I don’t like the drugs, but the songs about drugs like me

1. Alabama 3, “U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno Anymore”
   I couldn’t resist dropping a song from my favorite Brixton-based acid house/country/gospel collective this month. Their excellent debut Exile on Coldharbour Lane is brimming with drug/rehab/12-step program references (”Hypo Full of Love,” “The Old Purple Tin”), but my favorite is definitely this fiddle-fed ditty about a club overdose.
2. Placebo, “Special K”
   Definitely not talking about the breakfast cereal. Taken from Placebo’s highly underrated 3rd album Black Market Music, ketamine has never seemed more romantic & angsty.
3. Oasis, “Gas Panic!”
   I’d seriously thought about picking any random track from their 3rd album Be Here Now, as the recording sessions were rumored to have been fueled by booze and white lines, but I opted for this lesser-appreciated number from 2000’s Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. The song details Noel’s withdrawal-induced panic attacks while he was coming off of a serious addiction to valium. The song’s heavy, oppressive atmosphere beautifully accompanies the paranoia of the lyrics, and for that we can thank producer Mark “Spike” Stent, known best for his work with Massive Attack and Björk.
4. The Rolling Stones, “Mother’s Little Helper”
   It’s amazing to think that this Aftermath-era single was amazingly scandalous for its time. I almost included QotSA’s “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” right after it on the list to show how far we’ve come.
5. Guns N’ Roses, “Mr. Brownstone”
   This live, unplugged version of their Appetite ditty about heroin was recorded at the dearly departed CBGB in October ‘87. What an amazing goddamn band they used to be. Was this their way of testing the waters before releasing the acoustic Lies album? Maybe.
6. Electric Six, “I Buy The Drugs”
   Man, I love the Six. They made a bit of a splash with “Danger! High Voltage!”, an irresistible slice of silly dance-rock that featured a wild-sounding Jack White on backing vocals. They dropped off the radar of most after that, but they’ve continued to put out consistently clever, funny, albums of sophomoric dance-rock year after year, and this tune from 2005’s Switzerland is no exception. My favorite part? The address for the, uh, pharmacy that Dick Valentine rattles off? It’s one zip code digit off of the address for Fox Broadcasting.
7. The La’s, “There She Goes”
   Sorry, fans of the cloying Sixpence None The Richer cover: it’s really about smack. Adds an extra layer of comedy to the song’s use in ads for birth control meds.
8. Wyclef Jean, “Something About Mary”
   It’s, uh, about hair gel. Yeah.

Download: Alabama 3, “U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno Anymore” (mp3)
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Download: Placebo, “Special K” (mp3)
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Download: Oasis, “Gas Panic!” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Rolling Stones, “Mother’s Little Helper” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Guns N’ Roses, “Mr. Brownstone” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Electric Six, “I Buy The Drugs” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The La’s, “There She Goes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Wyclef Jean, “Something About Mary” (mp3)
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Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: I don’t like the drugs, but the songs about drugs like me (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)