(REVISED) The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones hit #1 on the US charts on June 19th, 1965 with their song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", and half a century later the band is still touring. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1989, and, in total, have released twenty-nine studio albums as well as eighteen live albums. When The Rolling Stones first began their epic career as a band in the sixties, rock and roll was still in its earlier stages. Keith Richards, the band's lead guitarist, described the time as "bloody boring, and something had to happen. Rock & roll happened, basically. And then lots of people were trying on different things, getting very, very stoned, 'exploring their boundaries.' I know I did.” The sixties were, as Richards said, a time of wide experimentation. “Hippie culture” was prevalent, with a strong "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll" vibe throughout the whole decade, epitomized by the Summer of Love in 1967. Drug use and music went hand-in-hand at this time, as a fundamental element of hippie culture was the practice of exploring one’s existence through the use of mind–altering drugs. Most popular artists were singing about their experiences expanding their mind with drugs such as LSD, heroin, mushrooms, cocaine, and marijuana. As Richards said, the band "[explored] their boundaries" quite a lot, and was well-known for doing such. Throughout their career, the members experimented with, and wrote about, many of these popular drugs. Like many other musicians of the time, they wrote about their experiences with drugs. But, unlike some artists who sang of enlightening, colorful drug experiences (like The Beatles), the Rolling Stones' music tended to be more of the dark and gloomy side of drug use; much of their music actually being about drug abuse. The band had a complicated relationship with drug use, as seen in both their music and their personal life.

The Rolling Stones’ experience with drugs is widely evident throughout their lyrics and throughout their career. The frequency with which drugs are mentioned in their lyrics reflects the fact that band members struggled heavily with drug addiction. But, even many of the songs that did not explicitly mention drugs had a more melancholy, disconsolate sound to them. This is due to the mental effects long term heroin use has on addicts. Studies show that mental health problems caused by heroin abuse include perpetual frustration and a loss of any motivation or positivity. This explains why much of the Rolling Stones' music had dark, depressive undertones.   

The Rolling Stones' career began with their debut album in 1964, The Rolling Stones. The album consisted of mostly covers of blues songs, but also included a few original pieces. It wasn't until their sixth album, Aftermath, that the Rolling Stones began releasing all original songs. A notable piece devoted to the role of drugs in daily life is the song is called "Mother's Little Helper". "Mother's Little Helper" is an upbeat, somewhat disturbing tune about prescription pill abuse, specifically with the drug diazepam (Valium). Diazepam was a tranquilizer popular with housewives in the sixties, as said in the song, "Mother needs something today to calm her down/ And though she's not really ill, there's a little yellow pill". This song was the first of many Rolling Stones songs about drug abuse. Mick Jagger sings, "'Life's just too hard today' I hear every mother say/ the pursuit of happiness just seems a bore/ and if you take more of those/ you will get an overdose". These lyrics demonstrate the Rolling Stones pointing out the more depressing, dark side of drug use, instead of the happy highs other artists sang about.

Another controversial drug-related song is "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" from the 1967 album Between The Buttons. Around the time of the album's release, the band was featured in a newspaper feature about pop-stars who use recreational drugs. They were accused of attending "LSD parties" with other popular artist of the time. Because of the article, authorities began to take an interest in the band, and by May of 1967, three of the five band members were facing drug charges. "Something Happened To Me Yesterday," is, in fact, written about an LSD trip. In the song, Jagger sings, "It's really rather drippy but something, oh, so trippy/ Something happened to me yesterday." The song refers to the drug trip as "loony" and "something, I can't speak of right away," giving a negative, traumatizing undertone to the trip. This depiction of an SLD trip contrasts the happy, fun way that many of bands of the time described this experience.

While drugs did fuel a lot of the band's music, it also caused many problems within the personal life of the band. The members of the band faced multiple drug charges, which at times made touring in different countries difficult. Late in 1969, the year "Something Happened to Me Yesterday"was released, drug abuse resulted in a catastrophic event for the Rolling Stones. Original band member Brian Jones was unable to tour overseas with the band due to a drug charge against him. The band replaced him, just for the tour, but one month later he was found dead in his pool. Tests showed that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he drowned.

One gruesome, morbid drug-related Rolling Stones song is "Let It Bleed". The song includes such lines as "we all need someone we can bleed on," while also referencing cocaine as something to do when you're down. Jagger sings, "there will always be a space in my parking lot/When you need a little coke and sympathy," as usual, grouping drugs with unhappiness. The song "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" also references cocaine, with lyrics about someone with "cocaine eyes,” showing the physical effects of drug use. The use of heroin is introduced in one of the Stones’ most popular songs "Dead Flowers". Jagger sings "take me down little Susie, take me down". "Little Susie" is a reference to a type of heroin that was popular at the time of the album’s release. From the lyrics in this song, "I'll be in my basement with a needle and spoon", it was speculated that this was the type the band used. The mention of the basement is something that should not go unnoticed. The basement of a house is the most dark, hidden area, connoting the even more grim reality of doing heroin. Similarly, the song "Sister Morphine” is about a man in a hospital bed wishing desperately for the addictive pain drug morphine. The fact that it is referenced as "sister morphine" shows the dependence on the drug and how dearly it is considered.

The Stones' album Exile On Main Street includes many more songs in which Jagger sings about the effects of using heroin. But, these songs' lyrics also show some of the emotional effects heroin has had on the band. The heavily melancholy feeling which can be one of the side effects of long- term heroin abuse is reflected i n the track “Sweet Virginia,” where Jagger sings that when things are going badly, you “got to scrape the shit right off you shoes. This shows that he considers heroin something to use to pick him up when he is down. He seems not seem to realize that ultimately, medically, heroin is really only going to make things worse. It seems, in the lyrics of this album, that Mick Jagger definitely feels the mental effects of taking heroin, but may not realize the full cause and effect relationship with his health. In the song "Rocks Off", Jagger sings "plug in, flush out and fire the fucking feed”, which means to inject heroin. He also sings, "I can’t even feel the pain no more” and “the sunshine bores the daylights out of me”.

The effects of drug addiction are evident even in Rolling Stones songs which are not overtly dedicated to drug use For example, in the song "Paint It Black,” written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Jagger sings, "I look inside myself and see my heart is black". He sings of how he sees colors and happiness and light around him, and all he wants to do is make it darker. For example, he says, "I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky/ I want it painted, painted, painted, painted black". The song shows the constant aggravation and annoyance Jagger and Richards feel in everyday life, presumably due to the impact of drugs over many years .

The band went on to produce a total of twenty-nine studio albums and eighteen live albums. They had many public and private issues with drug use, frequently having to cancel shows due to an inability to get visas because of past drug convictions. The two band members most known for their drug use, Richards and Jagger, eventually stopped using. Richards became clean from heroin in 1980 and cocaine a few years following, and Jagger quit in 1977, inspired by his love interest, Jerry Hall. The Rolling Stones continued to make music for years after, and perform to his day, as they completed their 2015 tour just a few months ago. The fact that the Stones have survived and thrived despite many years of drug addiction and abuse is a testimony to the strength and endurance of their music and themselves.