Addiction is a profoundly isolating condition that often distances us from our loved ones, making it feel like we’re battling our demons alone. However, many artists have faced similar struggles and can offer solace, encouragement, and understanding through their music. The artists featured on this list have channeled their experiences into songs that provide comfort and compassion during challenging times.
Recovery Songs To Listen To
Macklemore – Kevin
Macklemore wrote this poignant tribute to his friend Kevin, who tragically passed away in 2010 from an overdose of prescription painkillers. The song, featured on his album This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, highlights the pervasive issue of OxyContin abuse and critiques the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.
Macklemore has been candid about his own struggles with addiction. From a young age, he battled alcoholism and later became addicted to OxyContin. At 25, his family persuaded him to enter rehab, and since then, he has become a vocal advocate for sobriety and supporting those in recovery. Some of the song’s powerful lyrics are:
- I’ve seen pain, I’ve felt the losses
- Attended funerals and seen coffins
- 21 years old, an angel was lost here
- Wings clipped by the grip of 80 milligram sniffs of oxycontin
- He was gonna quit tomorrow, we’re all gonna quit tomorrow
- Just get us through the weekend, and then Monday follows
- Then it’s Wednesday, then it’s ‘f*** it, I’m already feeling hollow’
- Might as well go crack a seal and might as well go chug a bottle
- First dealer was his mom’s medicine cabinet
- Got anxiety, better go and give him a Xanax
- Focus, give him Adderall, sleep, give him Ambien
- ‘Til he’s walking ’round the city looking like a mannequin
- Doctor, please, give me a dose of the American Dream
- Put down the pen and look in my eyes
- We’re in the waiting room and something ain’t right
- All this is on you, we’re over-prescribed
Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)
Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar is another rapper who has experienced his share of problems caused by addiction. He’s written numerous songs about the pitfalls of drug use and alcoholism, but perhaps his most impactful is the single from his certified classic album “Good Kid Maad City”.
The song chronicles Kendrick’s own struggles with alcohol. It takes place at a house party and contains a back and forth conversation between Kendrick’s conscious and himself. Kendrick debates the consequences of continuing to drink more alcohol and the societal pressures that are pushing him to do it.
- Now I done grew up ’round some people livin’ their life in bottles
- Granddaddy had the golden flask
- Backstroke everyday in Chicago
- Some people like the way it feels
- Some people wanna kill their sorrows
- Some people wanna fit in with the popular, that was my problem
- I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock
- All the girls wanna play Baywatch
- I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it
- Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it
- If I take another one down
- I’ma drown in some poison, abusin’ my limit
- I think that I’m feelin’ the vibe, I see the love in her eyes
- I see the feelin’, the freedom is granted
- As soon as the damage of vodka arrived
- All I have in life is my new appetite for failure
- And I got hunger pain that grow insane
- Tell me, do that sound familiar?
- If it do, then you’re like me
- Makin’ excuse that your relief
- Is in the bottom of the bottle and the greenest indo leaf
Eminem – Not Afraid
Eminem’s battles with addiction have featured prominently throughout nearly every album since the original Slim Shady LP. In fact, he even released a series of albums based on the themes of addiction: (Relapse, Recovery, and Revival). His struggles with painkillers such as Valium and Vicodin wound up even putting him in the hospital.
“Not Afraid” is a single from his Recovery album, and is a triumphant anthem about overcoming struggles to stand proud. Eminem has used much of his music as an outlet for the inner demons and personal challenges he has faced.
- I’m not afraid to take a stand
- Everybody, come take my hand
- We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
- Whatever weather, cold or warm
- Thought I had it mapped out, but I guess I didn’t
- This f***in’ black cloud still follows me around
- But it’s time to exorcise these demons
- These muh’f***ers are doin’ jumpin’ jacks now
- And I just can’t keep livin’ this way
- So startin’ today, I’m breakin’ out of this cadence
- I’m standin’ up, I’ma face my demons
- I’m mannin’ up, I’ma hold my ground
- It was my decision to get clean, I did it for me
- Admittedly I probably did it subliminally for you
- So I could come back a brand-new me
- You helped see me through
J. Cole – Once an Addict
Jermaine Cole is a 33 year old rapper from Fayetteville, North Carolina. His latest release, KOD, is a long meditation on addiction, whether it be chemical dependency, a tantalizing lifestyle, or sexual addiction.
In “Once an Addict”, J.Cole details his feelings towards his own mother’s relationship with alcoholism. The song explores the burdensome feelings of love and hate that someone who loves an addict must suffer as they watch the downward spiral. He relates his mother’s struggles back to his own problems with weed and alcohol addiction.
- Step-daddy just had a daughter with another woman
- Mama ain’t recover yet
- Callin’ me at 12 at night
- She drunk as f*** and I’m upset
- I gotta leave this house ’cause part of me dies when I see her like this
- Too young to deal with pain
- I’d rather run the streets than see her kill herself
- So ‘Ville became my escape from a feelin’ I hate
- And then I’d have to end up seein’ my hero on ground zero
- Tears flow while Al Green blow
- Love and happiness
- I wish that I could say the right words to cheer her up
- I wish her son’s love was enough
- This ain’t the woman I know, why I just sit and observe?
- Why don’t I say how I feel?
- When I do, she’s defensive for real
- Well maybe things get better with time, I heard it heals
- Little did I know how deep her sadness would go
- Lookin’ back, I wish I woulda did more instead of runnin’
Mac Miller – Malibu
Mac Miller’s 2014 mixtape Faces is a long, drawn-out exploration on themes of addiction, exploring the highs and lows of drug abuse along with the emotional toll it takes on a person after extended use. Mac has been vocal about his abuse of codeine, known as lean, and the addictive stimulant cocaine.
There are numerous songs about addiction on the mixtape such as Angel Dust, Therapy, and Funeral, but one standout is Malibu. The song is primarily about the deadly pull of hard drugs and the self-loathing that accompanies abuse.
- Its Air Jordan on my flip-flops
- And kill me now if I did it all for hip-hop
- I might die before I detox
- This ain’t high-school, no little student I can cheat off
- I’m recording like I’ll die tomorrow
- At the rate I’m getting high, it’ll be hard for me to find tomorrow
- But I just pray that I’ll survive tomorrow
- As she cries in sorrow, she just needs some time to borrow
- She’ll be smiling by tomorrow
- Everything will be so fine tomorrow
- Put the white away, we can do some lines tomorrow
- 85 grand get you a heavy ass wrist
- They ain’t killin’ they just yellin’, that’s it
- A deadly combination with that ecstasy sniff
- On the phone probably yellin’ at Rich
- Say, double the money, please, double the money
- Triple the problems, double the money
- They was all laughing, wasn’t that funny
- I started f***ing with drugs and now I’m a junkie
When you’re ready to take the first steps toward overcoming addiction, we are here to support you. These songs, along with recovery quotes, can be powerful tools in the early stages of your journey. Listening to these messages regularly can provide comfort and motivation. Combined with the guidance of drug and alcohol recovery centers, your chances for long-term recovery are strong, and your future is full of promise. You’ll begin to achieve remarkable things, and both you and those around you will witness the incredible progress you make in your recovery.
