15th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
anybody no the name of the that goes windowpane and a bottle of wine mama
gydders June 27th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
@ smiley
Ian Thomas, “Painted Ladies”
cnelson2307 August 7th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is about LSD, just like how the nirvana song Heart – Shape Box is about how Kurt wanted Courtney to have an abortion. They say these things in interviews to, in Kurt’s case, not have his daughter think she was unwanted, and in John Lennon’s case to make his son feel special.