Popular Songs About Drugs and Alcohol

Alcohol and Drug References in Popular Songs

Do You really listen to the words in your favorite pop songs? There are more songs about drugs and alcohol than you probably realize.

Drug references in music have been, and will always be a part of our society. But today they’ve become so commonplace that it’s difficult to find any popular song without a drug reference in the lyrics or the beats. To get an understanding of what drugs are popular now and where they come from, you’ll need access to the latest popular songs referencing illicit substances.

While alcohol is the most commonly referenced substance in music today, references to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA – commonly called molly or ecstasy – are on the rise. Miley Cyrus referenced the drug in We Can’t Stop.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that marijuana use was down in the mid-2000s but has been on the rise since about 2010, but marijuana references are still common in pop music, especially since the use of it, along with its related CBD products are becoming legal in the United States.

Drug References in Popular Songs Chart

1. Cocaine – J.J. Cale or Eric Clapton
2. White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane (LSD)
3. Rehab – Amy Winehouse
4. Because I Got High – Afroman (marijuana)
5. Lithium – Nirvana
6. We Be Burnin’ – Sean Paul (marijuana)
7. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – The Beatles (LSD)
8. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix (LSD)
9. Heroin – The Velvet Underground
10. We Can’t Stop – Miley Cyrus (molly)
11. Day Tripper – The Beatles (LSD)
12. Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind (crystal methamphetamine)
13. There She Goes – The La’s (heroin)
14. I Wanna Be Sedated – The Ramones (tranquilizers)
15. I Get A Kick Out Of You – Cole Porter (cocaine)
16. Mary Jane – Rick James (marijuana)
17. I Want A New Drug – Huey Lewis and the News (love)
18. Dr. Feelgood – Motley Crue (cocaine)
19. No No Song – Ringo Starr (alcohol, cocaine, marijuana)
20. All Summer Long – Kid Rock (marijuana)
21. Captain Jack – Billy Joel (heroin)
22. Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd (cocaine)
23. Puff The Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul, and Mary (marijuana, or it’s just a kid’s song)
24. Have a Drink on Me – AC/DC (alcohol)
25. The “A” Team – Ed Sheeran (crack cocaine)
26. The Needle and the Damage Done – Neil Young (heroin)
27. Habits (Stay High) – Tove Lo (being high, molly?)
28. Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers (heroin)
29. Fire And Rain – James Taylor (heroin)
30. Kid Charlemagne – Steely Dan (LSD)
31. Diamonds – Rihanna (molly)
32. Insane In The Brain – Cypress Hill (marijuana)
33. White Lines (Don’t Do It) – Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel (cocaine)
34. That Smell – Lynrd Skynrd (marijuana)
35. Lost – Frank Ocean (cocaine)
36. Starry Eyed Surprise – Paul Oakenfold (ecstasy)
37. Your Love Is My Drug – Kesha (love)
38. Sweet Leaf – Black Sabbath (marijuana)
39. Gin and Juice – Snoop Dogg (alcohol)
40. Champagne Supernova – Oasis (not sure)
41. The Crystal Ship – The Doors (LSD)
42. Smuggler’s Blues – Glenn Frey (cocaine)
43. Mr. Brownstone – Guns ‘N’ Roses (heroin)
44. Ridin’ (Dirty) – Chamillionaire featuring Krazie Brown (marijuana)
45. Pass That Dutch – Missy Elliott (marijuana)
46. One Toke Over The Line – Brewer and Shipley (marijuana)
47. Hotel California – Eagles (cocaine)
48. Casey Jones – Grateful Dead (cocaine)
49. I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night – The Electric Prunes (LSD)
50. Eight Miles High – The Byrds (marijuana?, LSD?)
51. White Horse – Laid Back (heroin)
52. Love Is The Drug – Roxy Music (love)
53. Ecstasy – Bone Thugs N Harmony
54. Wildwood Weed – Jim Stafford (marijuana)
55. Kick Out The Jams – MC5 (paint thinner)
56. Tubthumping – Chumbawamba (alcohol)
57. Hole in my Shoe – Traffic (marijuana, LSD)
58. Smokin’ – Boston (marijuana)
59. Cocaine Blues – Johnny Cash (among others)
60. Walk Right In – Rooftop Singers (marijuana)
61. Along Comes Mary – the Association (marijuana)
62. Sunshine Superman – Donovan (LSD?)
63. Drugs – Talking Heads
64. Happiness Is A Warm Gun – The Beatles (heroin)
65. Cocaine – Jackson Browne
66. Let’s Go Get Stoned – Ray Charles (marijuana)
67. Cold Turkey – John Lennon (heroin)
68. I Feel Free – Cream (LSD?)
69. And She Was – Talking Heads (LSD?)
70. Mother’s Little Helper – The Rolling Stones (barbiturates? sedatives?)
71. Snowblind – Styx (cocaine)
72. Mellow Yellow – Donovan (bananas?)
73. White Punks on Dope – The Tubes (heroin)
74. Minnie the Moocher – Cab Calloway (opium)
75. Reefer Madness – Hawkwind (marijuana)
76. Sweat – Tool (LSD)
77. Wacky Dust – Ella Fitzgerald (cocaine)
78. Marrakesh Express – Crosby, Stills & Nash (hashish)
79. Reefer Man – Cab Calloway (marijuana)
80. King Heroin – James Brown
81. Can I Get a Hit – Cypress Hill (marijuana)
82. Tonight’s the Night – Neil Young (heroin)
83. Junkie – Dead Milkmen (heroin)
84. People Who Died – Jim Carroll (overdose)
85. I Took A Pill In Ibiza – Mike Posner
86. Opium – Marcy Playground
87. Bong Song – Sublime (marijuana)
88. Cocaine Decisions – Frank Zappa
89. How To Roll A Blunt – Redman (marijuana)
90. 2,000 Light Years From Home – Rolling Stones (LSD?)
91. Ten Crack Commandments – Notorious B.I.G.
92. The Pusher – Steppenwolf (pro-marijuana, anti-other drugs?)
93. Carmelita – Warren Zevon (heroin)
94. Smoke Two Joints – Sublime (marijuana)
95. Addiction – Kanya West
96. Golden Brown – The Stranglers (heroin)
97. Pusherman – Curtis Mayfield (drug dealers in general)
98. Marijuana – Country Joe and the Fish
99. Don’t Bogart That Joint – Little Feat (marijuana)
100. I Got Stoned and I Missed it – Shel Silverstein (marijuana)