Puff The Magic Dragon

Many of us sang about the magical dragon named Puff as we grew up. We repeated the words aloud, singing them to our parents, or sitting there as a young adult thinking about the irony of this being a kids song.  But this song brings tothought one very important theme in music, Drugs. Its quite obvious by some song titles:

Eric Clapton - Cocaine
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds(LSD) by the Beatles
Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix.

But songs titles aside, some of the greatest musical acts of all time have been influenced, in some way, by drugs. The  theme of many a song is one big reference to drug use. Under the bridge downtown by Red Hot Chili Peppers referring to heroin. White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane singing about LSD. It is quite obvious the influence that drugs have had on one of man kinds biggest forms of entertainment.  So why do drugs have such an impact on music? Are drugs just the best way to write good music? Does the change in ones state of mind that drugs create just act as a breeding pit for great ideas? With some of the best songs of all time being written under the influence of drugs, its hard to argue that there is something to it. Maybe its easier to feel the music and let the mind wander to ideas that your sober mind could never comprehend.

This usage of drugs acts as a doubled edged sword though. Its doesn’t only do good. For  as much greatness that has been derived through drugs, it has also stolen many lives, and deprived many for a chance at future greatness. Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison have all died due to drug use. These are only a few names of a much larger list of musicians who succumbed to deaths embrace, carried there by a river of drugs.

Whether you are a strong advocate fighting against drug use, or a regular user yourself, it is hard to deny the great gains and losses created by drugs. Can great music be written without drugs? Of course. Can horrible music be made while under the influence of drugs? With out a doubt. But regardless of where you stand, the correlation between music and drugs shines through as an obvious one.

So if you think you need drugs to write great music, than you’re probably being ignorant. But, the late great comedian Bill Hicks said it best , “If you don’t think drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor: go home tonight and take all of your albums, all your tapes, and all your cds and burn them”.