Addictive Music Quiz / Test | Medicine and Illness in Songs

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Symbolism is a common element in songs about drug addiction. Martika uses a great deal of it in her one hit. "It's true, I did extend the invitation, I never knew how long you'd stay" and "We all fall down" show clearly the tendency for a problem to get out of hand and the consequences to be severe. Which song paints a symbolic picture of addiction?

Answer: Toy Soldiers

Is it about addiction? Strangely enough, even though that word is in the lyrics, the original press denied it. Later, Martika would state that it was about a friend who battled cocaine addiction and ultimately beat it.

Singing backup for her in the song were some of her castmates from her younger days as "Gloria" on the TV show "Kids, Incorporated." Among those were Jennifer Love Hewitt and Fergie.

2. Many a classic rocker has had an alcohol or drug problem. In their recovery, a few have decided to come public about them through their music. Which recovery cliche does Joe Walsh of the Eagles use to come clean?

Answer: One Day at a Time

I was walking through an electronics store one time when they were playing the song on an Eagles DVD on one of their big screen TVs. A man who looked like he was 45 going on 70, an obviously rough life lived, was standing there, watching it with tears running down his face. No question he was relating to the message given in the song.

3. The Verve Pipe used the description of dealing with the aftermath of a pregnancy, an abortion, and a suicide in their one hit song "The Freshmen". What drug is overdosed in the song?

Answer: Valium

"My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her. His girl took a week's worth of Valium and slept." Lead singer and songwriter Brian Vander Ark states on his website that it is based on a true personal story, though while it was a hit he tried to make it appear as though he had simply overheard a conversation and made up the rest.

However, Vander Ark also stated in an interview with G.M. Pasfield that though the pregnancy and abortion were real, the suicide was not.

4. Rap music often paints marijuana use in a positive light. One notable exception was a single put out by Afroman. He lists a great deal of consequences that he had to endure as a result of his use. What is the title of this catching little ditty?

Answer: Because I Got High

Afroman clearly explains the connection between marijuana use and failures in education, finances, relationships, and ultimately severe health and legal consequences. I wish my clients were so perceptive. Many of them have similar results and fail to see any correlation.

5. The Goo Goo Dolls are best known for the haunting love song "Iris", a staple at many a prom, and "Name", an upbeat quirky little number. But they took a dark turn in discussing a heroin addiction with a song using a balloon as a symbol. What color balloon "makes her fly"?

Answer: Black

"Black Balloon" is about a woman with a heroin addiction with a partner who suffers through seeing her life go down the tubes and wishes for a solution. Though it has not officially been connected to anyone, the Goo Goo Dolls' bassist Robbie Takac's ex-wife overdosed on heroin.

6. Pink has described this song as being inspired by her being the only person at a party not under the influence. In which song does she question why she prefers it this way, in that it is such a dramatic change from the past?

Answer: Sober

Pink describes this song as not only seeing the benefits of being drug and alcohol free, but also being personally free. "How do I feel so good with just me, without anyone to lean on?" she said in an interview with MTV.

7. Stevie Nicks invokes the name of a previous Fleetwood Mac song she wrote in describing the confusion and fear of someone entering inpatient treatment. Which name did she use in "Welcome to Your Room, ________"?

Answer: Sara

Although it has been stated by many that the song "Sara" is about Sara Fleetwood, ex-wife of Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood and a good friend of Stevie Nicks, there has been little agreement about what the song is actually about, and many think the song is somewhat autobiographical.

Her use of Sara's name to describe her enrollment into drug treatment only furthers that speculation.

8. The Beatles have been known to do many a song inspired by drugs. After their breakup, Ringo Starr came out with one inspired by sobriety. In which song does he decide to stop using because "it only makes me sneeze, then it makes it hard to find the door"?

Answer: The No No Song

"No, no, no, no I don't [smoke, sniff, drink] it no more.
I got tired of waking up on the floor.
No thank you please, it only makes me sneeze,
Then it makes it hard to find the door."

The song was actually written and performed first by Hoyt Axton. It gives a humorous description of people offering marijuana, cocaine, and moonshine to the singer, with the chorus being his response of abstinence.

9. "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac had a great number of songs that dealt with interpersonal issues--the breakup of relationships interspersed with the decision to continue as a band in spite of it all. One of the most intensely personal songs on it has Stevie Nicks telling someone to "take your silver spoon and dig your grave". What deeply haunting song is this?

Answer: Gold Dust Woman

As is typical with Stevie Nicks, there is some disagreement about the meaning of "Gold Dust Woman" and Nicks does her best to encourage it. In an interview with Courtney Love for "Spin" magazine, she states, "You know what, Courtney? I don't really know what 'Gold Dust Woman' is about. I know there was cocaine there and that I fancied it gold dust, somehow. I'm going to have to go back to my journals and see if I can pull something out about 'Gold Dust Woman.' Because I don't really know. It's weird that I'm not quite sure. It can't be all about cocaine."

But then again, in my discussions with my clients, I say the same thing. The addiction is not just about the drug.

10. The Red Hot Chili Peppers discuss their hitting bottom in one of their best known songs. Like a lot of people in recovery, they talk about how "I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day." In which song does Anthony Kiedis describe that feeling about how "I gave my life away"?

Answer: Under the Bridge

Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics when he was struggling to maintain sobriety while his bandmates continued to use drugs. Bandmate Hillel Slovak had died of a heroin overdose three years earlier, and drug battles were a regular part of the band's history and musical repertoire.

Kiedis stated in his autobiography "Scar Tissue", "the loneliness that I was feeling triggered memories of my time with [ex-girlfriend Ione Skye] and how I'd had this beautiful angel of a girl who was willing to give me all of her love, and instead of embracing that, I was downtown with gangsters shooting speedballs [cocaine and heroin mixed] under a bridge."

Throughout the song, Kiedis speaks of his alienation, both from his girlfriend then and his bandmates more currently. He sings about how his only relationship was with the city of Los Angeles--a lonely situation indeed. The song finally ends with the line, "Under the bridge downtown, I gave my life away."

Source: Author Eauhomme

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ralzzz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Addictive Music Trivia Quiz

As a licensed chemical dependency professional, I keep an ear on the messages given about drugs and alcohol. In this quiz, the focus is on songs that focus on the consequences of addiction and/or the benefits of sobriety.

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