50 Best Rock Songs About Drugs
Iconic Rock Tracks on Drugs in Music History
There’s a haze that comes with drug songs in rock. Not the kind that feels glamorous, more the blur between euphoria and collapse. Some tracks drift like they’re high in the room with you, others grind their teeth and spiral until they burn out. Half confession, half performance, the lines blur fast. The stories inside them are tangled, often half-true, sometimes lifted from rumor, but the mood they catch is unmistakable. Not every cut was written with substances in mind, but they land in that space all the same.
The thing is, drugs in rock rarely sound neat or controlled. They creep into riffs, bleed into choruses, and make even familiar chords feel warped. It’s guitars bending like a fever dream or vocals cracking because the singer’s leaning too far into the edge. That messiness is what sets them apart from polished pop, rock, country, and R&B songs. These tracks carry the same weight but trade clean shine for something rawer, uglier, and often stranger.
These are the songs that surface at the party when the lights are too bright, or in a car ride where the silence feels heavy, or on headphones when you’re trying to figure out what the artist really meant. They might not all spell it out, but the theme clings to every verse and solo. Here are the best rock songs on drugs.
Top 10 Rock Songs About Drugs
1. 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane
2. 'Purple Haze' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. 'The Needle and the Damage Done' by Neil Young
4. 'Mr. Brownstone' by Guns N' Roses
5. 'Gold Dust Woman' by Fleetwood Mac
6. 'Heroin' by The Velvet Underground
7. 'Mother's Little Helper' by The Rolling Stones
8. 'Cold Turkey' by John Lennon
9. 'Under the Bridge' by Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. 'That Smell' by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Drug Reference Rock Songs #11 to 20
11. 'Snowblind' by Black Sabbath
12. 'Waiting for My Man' by The Velvet Underground
13. 'Semi-Charmed Life' by Third Eye Blind
14. 'The Pusher' by Steppenwolf
15. 'Sweet Leaf' by Black Sabbath
16. 'The Needle and the Spoon' by Lynyrd Skynyrd
17. 'Sister Morphine' by Marianne Faithfull
18. 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd
19. 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds' by The Beatles
20. 'Eight Miles High' by The Byrds
Rock Songs About Addiction #21 to 30
21. 'Mary Jane's Last Dance' by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
22. 'Kickstart My Heart' by Mötley Crüe
23. 'Amphetamine Annie' by Canned Heat
24. 'Breaking the Habit' by Linkin Park
25. 'Cocaine' by Eric Clapton
26. 'One Toke Over the Line' by Brewer & Shipley
27. 'Jane Says' by Jane's Addiction
28. 'Perfect Day' by Lou Reed
29. 'I'm Waiting for the Man' by The Velvet Underground
30. 'Got to Get You Into My Life' by The Beatles
Alternative Rock Songs About Substance Use #31 to 40
31. 'The Drugs Don't Work' by The Verve
32. 'Master of Puppets' by Metallica
33. 'Life is Beautiful' by Sixx: A.M.
34. 'The Dope Show' by Marilyn Manson
35. 'Casey Jones' by The Grateful Dead
36. 'Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)' by The First Edition
37. 'Geek Stink Breath' by Green Day
38. 'Cocaine Decisions' by Frank Zappa
39. 'Drugs' by Talking Heads
40. 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails
Indie Rock Songs About Drugs #41 to 50
41. 'Not an Addict' by K's Choice
42. 'There She Goes' by The La's
43. 'I Took a Pill in Ibiza' by Mike Posner
44. 'Pure Morning' by Placebo
45. 'Golden Brown' by The Stranglers
46. 'King's Crossing' by Elliott Smith
47. 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' by Queens of the Stone Age
48. 'We Are All on Drugs' by Weezer
49. 'Rx (Medicate)' by Theory of a Deadman
50. 'Master of Puppets' by Metallica
© 2025 Carson McQueen
