Pink Floyd was probably the most influential band throughout the 1970s. Pink Floyd combined the sound of classic rock with developing technology in music distortion to give a new sound that had never been heard before. This particular group was comprised of four men from England that were a late generation of the Beatles. However, Pink Floyd can be seen as quite the opposite regarding drugs use. While touring for their album, The Wall, lead singer Roger Walters had a near death experience with an overdose of heroin. Other members of the band had also had encounters with the law from use of drugs.



One of Roger Walter’s songs, “Comfortably Numb", gives the audience his interpretation of his life while he was on heroin. In his song Roger Walters is most certainly relating to the listeners how he feels when he is on heroin. He describes how he is feeling no more pain, whether that pain be physical or mental. He describes how disoriented the drug has made him and how people who are not on the drug would not understand how he feels. He also talks about a “pin prick." This is a hint that he is talking about heroin because heroin is usually injected into the body through a syringe. Roger Walters shows how great heroin is in his song, a song that was on one of the greatest selling albums ever.

Cypress Hill is frequently listed to rap group whose songs deal mostly with smoking marijuana and legalizing marijuana. Cypress Hill is a group that revolves around the topic of marijuana, which makes them a popular band to many experimental marijuana users. Cypress Hill sends the message of how rich they are, how well they have done for themselves, and how marijuana has not slowed them down at all. Their song, “I Wanna Get High", shows this attitude towards a need and want for marijuana. This band comes out and confesses their love an appreciation of marijuana to legions of young listeners on almost all of their albums and their songs.

Eric Clapton may not be a associated with drug use as much as Pink Floyd or Cypress Hill could, but he has defiantly promoted the use of cocaine in his songs before. Clapton defiantly went through some hardships in his life. He was kicked out of college, divorced, his son died and his music career has many up and down times. The basic message we get from Eric Clapton in this song is that cocaine seems to be the answer to almost all of his, and the listener’s, problems. Bad news, lost wife, death of a son, all seemed to have the same cure, cocaine.

The 2 groups and 1 artist mentioned are all very influential bands with a very large gathering of fans. Fans usually tend to admire the icon that they are a fan of, and then in turn want to be just like them. If these songs deal with how great drug use is, how it heals our pains, and won’t affect us in society or accomplishments, they are sending those exact message to all of the impressionable listeners. Many young people who face the question of trying a drug in their young age, or walking away may rely on the role set by their favorite artist or group.