Struggling addicts and those going through recovery often feel alone, misunderstood, and hopeless. When one needs motivation music and recovery songs are a great place to turn for comfort and inspiration. In fact, there are more hits about addiction and recovery than you would think, and many songs you likely never realized were about the topic. For motivation on getting and staying sober, keep reading!
Recovery Songs Regarding Addiction
“Sober”- P!nk
One might be surprised to find out that Pink, a renowned artist, and leader in the pop world has quite a wild past, struggling with addiction throughout her adolescence. In 2012 Pink opened up about her extensive history of drugs and partying, revealing that she spent her teenage years both doing and selling hard drugs, such as crystal meth and heroin. Pink recounted this time in her life, stating “Heroin is a horrible thing. I’ve seen first-hand what it can do to people and it’s not pretty. I was never that much into it to need treatment. But if you’re talking about drugs – you name it, I took it.” At just 15 years old Pink nearly overdosed while under the influence of ecstasy, crystal meth, and acid. This incident woke Pink up and was the last time she ever did drugs. Pink release the song “Sober” in 2008, inspired by a time when she was the only sober one, surrounded by many people drinking. The song explains how difficult the transition is from addiction to a life of sobriety, but Pink knows if anyone how worth it the change is.
I don’t wanna be the girl who laughs the loudest
Or the girl who never wants to be alone
I don’t wanna be that call at 4 o’clock in the morning
‘Cause I’m the only one you know in the world that won’t be home
Ah the sun is blinding
I stayed up again
Oh, I am finding
That’s not the way I want my story to end
I’m safe up high
Nothing can touch me
But why do I feel this party’s over?
No pain inside
You’re my protection
But how do I feel this good sober?
I don’t wanna be the girl who has to fill the silence
The quiet scares me ’cause it screams the truth
Please don’t tell me that we had that conversation (I know we hadn’t)
I won’t remember, save your breath, ’cause what’s the use?
Ah, the night is calling?
And it whispers to me softly come and play
Ah, I am falling
And if I let myself go I’m the only one to blame
I’m safe up high
Nothing can touch me
But why do I feel this party’s over?
No pain inside
You’re like perfection
How do I feel this good sober?
Coming down, coming down, coming down
Spinning ’round, spinning ’round, spinning ’round
I’m looking for myself sober
“Semi-Charmed Life”- Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” dominated the charts in 1997, and many likely never caught on that the song is about addiction and specifically crystal meth usage. What comes across as a catchy and uplifting song is actually about the dangers of turning to drugs to get through things, as seen in the line “Doing crystal meth, will lift you up until you break.” The lyrics explain that they want something else, apart from drugs, to get them through this life.
Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo…
I’m packed and I’m holding
I’m smiling, she’s living, she’s golden
She lives for me, says she lives for me
Ovation, her own motivation
She comes round and she goes down on me
And I make her smile, like a drug for you
Do ever what you wanna do, coming over you
Keep on smiling, what we go through
One stop to the rhythm that divides you
And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse
Chop another line like a coda with a curse
Come on like a freak show takes the stage
We give them the games we play, she said…
I want something else, to get me through this
Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I’m not listening when you say good-bye
Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo…
The sky was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips of it through my nose
And I wish I could get back there, someplace back there
Smiling in the pictures you would take
Doing crystal meth, will lift you up until you break
It won’t stop, I won’t come down
I keep stock with the tick-tock rhythm, I bump for the drop
And then I bumped up, I took the hit that I was given
Then I bumped again, then I bumped again
I said…
How do I get back there, to the place where I fell asleep inside you
How do I get myself back to the place where you said…
I want something else, to get me through this
Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I’m not listening when you say good-bye
I believe in the sand beneath my toes
The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling
I believe in the faith that grows
And the four right chords can make me cry
When I’m with you I feel like I could die
And that would be alright, alright
“Starting Over”- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
Macklemore is known for writing songs that tackle real-world issues many people face, and he does it again in his song “Starting Over,” with Ryan Lewis. As a recovering addict himself, Macklemore shares his tough but inspiring journey through addiction, relapse, and recovery. After struggling with addiction throughout his life, he was able to get sober for three years, before relapsing. Macklemore explains that regardless of his fame, he is still a normal person who has internal struggles and talks about how hard it is to be a role model with flaws. Even celebrities fall victim to their vices, but the key is never to give up, as Macklemore says “If I can be an example of getting sober, Then I can be an example of starting over.” Since this song was released in 2012, Macklemore has gotten sober again and owes a lot of his success to the recovery process.
1, 2, now
Those 3 plus years, I was so proud of
And I threw ’em all away for 2 Styrofoam cups
The irony, everyone will think that he lied to me
Made my sobriety so public, there’s no fuckin’ privacy
If I don’t talk about it then I carry a date
08-10-08, that now has been changed
And everyone that put me in some box as a saint
That I never was, just a false prophet that never came
And will they think that everything that I’ve written has all been fake
Or will I just take my slip to the grave?
Uh, what the fuck are my parents gonna say?
The success story that got his life together and changed
And you know what pain looks like
When you tell your dad you relapsed then look him directly into his face
Deceit on your shoulders, deceivingly heavy weight
Haven’t seen tears like this on my girl
In a while the trust that I once built’s been betrayed
But I’d rather live telling the truth and be judged for my mistakes
Than falsely held up, given props, loved and praised
I guess I gotta get this on the page
Feeling sick and helpless, lost the compass where self is
I know what I gotta do and I can’t help it
One day at a time is what they tell us
Now I gotta find a way to tell them
God help ’em
Yeah, one day at a time is what they tell us
Now I gotta find a way to tell them
[Ben Bridwell:]
We fall so hard
Now we gotta get back what we lost… lost
I thought you’d go
But you were with me all along… along
[Macklemore:]
And every kid that came up to me
And said I was the music they listened to when they first got clean
Now look at me, a couple days sober
I’m fighting demons
Back of that meeting on the east side
Shaking tweakin’, hope that they don’t see it
Hope that no one is looking
That no one recognizes that failure under that hoodie
Was posted in the back with my hands crossed shooken
If they call on me I’m passing, if they talk to me I’m looking at the door
But before I can make it somebody stops me and says, ‘Are you Macklemore?
Maybe this isn’t the place or time
I just wanted to say that if it wasn’t for ‘Otherside’ I wouldn’t have made it.’
I just looked down at the ground and say, ‘Thank you.’
She tells me she has 9 months and that she’s so grateful
Tears in her eyes, looking like she’s gonna cry, fuck
I barely got 48 hours, treated like I’m some wise monk
I wanna tell her I relapsed but I can’t
I just shake her hand and tell her congrats
Get back to my car and I think I’m tripping, yeah
‘Cause God wrote ‘Otherside’, that pen was in my hand
I’m just a flawed man, man I fucked up up
Like so many others I just never thought I would
I never thought I would, didn’t pick up the book
Doin’ it by myself, didn’t turn out that good
[Macklemore:]
If I can be an example of getting sober
Then I can be an example of starting over
If I can be an example of getting sober
Then I can be an example of starting over
[Ben Bridwell:]
We fall so hard
Now we gotta get back what we lost… lost
I thought you’d go
But you were with me all along… along
We fall so hard
Now we gotta get back what we lost… lost
“Chandelier”- Sia
Sia is another star who hasn’t been shy about her recovery journey from alcohol and drug addiction. Sia released “Chandelier” in 2014, a song about her struggle with alcoholism and substance abuse as well as the loneliness and sadness it brought into her life. As the lyrics transition from “1,2,3 drink“ to “Gotta get out now, gotta run from this, Here comes the shame, here comes the shame” the reality of using alcohol to numb pain is shown. She sends a message that turning to alcohol is not the answer, and in fact, it is the opposite.
Party girls don’t get hurt
Can’t feel anything, when will I learn
I push it down, push it down
I’m the one ‘for a good time call’
Phone’s blowin’ up, ringin’ my doorbell
I feel the love, feel the love
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 drink
Throw ’em back, till I lose count
I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist
Like it doesn’t exist
I’m gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
But I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down, won’t open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight
Help me, I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down, won’t open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight
On for tonight
Sun is up, I’m a mess
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 drink
Throw ’em back till I lose count
“Walk a Little Straighter”- Billy Currington
Billy Currington, the famous country star, kicked off his career in 2003 with his debut single “Walk a Little Straighter.” Walk a Little Straighter was inspired by his alcoholic stepfather and the pain and disappointment he faced throughout his childhood. The song concludes with lyrics expressing that he will never let his children go through what he endured with an alcoholic father. The song took off, and Billy responded to the success with ‘Everywhere I go, I hear stories from people. A lot of times it wasn’t the dad, but the mom. Men come up to me and say that that is them in the song. I hear a lot of stories of how that song has changed lives. It’s been awesome’.
I remember looking up
To look up to him
And I remember most the time
He wasn’t there
I’d be waiting at the door
When he got home at night
He’d pass me by to go to pass out in his chair
And I’d say
Walk a little straighter daddy
You’re swaying side to side
You’re footsteps make me dizzy
And no matter how I try
I keep tripping and stumbling
If you’d look down here you’d see
Walk a little straighter daddy
You’re leading me
He stumbled in the gym
On graduation day
And I couldn’t help but feel
So ashamed
And I wasn’t surprised a bit
When he didn’t stay
He stumbled out before they called my name
And I thought
Walk a little straighter daddy
You’re swaying side to side
It’s not just me who’s watching
you’ve caught everybody’s eye
And you’re tripping and stumbling
and even though I’ve turned 18
Walk a little straighter daddy
You’re still leading me
The old man’s still like he always was
But I love him anyway
If I’ve learned one thing from him
Its my kids will never have to say
Walk a little straighter daddy
You’re swaying side to side
You’re footsteps make me dizzy
And no matter how I try
I keep tripping and stumbling
if you’d look down here you’d see
Walk a little straighter daddy
You’re leading me
Yeah walk a little straighter daddy
You’re leading me
Next Steps
It’s been revealed throughout the many emotional recovery songs that have been released that anyone can fall victim to addiction. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction Landmark Recovery is the answer you’ve been looking for. Start your new life in drug and alcohol recovery today!
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