songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol

Subject: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: stevethesqueeze
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 04:01 AM

Hi folks

Myself and a couple of friends are providing a musical interlude at a conference on drug and alcohol abuse here in Cardiff. Just a simple line up, guitar, vocals, fiddle, mandolin and melodeon. We want to provide a mixture of songs and dance tunes that reflect societies ambivalent attitude to drugs and alcohol. So for example we will be singing "Away with Rum the song of the salvation army", "The ballad of sam stone" by John Prine, "cocaine" eric clapton, "carolans farewell to whiskey" etc. Has anyone any suggestions? I would really apreciate knowing where I can find the music or lyrics in case I am not familar with your suggestion.

best wishes stevethesqueeze

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: sian, west wales
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 04:17 AM

Definitely "Cigareets 'n' Whiskey 'n' Wild Wild Women".    "Look at all My Trials and Tribulations" from Jesus Christ Superstar? "La Cucaracha"? Maybe "Miss Bailey's Ghost"?

sian

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 04:52 AM

Johnny My Man
Juice of the Barley
Glorious Ale
Wor Nanny's a Mazer

Or the mediaeval Latin (you'll have to write your own tune):

Mihi est propositum
in taberna mori;
Vinum sit appositum
morientis ori;
ut dicant, cum venerint
Angelorum chori:
"Deus sit propitius
huic potatori!"

My translation:

It's my whole intention
To die in a pub,
Surrounded by liquor
And lashin's of grub.
You'll hear all the angels,
"St Peter", they'll shout,
"Come and open the gate
For this drunken old lout!"

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,JulieF
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 05:19 AM

There are two wonderful albums by Robin Laing devoted to Whisky - One is 'The Angel's Share' and the name of the other one defeats me. You might find some useful stuff.

J

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,DG
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 05:33 AM

'On a Monday Morning'

That's a great alcohol-related tune.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 05:57 AM

It wasn't Carolan who wrote a "Farewell to Whiskey", it was Niel Gow.

He also wrote "Welcome Whiskey Back Again".

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 06:25 AM

Bert Jansch's 'Needle of Death' comes to mind , or in a slightly more light hearted vein Tom Paxton's 'Talking Vietnam Pot Luck Blues' .

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 06:35 AM

Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk

Needle Of Death

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 06:43 AM

Ha! You beat me to it LF. I was looking for lyrics to another Bert Jansch song When The Circus Comes To Town which is very obliquely about crack cocaine dealing, I'll substitute Candy Man which I thought was by Mississippi John Hurt but the DT seems to thinks Rev Gary Davis wrote it.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:01 AM

Velevet Underground's "Heroin"

Tunes:

Naftule Brandwein's "Wie bist die gewesen vor Prohibition" (Where were you before Prohibition)
Drops of Brandy
Humours of Whiskey
Cold Turkey in the Straw...

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: foggers
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:11 AM

My OH has a very quirky collection of CDs, and amongst them is one called "Reefer Madness", a collection of drug themed songs from the mid 20th century. I know it has obvious ones like Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher" but I shall go have a look and report back.....

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: bobad
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:15 AM

Neil Young's "The Needle And The Damage Done"

Dylan's "Everybody Must Get Stoned"

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:26 AM

Just had a couple of thoughts - Willie The Weeper ( Opium) and Shel Silversein's 'I Got Stoned and I Missed it'

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:42 AM

And don't forget Tom Lehrer's "The Old Dope Pedlar".

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 08:19 AM

Buffy St. Marie's "Codine"

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: The Sandman
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 08:19 AM

THE MIGHTY QUINN,recorded by manfred mann,down where the drunkards roll,all through the grog,

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: bfdk
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 08:43 AM

Wrecked Again by Ian McCalman, about the hardships of hangovers ;-)

The Macs also sing "Leave Us Our Glens" which lists numerous whisky labels, don't know if that fits your bill?

Best wishes,

Bente

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 08:56 AM

"Demon Alcohol" by Ray Davies

Here is a story about a sinner,
He used to be a winner who enjoyed a life of prominence and position,
But the pressures at the office and his socialite engagements,
And his selfish wife's fanatical ambition,
It turned him to the booze,
And he got mixed up with a floosie
And she led him to a life of indecision.
The floosie made him spend his dole
She left him lying on skid row
A drunken lag in some salvation army mission.
It's such a shame.

Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would say,
Damn it all and blow it all,
Oh demon alcohol,
Memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.

Barley wine pink gin,
He'll drink anything,
Port, pernod or tequila,
Rum, scotch, vodka on the rocks,
As long as all his troubles disappeared.
But he messed up his life and he beat up his wife,
And the floosie's gone and found another sucker
She's gonna turn him on to drink
She's gonna lead him to the brink
And when his money's gone,
She'll leave him in the gutter,
It's such a shame.

Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall,
A slave to demon alcohol.

sIx

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Greg B
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 10:50 AM

The Clancys' 'Whisky Your the Devil'

Come to think of it, this could probably be the
longest set-list in history...

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: number 6
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 11:15 AM

Gillian Welch's 'My Morphine"

sIx

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 11:21 AM

Cocaine Blues (Tom Rush's version is great). MJH's "Candy Man" isn't really about drugs, and Prine's song is just "Sam Stone" not "the ballad of..."

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 12:39 PM

(Melodeonboy -- spotted your post on the wrong thread.)

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Scoville
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 12:41 PM

Oh, man, where to begin . . .

Also by Gillian Welch:
"Tear My Stillhouse Down"

On Red Clay Ramblers & Fiddlin' Al McCandless:
"Wagon Yard" (novelty song, circa 1928)
"Tell It To Me" (variant of "Cocaine Blues", sort of)

Wayne Hancock
"Miller, Jack, & Mad Dog" (anti-drunk driving)

Other songs & tunes
"Down on the Old Plank Road" (Uncle Dave Macon, copied by the High Woods String Band)
"John Barleycorn" (morose Dm fiddle tune. Mine's on a Wayne Erbsen tape)
"Kneeling Drunkard's Plea" (Carter Sisters)
"The Fiddler's Drunk and the Fun's All Over" (aka "Billy in the Low Ground", C-major fiddle tune)

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: JennyO
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 12:58 PM

Micca's THE HASH MY FATHER SCORED

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 02:28 PM

"Candy Man" isn't really about drugs

It's not? What does it mean then?

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: mcpiper
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 02:31 PM

Try Snow Blind Friend, by Axel Hoyt I think,but also done by Steppenwolfe.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Scoville
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 02:31 PM

"Candy Man" isn't really about drugs

It's all about drugs, unless it's about sex.





It's definitely not about candy, I can tell you that.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 02:45 PM

judge for yourselves - here's a pretty close transcription of MJH's Candy Man. I don't see how you can miss what it's about.

Well all you ladies gather 'round
That good sweet candy man's in town
It's the candy man
It's the candy man

He likes a stick of candy just nine inch long1
He sells as fast a hog can chew his corn
It's the candy man...

All heard what sister Johnson said
She always takes a candy stick to bed

Don't stand close to the candy man
He'll leave a big candy stick in your hand

He sold some candy to sister Bad
The very next day she took all he had

If you try his candy, good friend of mine,
you sure will want it for a long long time

His stick candy don't melt away
It just gets better, so the ladies say

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Dave4Guild
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 02:47 PM

Candyman is really about sex!!! Many sung versions have been bowdlerised to make them acceptable to mixed audiences to the point of making the version almost unintelligible,

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: fat B****rd
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 02:54 PM

"Take a whiff on me" Loads of verses to choose from especially the telling "Cocaine's for horses not for men, they say it's gonna kill me but they don't say when"

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Willa
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 03:08 PM

Keith marsden's 'Doing the Manch'

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,AMC
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 03:12 PM

Tell It To Me is a great song, about the corn liquor and the cocaine.
Super free band demo download available here: http://www.johnnypossum.com/

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,Anne
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 03:44 PM

This is a powerful song about the downward spiral of alcohol
(among other issues). Simple tune but needs some punch in the singing of it. Encapsulates the humanity of the man, social issues/prejudice and the power of the grip of alcohol on him. Done by The Fureys I think.

                   Danny Farrell      Pete St. John

(D)I knew Danny Farrell when his football was a can
In his hand me downs and wellies and his sand (A7)wiches of bran
But (D)now that pavement peasant is a (G)full grown bitter (D)man
With all his (D)trials and troubles of his (A7)travelling people (D)clan
           
He's a (D)loser - a boozer - a me and you user
A (A7)raider - a trader - a people police hater
So (D)lonely and only - what you'd call a gurrier
(A7)Still now Danny Farrell - he's a (D)man

(D)I knew Danny Farrell when we joined the National School
He was lousy at the Gaelic - they called him (A7)Amadhan - a fool
But he was(D) brilliant in the toss school or trading (G)objects at the (D)pawn
By the (D)time he was an adult all his (A7)charming ways were (D)gone

And (D)I knew Danny Farrell when we cued up for the dole
And we tried to hide the loss of pride that eats (A7)away the soul
(D)Mending pots and kettles was a (G)trade lost to the (D)past
There's no (D)handout here for tinkers was the (A7)answer when he (D)asked

I (D)still know Danny Farrell - saw him just there yesterday
Drinking methylated spirits with some (A7)wino's down the quay
Sure he's (D)forty going on eighty with his (G)eyes of hope (D)bereft
And he (D)told me this for certain there's not (A7)many of us (D)left

From earlier Mudcat thread about the song, from Martin Ryan:
"gurrier" is Dublin slang for a worthless person or ruffian. Usually used of children.
"travelling people" is a term for for what, in Ireland, have been variouisly called gypsies, tinkers, itinerants and travellers.

"He was lousy at the Gaelic" - referring to the compulsory teaching of the Irish language in schools.

"He was brilliant in the toss school" refers to a gambling game involving tossing coins towards a wall!

"amadaun" is anglicised from an Irish word for "fool"

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 03:48 PM

The song of Ale
Poison Beer
Speed Kills
Turpentine Moan
Waitin' for the Man
Johnny Jump Up
Red Red Wine
Nancy Whisky
Whisky Man
Whisky Johnny
Nick Teen & Al K. Hol
The Hash My Father Scored
Whisky in a Jar


And that rather nice forebitter the name of which eludes me with the chorus

"Oh lord above send down a dove
With beaks as sharp as razors
To cut the throats of them there blokes
Wot sells bad beer to sailors"

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Scoville
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 03:55 PM

Lucinda Williams' "Drunken Angel" is about suicide but there's alcohol in the mix.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 04:11 PM

Richard Bridge: that's Tom Lewis's "Sailor's Prayer".

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 05:15 PM

Thanks Becky. I heard it from one of the (now splitting) Shanty Crew here in England.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 06:59 PM

La Cucuracha (marijuana)

That rembetika song by Roza Eshkenazy about "preza" which seems to mean any intoxicant that takes the form of a white powder.

To make it a bit more difficult: what songs are there about psilocybe mushrooms, nitrous oxide, valium, glue or ketamine?

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:39 PM

White Rabbit
Everybody must get stoned

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Marion
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:47 PM

Here are the lyrics to Codine, which Russ mentioned above:

Cod'ine
Buffy Sainte-Marie


My belly is a-cravin', I got a shakin' in my head,
I feel like I'm dying, and I wish I was dead.
If I live 'til tomorrow, that'll be a long time,
But I'll reel and I'll fall, and I'll rise on cod'ine,
And it's reel, and it's reel, one more time.

Well, when I was a young girl, I learned not to care
For whiskey, and from it I often did swear.
My mother and father said, "Whiskey's a curse."
But the fate of their baby was many times worse,
And it's reel, and it's reel, one more time.

Stay away from the cities; stay away from the town,
Stay away from the man pushin' codeine around,
Stay away from the stores where the remedy is fine,
For better your pain than be caught on cod'ine,
And it's reel, and it's reel, one more time.

You'll forget you're a woman, you'll forget about men,
Try it just once, and you'll try it again.
You'll forget about life, you'll forget about time,
And you'll live off your days as a slave to cod'ine,
And it's reel, and it's reel, one more time.

But, if I die tomorrow, still one thing I've done,
I've heeded the warning that I got when I was young.
My one satisfaction, it comes when I think
That I'm livin' my life without bendin' to drink,
And it's reel, and it's reel, one more time.

And my belly is a-cravin'; I got a shakin' in my head,
I feel like I'm dying, and I wish I was dead.
If I live 'til tomorrow, that'll be a long time,
But I'll reel and I'll fall and I'll die on cod'ine,
And it's reel, and it's reel, one more time.

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: bobad
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:49 PM

Psilocybe mushrooms - "White Rabbit" Jefferson Airplane
Nitrous oxide - "Laugh, Laugh" The Beau Brummels
Valium - "Mellow Yellow" Donovan
Glue - "Stuck On You" Lionel Ritchie
Ketamine - "Going Out Of My Head" Bacharach-David

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Marion
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:51 PM

Here's one about morphine from Michelle Shocked (on the album Arkansas Traveller).

Shaking Hands

Shaking hands and fingers that do tremble
Soldier's Joy has been a bitter pill
Though in battle, a brave man I resemble
Alone I am a coward without will

Pierce McGee from the great State of Missouri
To the Show-Me-State militia I belong
And to judge from the pride on the Confederate side
I'd say five hundred thousand rebels can't be wrong

A rebel stand is no place for a traitor
A loveless Union cannot bend us to her will
Cannot command the soldiers who now hate her
Nor demand the fealty of her generals

I took a rifle ball in my shoulder
But my entire body filled with pain
I pleaded with them all at the field hospital
"Oh, God, another shot of morphine!"

Soldier's Joy, oh what's the point in pleasure
When it's only meant to kill the pain
Lay down my arms and take the coffin's measure
Or take up arms and send me out to fight again

Shaking hands...was I a coward, was I brave?
With shaking hands... I took the bitter pill
Tell the story on my grave, my soul they could not save
What the bullet would not kill, the needle will

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:53 PM

What about Soldier's Joy

Lyrics:

Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potate vine
Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potate vine
Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potate vine
Along comes a chicken and says you're mine

I'm a gonna get a drink don't you want to go ?
I'm a gonna get a drink don't you want to go ?
I'm a gonna get a drink don't you want to go ?
All for soldier's joy

Well it's twenty-five cents for the morphine
Fifteen cents for the beer
Twenty-five cnets for the morphine
Gonna take me away from here

I am my momma's darling boy
I am my momma's darling boy
I am my momma's darling boy
Singing 'bout soldier's joy

Michelle

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Marion
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 07:56 PM

If you want to include some humour, here's one I wrote about catnip addiction, with some reference to the Cocaine Blues. If you're interested, I could teach you the melody over the phone, or send a tape if you're in no rush.

Catnip Blues

Lyrics and music © 2003 Marion Parsons

Woke up this evening, mood for a trip,
All I want for supper is a roll in the nip
Oh catnip, take my last life away.

Oh catnip's a devil, and catnip's a cheat
Fall from that high, you don't land on your feet
Oh catnip, take my last life away.

Cocaine is for horses, and whiskey's for men
But 'nip is a poor old kitty's worst friend
Oh catnip, take my last life away.

My claws have gone dull, at night I can't see
The sofa tried to scratch me and the mice they play with me
Oh catnip, take my last life away.

Oh Fluffy and Mittens ain't got what I need
Don't want a tom, just wanna roll in the weed
Oh catnip, take my last life away.

I don't need no saucer, and no kitty treat
For just one more leaf you know I'd give up meat
Oh catnip, take my last life away

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Marion
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 08:02 PM

More about morphine: "Miner's Lullaby" by Utah Philips. Click here for lyrics, dots/chords, and introduction. Apparently miners used to carry a dose of morphine with them in order to die peacefully in case of a cave-in.

Marion

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Marion
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 08:06 PM

The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" might fit into your set somewhere...

In the liner notes for his "Great Days" anthology, John Prine claims that this song isn't about marijuana:

Illegal Smile

When I woke up this morning, things were lookin' bad
Seem like total silence was the only friend I had
Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won
And it was twelve o'clock before I realized
That I was havin' .. no fun

Chorus:
But fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just tryin' to have me some fun

Last time I checked my bankroll,
It was gettin' thin
Sometimes it seems like the bottom
Is the only place I've been
I Chased a rainbow down a one-way street... dead end
And all my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen

Repeat Chorus:

Well, I sat down in my closet with all my overalls
Tryin' to get away
From all the ears inside my walls
I dreamed the police heard
Everything I thought... what then?
Well I went to court
And the judge's name was Hoffman

Ah but fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just tryin' to have me some fun
Well done, hot dog bun, my sister's a nun

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Scoville
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 10:34 PM

Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain"

Townes Van Zandt's "Waiting Around to Die" (he probably has a lot of them, actually, but that's the one that comes to mind first)

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: number 6
Date: 24 Aug 06 - 10:58 PM

Scoville ... I was trying to remember that Townes song all day.

Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"

Jim White's "God was Drunk When he made me"

sIx

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 12:56 AM

The Wild Rover is a temperance song.

Seamus

Subject: RE: songs/tunes linked to drugs or alcohol
From: stevethesqueeze
Date: 25 Aug 06 - 03:14 AM

Well well! This is marvellous. many, many thanks indeed. We definitely have a set now.

stevethesqueeze