Everyday is Like Sunday, Except Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #17

You guessed it. This week's mix is all about drugs. They are part of that legendary formula, along with sex and rock 'n roll - at least according to Ian Dury - and many musicians have used them for inspiration while many of them have also died from them. Most countercultures have used some form of them, thus the music tied to these countercultures have expressed the experiences induced by these drugs and/or personified them. Whether you're a hippie tripping on LSD or magic mushrooms, listening to psychedelic music; or an amphetamine-popping punk, pogoing; or a depressed singer-songwriter hooked on heroin, drugs and the altered state of consciousness that come with them have inextricable links to music. And you know all the cool kids were doing opium or absinthe back in the Romantic period.

I, myself, have never taken drugs (without a prescription, that is), and I don't think I ever will - I'm plenty crazy on my own without them. Losing control of my brain doesn't really appeal to me when I can very well lose it without the aid of substances. I have no doubt that the appeal of drugs is having that kind of out-of-body experience to escape your own mind and body, which becomes yet another reason why I should never try drugs - along with my generally addictive personality, I would end up having a lot of problems if I ever tried them. Music itself ends up being my drug of choice.

And of course, rock stars are known for their ridiculously extravagant lifestyles and drug experiences. I marvel that David Bowie is still alive after all the cocaine he went through - that strict diet of orange juice at the time must have helped. One of my favourite drug-musician stories is the one about Morrissey taking ecstasy. And then sitting there by himself in his room.

This mix ended up being pretty heroin-heavy (even without the inclusion of Nine Inch Nail's Hurt) - the heroine/heroin homonym is always fun to work with. Also, it becomes readily apparent that drugs are a fantastic metaphor for love and lust. I very well could have put a dozen Suede songs on this mix or half of The Velvet Underground's output, but I chose to go for variety and maybe a few more unexpected ones. And I know this mix is in no way a definitive one about all drug songs, so no complaints about not including The Beatles or Jefferson Airplane. I'm going to call this mix More Tracks Than a Heroin Addict. Please listen responsibly.

Vegas - Calvin Harris

Idiot Drugs - White Rose Movement

Special K - Placebo

Junkie Slip - The Clash

Drug Drug Druggy - Manic Street Preachers

I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones

Caught By The Fuzz - Supergrass

There She Goes - The La's

Heroin - The Indelicates

Golden Brown - The Stranglers

Mother's Little Helper - The Rolling Stones

I'm Waiting For the Man - The Velvet Underground

Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie

Sorted for E's and Wizz - Pulp

Horse Pills - The Dandy Warhols

Kisses Like Heroin - Cupcake

Days Without Paracetamol - Snow Patrol

Heroine - Suede

Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode

Sugar Pill - Ambulance Ltd