Addiction has been part of music for as long as musicians have struggled with it, which is to say always. The songs on the list below cover alcohol, prescription pills, heroin, meth, and other addictions.
Be sure to check out the Songs About Addiction Playlist at the bottom of this page.
Best Songs About Addiction
1. “Semi-Charmed Life” – Third Eye Blind
Lyric Sample: “The sky was gold, it was rose, I was takin’ sips up into my nose.”
This 1997 hit is about crystal meth addiction. Its cheerful sound does a remarkable job of disguising lyrics about someone whose life is falling apart.
Related: “Semi-Charmed Life” Song Meaning
2. “Needle in the Hay” – Elliott Smith
Lyric Sample: “Strung out and thin, calling some friend, trying to cash some check.”
Smith’s 1995 indie folk track is about heroin dependency and the daily routine of someone completely withdrawn from the outside world.
3. “Pool Shark” – Sublime
Lyric Sample: “But now I’ve got the needle, and I can bleed, but I can’t breathe.”
Bradley Nowell wrote this 1994 song about his personal battle with heroin and the fear of an eventual overdose, which, unfortunately, did end up happening.
4. “Hurt” – Nine Inch Nails
Lyric Sample: “The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting.”
This industrial rock classic is about self-harm, severe isolation, and heroin dependency ruining relationships.
Related: “Hurt” Lyrics Meaning
5. “Angel” – Sarah McLachlan
Lyric Sample: “Let me be empty, oh, and weightless, and maybe I’ll find some peace tonight.”
Sarah McLachlan wrote this ’90s pop ballad after reading about musicians who turned to hard drugs to cope with the pressure of touring.
6. “Cold Turkey” – John Lennon
Lyric Sample: “My body is aching, goose-pimple bone, can’t see no body, leave me alone.”
Lennon’s 1969 single is about his and Yoko Ono’s harsh experience going through heroin withdrawal.
7. “Xanny” – Billie Eilish
Lyric Sample: “They just keep doing nothing, too intoxicated to be scared.”
In “Xanny,” Eilish sings about prescription drug culture among young people as she watches her peers abusing pills at parties.
Related: Best Songs That Start with X
8. “Jane Says” – Jane’s Addiction
Lyric Sample: “I’m gonna kick tomorrow.”
This 1988 alternative rock track is about a woman Perry Farrell knew named Jane Bainter who struggled with a severe heroin habit.
9. “Under the Bridge” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Lyric Sample: “Under the bridge downtown is where I drew some blood.”
Anthony Kiedis wrote this 1991 hit about the loneliness of heroin addiction and the Los Angeles underpass where he used to go to shoot up.
Related: “Under the Bridge” Meaning
10. “Drinkin’ Problem” – Midland
Lyric Sample: “People say I got a drinkin’ problem, that ain’t no reason to stop.”
Midland’s 2017 country hit is about a man who refuses to call his drinking a problem because it’s the one thing keeping him functional after his relationship ended.
Related: CMA – Singles of the Year
11. “Dancing With the Devil” – Demi Lovato
Lyric Sample: “I was dancing with the devil, out of control.”
Lovato released this 2021 pop ballad after surviving a near-fatal overdose in 2018, detailing her return to heavy drugs and alcohol after years of maintaining sobriety.
12. “Master of Puppets” – Metallica
Lyric Sample: “Master of puppets, I’m pulling your strings, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams.”
This 1986 thrash metal classic treats substance dependence like a controlling villain holding power over a person’s choices.
Related: “Master of Puppets” Meaning
13. “That’s Why I’m Here” – Kenny Chesney
Lyric Sample: “Have another shot, just one more beer, yeah, I’ve been there, that’s why I’m here.”
This 1997 country tune is set inside a support group meeting where a man stands up to talk about how his drinking destroyed his family until he sought help.
14. “Rehab” – Amy Winehouse
Lyric Sample: “They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, ‘No, no, no.’”
Winehouse wrote this 2006 soul-pop track about her refusal to enter treatment for alcohol after her management team asked her to.
15. “The Bottle” – Gil Scott-Heron
Lyric Sample: “He done quit his nine to five, he drink full-time.”
Scott-Heron’s 1970s jazz-funk song is about him watching the devastation of alcohol addiction in his community.
16. “Lean Wit Me” – Juice WRLD
Lyric Sample: “Lean with me, pop with me, get high with me if you rock with me.”
Juice WRLD’s 2018 song is about lean addiction told from the perspective of someone who knows it’s killing him. He died of a codeine-related seizure in 2019.
17. “Broken Window Serenade” – Whiskey Myers
Lyric Sample: “And you feed your addiction, with your crystal meth.”
This 2011 Southern rock song is about watching someone fall into depression and hard drug use.
Related: “Broken Window Serenade” Meaning
18. “Sam Stone” – John Prine
Lyric Sample: “There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes.”
Prine’s 1971 folk song is about an injured Vietnam War veteran who returns home and spends all of his family’s money on his morphine habit.
Related: Best Vietnam War Songs
19. “Drug Dealer” – Macklemore
Lyric Sample: “And these devils, they keep on talkin’ to me.”
Macklemore calls out pharmaceutical companies and doctors in this 2016 hip-hop song about prescription opioid abuse.
20. “Rx (Medicate)” – Theory of a Deadman
Lyric Sample: “Crushin’ candy, crushin’ pills, got no job, mom pays my bills.”
This 2017 pop-rock track is about prescription drug abuse across small towns where people turn to painkillers and anti-anxiety meds to cope with daily boredom.
21. “Déjà Vu” – Eminem
Lyric Sample: “I’m a prime candidate for the gene to receive the drug addict trait.”
“Deja Vu” is a 2009 rap song about prescription drug addiction and overdose. Eminem goes through the events of the night he almost died.
22. “Save Me” – Jelly Roll
Lyric Sample: “All of this drinkin’ and smokin’ is hopeless but feel like it’s all that I need.”
The 2020 country rap song is about someone who’s given up on himself and is pushing away the one person trying to help, believing he’s too far gone to be worth the effort.
23. “Heroin” – The Velvet Underground
Lyric Sample: “Heroin, it’s my wife and it’s my life.”
Lou Reed’s 1967 experimental rock song describes the heroin experience from the inside, including the rush, the numbness, and the temporary feeling like you’re beyond the reach of the world.
24. “The A Team” – Ed Sheeran
Lyric Sample: “White lips, pale face, breathin’ in the snowflakes.”
Sheeran’s 2011 folk-pop hit is about a homeless woman in London selling herself to pay for her drug habit.
Related: “The A Team” Meaning
25. “Cocaine” – Jackson Browne
Lyric Sample: “That old cocaine ’bout to make me sick.”
Originally written by J.J. Cale, this blues rock song is pretty neutral about its subject, describing cocaine addiction as a fact of life rather than a problem to be solved.
26. “She Talks to Angels” – The Black Crowes
Lyric Sample: “She never mentions the word ‘addiction’ in certain company.”
This classic ’90s rock song is about a woman so consumed by addiction that she’s retreated into her own private world.
Related: “She Talks to Angels” Meaning
27. “Mr. Brownstone” – Guns N’ Roses
Lyric Sample: “We’ve been dancin’ with Mr. Brownstone.”
Guns N’ Roses released “Mr. Brownstone” in 1987 while several members were using heroin, giving us firsthand accounts of addiction.
28. “Swimming Pools (Drank)” – Kendrick Lamar
Lyric Sample: “Pour up, drank, head shot, drank, sit down, drank, stand up, drank.”
Lamar covers peer pressure and alcoholism in this 2012 hip-hop single, recalling growing up in a home where adults drank heavily.
Related: Best Songs About Alcohol
29. “Salvation” – The Cranberries
Lyric Sample: “To all the kids with heroin eyes, don’t do it, don’t do it.”
The Cranberries’ 1996 alternative rock song is a warning against heroin, written in response to the drug epidemic in their hometown of Limerick, Ireland.
30. “The Needle and the Damage Done” – Neil Young
Lyric Sample: “I watched the needle take another man.”
Young wrote this 1972 folk track after his bandmate Danny Whitten died from a drug overdose. The song is about what drugs had done to the people around him.
31. “Tightrope” – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Lyric Sample: “Walkin’ the tight rope, steppin’ on my friends.”
Written after Vaughan achieved sobriety, this blues-rock classic uses the metaphor of walking a high wire to describe the daily struggle of maintaining recovery while confronting past temptations.
32. “That Smell” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lyric Sample: “There’s too much coke and too much smoke, look what’s going on inside you.”
Ronnie Van Zant wrote this 1977 Southern rock track after bandmate Gary Rossington got into a severe car crash due to heavy drinking and drug use.
33. “Chandelier” – Sia
Lyric Sample: “One, two, three, one, two, three, drink.”
Sia’s 2014 pop hit is about using alcohol to escape pain, with the party acting as cover for someone who is not doing well on the inside.
Related: “Chandelier” Song Meaning
34. “Sober” – Tool
Lyric Sample: “Why can’t we not be sober? I just want to start this over.”
This 1993 progressive metal track is about someone who feels like they can only open up and be creative while on drugs.
Related: “Sober” Song Meaning
35. “Once an Addict” – J. Cole
Lyric Sample: “Thinkin’ to myself, ‘Maybe my mama need help.’”
J. Cole wrote “Once an Addict” in 2018 about his mother’s alcohol addiction, tracing her drinking from his childhood to adulthood and the grief and anger he has had over it.
36. “Dear Alcohol” – Dax
Lyric Sample: “I got wasted ’cause I didn’t wanna deal with myself tonight.”
Dax wrote this 2022 country-rap track as a letter to alcohol, thanking it for being there while blaming it for the damage it caused across generations of his family.
37. “Mother’s Little Helper” – The Rolling Stones
Lyric Sample: “And though she’s not really ill, there’s a little yellow pill.”
The Rolling Stones’ 1960s rock classic is about Valium addiction among middle-class housewives. It was one of the first mainstream songs about prescription drugs.
Related: Best Songs About Mothers
If you enjoyed this list, you might also like these:
