35 Anti-Drug Songs

Living by the creed of “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” can be a lot of fun. But as anyone who has tried that approach likely knows, it can also get out of hand quite quickly.

Drugs in anyone’s world, but particularly in the kind of fast-paced, money-soaked one that rock musicians often live in — can lead some down a dangerous and upsetting path, and addiction knows no class, employment or industry boundaries. In seemingly no time at all, things can go from fine to not at all.

“I realized there are experiments that go on too long,” Keith Richards said in 2015. In more recent years, the Rolling Stones guitarist has been considerably open with the public about his experiences with drugs and alcohol over time. “Some people can handle things and other people can’t. If the drugs become more important than the music, you’ve lost the battle.”

Many rock stars have learned this lesson the hard way, and many have chosen a life of sobriety as a result. Some have even written about the subject in their songs, reflecting on the harm addiction — their own or someone else’s — can cause. In the below list, we’re taking a look at 35 tracks like that.

Help is always available. Free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information services can be found at samhsa.gov.

1. “The Needle and the Damage Done,” Neil YoungFrom: Harvest (1972)

Five years after “The Needle and the Damage Done” appeared on Harvest, it appeared on the 1977 compilation album Decade. Young, who did not use heroin himself but has had a complicated relationship with alcohol and marijuana over the years, wrote the following about the song: “I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men.”

2. “Mr. Brownstone,” Guns N’ RosesFrom: Appetite for Destruction (1987)

“Brownstone,” for those unfamiliar, is a slang term for heroin, which both Slash and Izzy Stradlin of Guns N’ Roses struggled with at one point. This song in particular highlights the addictive nature of a drug like heroin, which the body builds tolerance against over time. “I used to do a little,” Axl Rose sings, “but a little wouldn’t do it, so the little got more and more.”

3. “Sober,” ToolFrom: Undertow (1993)

In 1994, Adam Jones of Tool wasn’t even 30 yet, but he knew that telling people in the throes of addiction — and more specifically the friends and family you care about most — to get their act together doesn’t usually work. Everyone must take their own path. “The song [“Sober”] and video are based on a guy we know who is at his artistic best when he’s loaded,” Jones explained in a 1994 interview with Guitar School magazine. “A lot of people give him shit for that. I don’t tell people to do or not do drugs. You can do what you want, but you have to take responsibility for what happens.”

4. “Fight Like a Brave,” Red Hot Chili PeppersFrom: The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987)

Back in the late ’80s, Anthony Kiedis’ heroin addiction got to a point where his Red Hot Chili Peppers bandmate Flea had him leave the group until he got clean. He did exactly that, but he relapsed and struggled with the addiction until he got clean in 2000 and has maintained that to this day. “Fight Like a Brave” was something he wrote after getting clean the first time and returning to his band. “It had nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll,” Kiedis said of his addiction in 2022. “It was exciting and dangerous, like, hmmm, everyone is afraid of that, I think I’ll do that thing that just the word scares people. But it was also a way of checking out. … I felt whole by putting these things in me, until I had to pay the toll.”

5. “Cold Turkey,” John Lennon (Plastic Ono Band)From: 1969 Single

Both John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono went through periods of brief but heavy heroin addiction in the late ’60s, and he wrote about the experience the two of them had going cold turkey from the drug in song format — infamously not an easy thing to go through physically. “I never injected it or anything,” Lennon said to Rolling Stone in 1970. “We sniffed a little when we were in real pain. We got such a hard time from everyone, and I’ve had so much thrown at me, and at Yoko, especially at Yoko.”

6. “One Day at a Time,” Joe WalshFrom: Analog Man (2012

“One Day at a Time” is the name of this Joe Walsh song, but it’s also a phrase used often by those participating in AA to help remind one that maintaining sobriety is about small, daily steps. “It’s about recovery,” Walsh explained of the track to Billboard in 2012. “I ran out of options, and I had to do something, so I got sober. It was not easy, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and I had to stop and learn how to do everything over again sober. So that song is about the way it was and what it’s like now, which I have a wonderful life I never could have imagined back then. So I wanted to put that song on the album for anybody that comes across my music and might be in trouble, too. It feels like the phone weighs 80 pounds when you pick it up, but you gotta pick it up and ask for help.”

7. “Hand of Doom,” Black SabbathFrom: Paranoid (1970)

The lyrics to “Hand of Doom” were written by Geezer Butler about heroin addiction, but not in regards to himself. Instead, it focuses on American Vietnam War veterans and the lack of support they received upon returning home. “By the time that most soldiers got back to America, they had to be put into a halfway house,” Butler said in an episode of Classic Albums. “There was no one reporting on it, that these soldiers, in order to get through that horrible war, were shooting up on heroin. So when I wrote ‘Hand of Doom,’ that’s what I wrote it about.”

8. “Heroin,” The Velvet UndergroundFrom: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

Very obviously, the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” is not a traditional “anti-drug” song, but it cleverly makes a listener consider the darkness that surrounds the drug with mentions of “all the dead bodies” and the feeling of “closing in on death.” In 1967, the year this song was released, that would have been a pretty terrifying and sobering message to encounter.

9. “The Needle and the Spoon,” Lynyrd SkynyrdFrom: Second Helping (1974)

“Don’t mess with the needle or a spoon,” Lynyrd Skynyrd warned on this 1974 track cowritten between Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant. “Or any trip to the moon / It’ll take you away.”

10. “The Pusher,” SteppenwolfFrom: Steppenwolf (1968)

You may recognize Steppenwolf’s “The Pusher” from the opening scenes of the 1969 movie Easy Rider, which depict drug trafficking. But “The Pusher” is meant to draw a distinction between a drug dealer “with the love grass in his hand” and a flat out pusher of harder stuff. “The pusher is a monster / Good God, he’s not a natural man.”

11. “Hey Stoopid,” Alice CooperFrom: Hey Stoopid (1991)

Alice Cooper’s “Hey Stoopid” features guest appearances by Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. “A friend can call a friend ‘stoopid,'” Cooper said in a 1991 press release when the song came out. “If someone was killing himself, I’d say ‘Hey, stoopid, what are you trying to do? They win, you lose!’ But I’d never point a finger and do the whole lecture thing.”

12. “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” Three Dog NightFrom: It Ain’t Easy (1970)

Below is the version of “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” that was made popular by Three Dog Night in 1970, but this song was actually written by Randy Newman for Eric Burdon’s first solo album in 1966. It’s like a lot of Newman’s songs in that the singer takes on the role of a character, in this case an innocent young man who can’t really wrap his brain around the drug-riddled scene he’s walked into — “I seen so many things I ain’t never seen before / Don’t know what it is, I don’t wanna see no more.”

13. “The No No Song,” Ringo StarrFrom: Goodnight Vienna (1974)

It’s a bit ironic that Ringo Starr released “The No No Song,” with its lyrical warnings against marijuana, cocaine and whiskey, in 1974, over a decade before the former Beatle got clean for good in 1988. “Everybody believes the song is ‘anti’ – which the lyrics are,” Starr would later recall (via beatlesbible.com), “but they have to remember that the people who were actually working that day were brain damaged.”

14. “Pusherman,” Curtis MayfieldFrom: Super Fly (1972)

Yes, Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman” is a song about a drug dealer, but it’s also about a person who wants to escape a dangerous world in favor of something safer and more gratifying, even in the face of prejudice and assumption. “Got a woman I love desperately / Wanna give her somethin’ better than me / Been told I can’t be nuthin’ else / Just a hustler in spite of myself.”

15. “Master of Puppets,” MetallicaFrom: Master of Puppets (1986)

“‘Master of Puppets’ deals pretty much with drugs,” James Hetfield explained of this title track to Thrasher magazine in 1988 (via Metal Hammer). “How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you’re taking and doing it’s drugs controlling you.”

16. “Cocaine Blues,” Johnny CashFrom: At Folsom Prison (1968)

Johnny Cash didn’t write “Cocaine Blues” — a man named Troy Junius Arnall did — but Cash’s live recording from Folsom Prison in 1968 delivers the message loud and clear: “Come on you hypes listen unto me / lay off that whiskey, and let that cocaine be.”

17. “Got to Give It Up,” Thin LizzyFrom: Black Rose: A Rock Legend (2979)

If it wasn’t clear from the title, Thin Lizzy’s “Got to Give It Up” is about quitting drugs and alcohol after a long journey with them. Six years after this song appeared on the band’s 1979 album Black Rose: A Rock Legend, lead singer Phil Lynott passed away at the age of 36 following years of addiction struggles. “I think [Lynott] was writing that about himself,” guitarist Scott Gorham said to Songfacts in 2013. “We hadn’t really hit the peak of our drug thing at this point. We weren’t feeling the down drag, if you know what I mean. But I think Phil also realized the dangers of it; well, we all knew the dangers of the whole drug world. And I think he was being honest. ‘I’ve got to give this up. I’ve got to give this shit up or it’s going to kill my ass.’ Eventually it did, as we all know.”

18. “Flight of the Rat,” Deep PurpleFrom: Deep Purple in Rock (1970)

Here, “the rat” appears to be a metaphor for drug addiction, and in the case of Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, that meant booze. Eventually, Gillan changes courses. “At an early stage in my life I decided I had to change,” he explained to The Independent in 2024, noting that he doesn’t drink or smoke while on tour with the band. “I was too wild and there were things going on that were just not good if I wanted to have a future as a musician. I started meditation at that point and I found a lot of things that you could control. That was important, to start meditating and clear the decks of a load of the irresponsible behavior, if you’re going to survive. It’s pretty important to get on top of things. You got to deliver, whether you’re on stage that night or whether you’re writing 14 songs. There’s no point laying around being drunk.”

19. “Gold Dust Woman,” Fleetwood MacFrom: Rumours (1977)

Stevie Nicks went to rehabilitation programs a few times over the years and she finally got permanently clean from cocaine in the early ’90s. “Gold Dust Woman” referred to that particular drug and its way of deceiving. “Everybody was doing a little bit — you know, we never bought it or anything, it was just around — and I think I had a real serious flask of what this stuff could be, of what it could do to you,” Nicks recalled to Spin in 1997. “The whole thing about how we all love the ritual of it, the little bottle, the little diamond-studded spoons, the fabulous velvet bags. For me, it fit right into the incense and candles and that stuff. And I really imagined that it could overtake everything, never thinking a million years that it would overtake me. I must have met a couple of people that I thought did too much coke and I must have been impressed by that. Because I made it into a whole story.”

20. “The Needle Lies,” QueensrycheFrom: Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

“The Needle Lies,” from the rock opera album that is Operation: Mindcrime, focuses on a drug addict named Nikki. “Geoff [Tate] had wanted to write about the moral decay of society,” guitarist Michael Wilton would later explain of this album and story. “It could easily have backfired on us if we’d done a sloppy job.”

21. “Cocaine Decisions,” Frank ZappaFrom: The Man From Utopia (1983)

Frank Zappa’s “Cocaine Decisions” takes specific aim at those of a higher tax bracket — doctors, lawyers, etc. — and how their wealth and power lends itself easily to greed. Throw some coke into the mix and you’ve got an ugly scene. “And the cocaine decisions that you make today / Will mean nothing later on / When you get nose decay.”

22. “White Lines,” Duran DuranFrom: Thank You (1995)

“White Lines” is actually a cover Duran Duran did — it was originally recorded by the hip hop artist Melle Mel, of Grandmaster Flash fame. The point here is that cocaine is just as addictive as it is expensive. “Pay your toll, sell your soul / Pound for pound it costs more than gold.”

23. “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire,” Joni MitchellFrom: For the Roses (1972)

“I never was much of a druggie,” Joni Mitchell said in 2015. “Cigarettes and coffee — that’s my poison.” Still, she spent a lot of time around people who were involved in that world, in particular with her one-time boyfriend James Taylor who struggled mightily with heroin in the ’70s. This is a song about that treacherous path: “Bashing in veins for peace / Cold blue steel and sweet fire / Fall into lady release.”

24. “Amphetamine Annie,” Canned HeatFrom: Boogie With Canned Heat (1968)

Canned Heat’s “Amphetamine Annie” literally starts with words of deterrence: “This is a song with a message / I want you to heed my warning.” It then continues to tell the story of a woman who leans on speed, to the point where she hears and sees things that aren’t there and it winds up killing her.

25. “Accidental Suicide,” John MayallFrom: Back to the Roots (1971)

John Mayall’s “Accidental Suicide” begins with a mention of Jimi Hendrix’s overdose death. And though Mayall concedes “everybody has to find a way to ease the strain,” there is caution to be considered —  “Drugs may bring you joy, but the danger there’s that they destroy / So watch what you do or you can be the next to go.”

26. “Johnny’s Gonna Die,” The ReplacementsFrom: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981)

The Replacements’ “Johnny’s Gonna Die” is a reference to Johnny Thunders, guitarist for the Heartbreakers and New York Dolls, and more specifically a reference to his heroin addiction — “always takes more than he needs.” Thunders died in 1991 at 38 years old and the official cause listed by the coroner was an overdose.

27. “Little Billy,” The WhoFrom: Odds & Sods (1974)

This is a little bit of a different approach. In the Who’s “Little Billy,” the central character, whose weight is a point of unfair ridicule in school, outlives all his bullies because he never picks up a cigarette to begin with. “Most of them smoke maybe forty a day / A habit Billy doesn’t share / One by one they’re passing away / Leaving orphans to Billy’s care.”

28. “Suicide Solution,” Ozzy OsbourneFrom: Blizzard of Oz (1980)

Many, many years ago, Ozzy Osbourne claimed that “Suicide Solution” was about Bon Scott of AC/DC, who died as a result of alcohol poisoning in 1980, the same year the song appeared on Blizzard of Oz. But one of Osbourne’s cowriters and the primary lyricist, Bob Daisley, later said that it was about Osbourne himself, who struggled with alcoholism for decades. “I wrote those lyrics about his drinking,” Daisley explained in 2018, “or as a warning to anybody that’s drinking themselves into an early grave.”

29. “Medicine Jar,” WingsFrom: Venus and Mars (1975)

This song was cowritten by Colin Allen (not a member of Wings) and Jimmy McCulloch (member of Wings from 1974 to 1977), back when they were in a band called Stone The Crow. It’s about Jeanette Jacobs, who was part of a British girl group trio called the Cake. “‘Medicine Jar’ was born out of my frustration, caused by Jeanette’s constant use of Mandies,” Allen once explained. “The song’s line I know how you feel now your friends are dead, related to friends who had died because of drugs.”

30. “Use the Man,” MegadethFrom: Cryptic Writings (1997)

“When I was working on [Cryptic Writings], I went to a 12-step meeting in a place right next to the studio,” Dave Mustaine recalled to Rolling Stone in 2017. “The guy who runs it told me he had something to show me, and he had this box and goes, ‘Check this out.’ And I’m looking through it and he goes, ‘That’s Bob,’ for lack of a better name. Then he told me that earlier in the day, a guy had gone to a meeting and then shot up and died at the halfway house and that this box was all his stuff. … He was trying to get a message across to me and it worked – I’m still alive. I wrote the lyrics to ‘Use the Man’ immediately.”

31. “Running to Stand Still,” U2From: The Joshua Tree (1987)

“Running to Stand Still” is a song U2 penned about heroin addiction, and more specifically about how addiction can land a person in terribly desperate places. “Because for a lot of people, there are no physical doors open anymore,” Bono said to Hot Press back then. “And so if you can’t change the world you’re living in, seeing through different eyes is the only alternative. And heroin gives you heroin eyes to see the world with; and the thing about heroin is that you think that’s the way it really is. That the old you, who worries about paying the rent, the old you who just worries, is not the real you.”

32. “Amazing,” AerosmithFrom: Get a Grip (1993)

Steven Tyler has been quite candid about his journey with addiction, which has included stretches of sobriety as well as relapses. The most important thing, Tyler has noted, is remembering the things in life that truly matter — family, friends, one’s art. “Amazing” is a song Tyler cowrote with Richie Supa about finding the light in darkness and taking things day by day. “I just can’t tell just what tomorrow brings,” he sings, “You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk.

33. “Hurt,” Nine Inch NailsFrom: The Downward Spiral (1994)

It’s true that “Hurt” can be interpreted various ways, but from our perspective, there’s a focus on self harm and on presumably heroin addiction — “the needle tears a hole / the old familiar sting.” Trent Reznor went through a dark period of struggling with addiction, but he’s been sober now since 2001. “I had romanticized the idea of what drugs and alcohol’s role in my life was,” Reznor told Kerrang! in 2017. “I’m not saying it didn’t provide great moments of great escape and relief, and easing of pain, but it wound up creating chaos and destroying things – destroying creativity in my case.”

34. “Cocaine,” Eric ClaptonFrom: Slowhand (1977)

Originally by J.J. Cale, “Cocaine” is a deceptively effective anti-drug song. Lines like “when your day is done, and you want to run, cocaine,” imply that the drug is the kind of escape that won’t actually bring real relief from the stresses of life. Or consider the first line: “if you wanna get down, down on the ground, cocaine.” Being down on the ground certainly doesn’t make for a very happy existence. Clapton, of course, has not only been sober for a number of years, he also founded an addiction treatment facility in 1998 called the Crossroads Centre.

35. “Barrel of a Gun,” Depeche ModeFrom: Ultra (1997)

While Depeche Mode was making 1997’s Ultra, Dave Gahan’s addiction reached something of a breaking point. It was during sessions for this album that he was arrested in Los Angeles and subsequently sought treatment. In “Barrel of a Gun,” Gahan’s bandmate Martin Gore sort of pointed out the intensity of the situation. “I was actually grateful for being arrested, for the judge that promised me that I would go to prison if I didn’t stay clean, because I listened to him and something clicked,” Gahan said to Entertainment Weekly in 2023. “Those two years when we were making that album and I had to go back and forth to court to prove to the judge that I’d stayed clean, it gave me this time to suddenly realize, ‘Oh, I can do this, I can crawl my way back, I can get better. And I do want to be here.'”