Heroin in popular culture

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Heroin began to appear as a cultural artifact within a few years of its discovery in 1874. Since then it has come to occupy a paradoxical cultural position, being both demonised and glamorised, often in the same text.

There are clear precursors to heroin's present cultural role in the late 18th and 19th centuries, notably in works like Thomas de Quincey's autobiographical Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. The 1822 account of de Quincey's addiction to opium was one of the first published narratives of drug addiction. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (published from 1891 to 1927) describe the famous detective's use of another opiate, morphine, as well as the stimulant drug cocaine. [1] [2]

The rigorously negative portrayal of heroin use has become a precept for United States law and drug enforcement agencies, and the U.S. has exerted considerable pressure on other nations to follow suit. But despite governments' efforts both to portray heroin as totally destructive, and to apprise the public of its very real dangers, heroin has acquired a powerful mystique.

Heroin has long been closely linked with music and the music industry. It first emerged as a major social problem after World War II when it began to cut a swathe through the jazz world. Many leading musicians — particularly those belonging to the bebop school — became addicts, and the image of the junkie jazz musician was soon elevated to the level of archetype by newspaper reports and movies like The Man With The Golden Arm.

Marijuana had been a popular recreational drug with jazz musicians for some decades, and it is possible that this cannabis subculture predisposed users to trying heroin, but the most likely explanation is one relating to milieu: it was arguably the emergence of Mafia-run drug rings, which appeared concurrently with the infiltration of organised crime into the music industry, that placed heroin within reach of vulnerable performers, and there is little doubt that dealers and mobsters actively exploited the plight of these musicians in order to glamorise the drug.

Saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianist Thelonious Monk, and singer Billie Holiday were all the subjects of highly publicised drug busts, with Holiday spending eight months in jail at the height of her career. Holiday and Parker (or at least the cult that grew up around them) have been blamed for glamorising the drug, and Bird disciples Miles Davis and John Coltrane both became celebrity addicts, as did many of their contemporaries, including singer Anita O'Day. Just around the start of the rock era in the mid-Sixties, the overdose death of iconoclastic satirist Lenny Bruce generated lurid headlines around the world. For much of his early career, Ray Charles was also a heavy heroin user (an addiction that was a focal point of the biopic Ray) until he was arrested for possession in 1965 and went into rehab.

Due to their close connections with the jazz scene, many writers of the so-called Beat Movement also experimented with or used heroin. The most notable was undoubtedly William S. Burroughs, who wrote extensively about the drug in his books and The Poets' Encyclopedia; Burroughs and Gregory Corso were regular users for many years.

Thanks to its strong foothold in jazz, heroin quickly penetrated the emerging rock music scene in the late 1960s. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones is probably the best-known rock junkie, and he was an addict for most of the 1970s. He was probably introduced to the drug by the band's friend and associate, art dealer Robert Fraser, who was using heroin regularly by the mid-Sixties. Richards, who somehow managed to avoid death and eventually kick the drug, arguably inherited the heroin glamour that had surrounded Charlie Parker, and his addiction was heavily romanticized by the rock press.

The Lou Reed song "Heroin", first recorded and performed by The Velvet Underground in 1967, marked one of the first attempts to explore heroin use in the rock idiom, and heroin and the culture surrounding its use featured in many of Reed's songs. However, performers in the folk genre had already been writing and singing about it for several years by the time it emerged as subject matter in the rock genre.

Although it was less publicly influential than their use of cannabis and LSD, heroin also featured in the story of The Beatles. The name "Henry the Horse" in the song "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" (1967) is reputed to refer to heroin, and the song "Happiness is a warm gun" is also thought to contain coded references to it. In 1970, John Lennon admitted that he and Yoko Ono had used heroin during the latter days of the group's career, around the time of their drug busts and Ono's subsequent miscarriage. Lennon said in 1972 that the claim that Henry the Horse meant heroin was "rubbish."

At the turn of the 1970s, heroin brought about the deaths of two of the major rock stars of the day — singer Janis Joplin and (allegedly) Doors frontman Jim Morrison — and guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was also charged with possession not long before his death. The history of rock culture in the 1970s and beyond has been littered with celebrity junkies and OD victims, including Free guitarist Paul Kossoff, Dr John (a longtime addict) and singer-songwriters Tim Hardin and Tim Buckley, both of whom also died of overdoses. In a deep depression during the early 1970s and suffering a serious addiction, rock legend Eric Clapton was spending £1,000 per week on heroin. The drug was also a fixture among many notables in the 1970s and 1980s metal scene, such as Mötley Crüe and members of Guns N' Roses whose song "Mr. Brownstone" detailed their addiction. Heroin was also heavily associated with the growing industrial music scene in the late 1970s and 1980s, being the drug of choice for many industrial acts.

Heroin use has continued to exert a hold over the entertainment world, with recent celebrity addicts including singer Boy George and actor Robert Downey Jr. Overdose fatalities also continue, such as the widely reported death of actor River Phoenix, as well as the death of Bradley Nowell, the lead singer of the band Sublime. Layne Staley, the lead singer of the grunge band Alice in Chains, was discovered in his apartment dead of an apparent overdose of cocaine and heroin. The band had written many songs about the addiction, use, and sale of heroin, including "Would?", a song written about Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Mother Love Bone who had died of a heroin overdose in 1990. The addiction of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, who died in 1994, was also the subject of extensive media coverage. Most recently, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith had struggled for years with the drug before his death in 2003. Both Cobain and Smith are thought to have committed suicide, although the veracity of the suicide claim in both cases is disputed. Also, heroin was used in a Green Arrow Green Lantern story in which Ollie's young ward, Roy Harper/Speedy was caught using the drug and revealed to be an addict.

Heroin consumption and addiction has been featured in numerous works of art, ranging from songs and films to novels.

Amongst these are:

1 Novels
2 Factual accounts
3 Films
4 Songs
5 Artists dead by heroin overdose
6 Blogs about Heroin

[edit] Novels

African Safari Papers, The by Robert Sedlack
Basketball Diaries, The by Jim Carroll
Candy by Luke Davies
Cain's Book by Alexander Trocchi
Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley
Drawing Of The Three, The, book 2 of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson
Junk (also known as Smack) by Melvin Burgess
Junky by William S. Burroughs
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Man With the Golden Arm, The by Nelson Algren
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby
Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

[edit] Factual accounts

Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (life story of Christiane F., a teenage German addict)
Don't Try This At Home: A Year in the Life of Dave Navarro by Neil Strauss
Getting off Right: A Safety Manual for Injection Drug Users by Harm Reduction Coalition
Heroin User's Handbook, The by Dr. Francis Moraes
How to Stop Time: Heroin from A-Z by Ann Marlowe
Paranoid by Mick Wall
Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
Survival of the Coolest, The by William Pryor

[edit] Films

11:14 directed by Greg Marcks
200 Cigarettes directed by Risa Bramon Garcia
24 Hour Party People directed by Michael Winterbottom
Abandon directed by Stephen Gaghan
Acts of Worship directed by Rosemary Rodriguez
Ararat directed by Atom Egoyan
Around the Bend directed by Jordan Roberts
Bad Boys directed by Michael Bay (heroin in police custody as a plot element)
Bad Lieutenant directed by Abel Ferrara
Basketball Diaries, The directed by Scott Kalvert
Basquiat directed by Julian Schnabel (subject of semi-biographical film died of an overdose)
Blade II directed by Guillermo del Toro
Blast from the Past directed by Hugh Wilson
Blue Streak directed by Les Mayfield
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason directed by Beeban Kidron
Bringing Out the Dead directed by Martin Scorsese
Buffalo Soldiers directed by Gregor Jordan (heroin high as a plot element)
Butterflies Are Free directed by Milton Katselas
Candy directed by Neil Armfield
Cape Fear directed by Martin Scorsese
Charade directed by Stanley Donen
Chelsea Girls directed by Andy Warhol
Confidence directed by James Foley
Crow, The directed by Alex Proyas
Dark Blue directed by Ron Shelton
Death to Smoochy directed by Danny DeVito
Dogs In Space, directed by Richard Lowenstein
Drugstore Cowboy directed by Gus Van Sant
Enter the Dragon directed by Robert Clouse
French Connection II directed by John Frankenheimer (heroin withdrawal as a plot element)
Gift directed by Perry Farrell and Casey Niccoli of Jane's Addiction
The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola (dealing heroin as a plot element)
Goldfinger directed by Guy Hamilton
Goodfellas directed by Martin Scorsese
Gridlock'd directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall
High Art directed by Lisa Cholodenko (supporting character is a heroin addict)
Jesus' Son directed by Alison Maclean (heroin as a plot element)
Live and Let Die directed by Guy Hamilton (dealing heroin as a plot element)
London Kills Me directed by Hanif Kureishi
Man with the Golden Arm, The directed by Otto Preminger (emerging from addiction as a thematic element)
Maria Full Of Grace directed by Joshua Marston (main character smuggles heroin)
Midnight Cowboy directed by John Schlesinger
Midnight Express directed by Alan Parker
More directed by Barbet Schroeder (becoming addicted as thematic element)
Naked Lunch directed by David Cronenberg
The Organization directed by Don Medford
Panic in Needle Park, The directed by Jerry Schatzberg (main characters are heroin addicts)
Payback directed by Brian Helgeland
Permanent Midnight directed by David Veloz (main character is a heroin addict)
Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino (accidental overdose as plot element)
Rent directed by Chris Columbus
Requiem for a Dream directed by Darren Aronofsky
Return of the Secaucus 7 directed by John Sayles
Revenge of the Pink Panther directed by Blake Edwards
Rush directed by Lili Zanuck (becoming addicted as a thematic element)
Serpico directed by Sidney Lumet
Sid and Nancy directed by Alex Cox
Story Of A Junkie directed by Lech Kowalski
Touch of Evil directed by Orson Welles
Traffic directed by Steven Soderbergh
Trainspotting directed by Danny Boyle (main characters are heroin addicts)
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing directed by Isaac Florentine
Wasted directed by Stephen T. Kay
Wait Until Dark directed by Terence Young
Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (also known as Christiane F.) directed by Uli Edel (biographical about a heroin addict)

[edit] Songs

13th Step, The album by A Perfect Circle
"2x4" by Blind Melon
"999" by Keith Richards
"Addition, The" by Frank DeBlasi
"Adios" by Rammstein
"Amy Hit the Atmosphere" by Counting Crows
"Anesthesia" by Bad Religion
"Aneurysm", "Dumb" by Nirvana
"Ashes to Ashes", "Bewlay Brothers, The", and "China Girl" by David Bowie
"Aux enfants de la chance" and "My Lady Heroine" by Serge Gainsbourg
"Baltimore Love Thing" by 50 Cent
"Beast, The" and "Another Girl, Another Planet" by The Only Ones
"Beetlebum" by Blur
"Billy" by Bad Religion
"Black Balloon" by The Goo Goo Dolls
"Blue Lady" by Hello Sailor
"Driving Death Valley Blues", "Fix", "Juarez", "Message To Mine", "One Hundred Days", "Praying Ground", "She Done Too Much", "Shooting Gallery", and "Waiting on a Train" (many solo recordings contain multiple heroin references) by Mark Lanegan
"Braindead", "Sandbox" by Red Red Meat
"Captain Jack" by Billy Joel
"Carmelita" by Warren Zevon
"Charlie Freak" by Steely Dan
"Chase The Dragon" by The Beasts of Bourbon
"China Girl" song and Lust for Life album by Iggy Pop
"Chinese Rock" by The Heartbreakers and The Ramones (written by Richard Hell and Dee Dee Ramone)
"Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain" (...heroin's the only thing) by Steve Earle.
"Cold Turkey" by John Lennon
"Come Together", "I Think I'm In Love", "Medication", and "Cop Shoot Cop" by Spiritualized
"Continental" by Alkaline Trio
"Dancing Barefoot" and "Land" by Patti Smith
"Dead Flowers", "Brown Sugar", "Gimme Shelter", "Sister Morphine", "Monkey Man", "Coming Down Again" and "Before They Make Me Run" by The Rolling Stones (Dead Flowers covered by GG Allin, also by Steve Earle)
"Dead Men Tell No Tales" by Motörhead
"Diamonds and Guns" by The Transplants
"Dilaudid(Postponed)" by Velvet Acid Christ
"Emma" by Alkaline Trio
"Esther" by Phish
"Fall to Pieces" by Velvet Revolver
"Getting High Down Below" by Marty Willson-Piper
"Gimme Heroin" By Morning Glory
"Givin' Up" by The Darkness
"Golden Brown" and "Skin Deep" by The Stranglers
"Grip To The Needle" by Sleepwalk
"Groovy Dead" by Rusty
"Habit" by Pearl Jam
"Hand of Doom" by Black Sabbath
"Happiness Is A Warm Gun" by The Beatles
"Hateful" by The Clash
"Heroin" by Q-Strange
"Heroin", "I'm Waiting for the Man", "I Heard Her Call My Name", "After Hours", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", and "Sister Ray" by The Velvet Underground
"Heroin (It's All Over)" by the Lurkers
"Heroin" by John Frusciante
"Heroin Girl" by Everclear
"Heroin or Suicide" by Leftöver Crack
"Heroin, She Said" by Wolfsheim
"Horrorshow" and "Skag and Bone Man" by The Libertines
"Hurt" by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)
"Hypodermic" by The Offspring
"I Believe in You" by Talk Talk
"I Can't Hide" by Pantera
"Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction
"Jesus Shootin' Heroin" by The Flaming Lips
"Junker's Blues" by Champion Jack Dupree
"Junkie Child" by the Neville Brothers
"Junkie Girl" by Walter Becker
"Junkie Girl" by Michael McDermott
"Junkie Man" by Tim Armstrong (Rancid)
"Junkie's Promise" by Sonic Youth
"Junkhead", "Sickman", "Angry Chair", "Hate To Feel", "God Am", "Dirt", "Real Thing", "God Smack", and "Would?" by Alice in Chains
"Junky" by Pig
"Just Like Honey" by Jesus and Mary Chain
"Just One Fix" by Ministry
"King Heroin" by James Brown
"Kiss Off" and "Blister In The Sun" by Violent Femmes
"Ljubav kao heroin" ("Love Like Heroin") by Laufer (Croatia)
"Love In Vein" by Skinny Puppy
"Love Kills" by The Ramones
"Low" by Cracker
"Macarthur Park" by Jimmy Webb (covered by Donna Summer)
"Magic Horse" by Rick Bain & The Genius Position
"Mainliner" by Social Distortion
"Master Of Puppets" by Metallica
"Mexican Caravan" by the Butthole Surfers
"Mojo Pin" by Jeff Buckley
"Monkey" by Saves The Day
"Monkey Gone To Heaven" by Pixies
"Moose the Mooche" and "Groovin' High" by Charlie Parker
"Mountain Song" by Jane's Addiction
"Mr. Bones Lament", "Sister Temptation" by The Holy Kiss
"Mr. Brownstone" by Guns N' Roses
"Mutiny in Heaven" by The Birthday Party
"My Little Needle" by Alkaline Trio
"My Sweet Prince" by Placebo
"Needle And Spoon" by Savoy Brown
"Needle and the Damage Done, The" and "Tonight's the Night" by Neil Young
"Needle and the Spoon, The" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Needle in the Hay", "The White Lady Loves You More", "Ballad of Big Nothing", and "King's Crossing" by Elliott Smith
"Needle of Death" by Bert Jansch
"Nice Boys" by Rose Tattoo
"Not an Addict" by K's Choice
"Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth (Heroin Is So Passe)" by The Dandy Warhols
"Opium" by Jump, Little Children
"Opium Trail" by Thin Lizzy
"Oxy Cotton" by Lil Wyte
"Perfect Blue Buildings" by Counting Crows
"Perfect Day", "Goodnight Ladies" by Lou Reed
"Pipedown" by Babyshambles
"Pool Shark" by Sublime
"Poppies" by Marcy Playground
"Prozac Vs. Heroin" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
"Red Balloon" by Tim Hardin (covered by many)
"Ride the White Horse" by Laid Back
"She's Like Heroin" by System of a Down
"She's Like Heroin To Me" by The Gun Club
"She Talks To Angels" by The Black Crowes
"Signed D.C." by Love
"Sister Morphine" by Marianne Faithfull
"Smack City" by The Dwarves
"Some Candy Talking" by The Jesus and Mary Chain
"Spoonman" by Soundgarden
"Sunday's Slave" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
"Surfin' on Heroin" by Forgotten Rebels
"Sweetest Perfection", "Never Let Me Down Again", "Sister of Night", "Clean", "One Caress", "Sweetest Condition", "Higher Love", "Home", "Only When I Lose Myself", "I Feel You", "Rush", "Painkiller", "The Bottom Line", "When the Body Speaks", "Enjoy The Silence" by Depeche Mode
"Tension Head" by Queens of the Stone Age
Taking Drugs to Make Music To Take Drugs To (album) and Perfect Prescription (album) by Spacemen 3
"That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"The Gravy Train" by Ian Brown
"The Love We Make" by Prince (put down the needle/put down the spoon...)
"Theme From a Nod", "Year Of The Horse" by White Star Line
"Time Out of Mind" by Steely Dan
"Times of Trouble" by Temple of the Dog
"Too Much Junkie Business" by Johnny Thunders
"True Faith" by New Order
"Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Use the Man" and "Poison Was the Cure" by Megadeth
"Voodoo" by Godsmack
"Wart Hog" by The Ramones
"Wasted" by The Runaways
"Wild Riding", "Convulsions", "Carmelita" (Warren Zevon cover), "Outskirts of Life", "Borrowed Time", "No Rights", "Bad Habits", "Dope Money", "Sitting in this Room (with my needle & my spoon)", "Crash and Burn", "Family", "OD'd in Denver", "Dead or Alive", "Kissing The Flames", "Dead Flowers" (Rolling Stones cover), "Snakeman's Dance", "Drug Whore", "Darkness and a Bottle to Hold" by GG Allin
"Willy White" by Hog Hoggidy Hog
"New Taboos" by Do-Re-Mi (featuring Deborah Conway)