Drugs and Music, a Match Made in Heaven

On Thursday night Emily and I were transfixed by a back to back to back to back presentation of the incredibl documentary series on VH1, The Drug Years. I'd missed the shows when they first aired last year, so when I came into the first episode about fifteen minutes late, I was more than happy to sink the next four hours into VH1.

I'm sure not many of you know this about me, but I am absolutely fascinated with the Drug Culture. I've never tried anything outside of social alcohol consumption and a single cigarette when I was 12, but that hasn't stopped my curiosity. I've read the incredible, "Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography", the crazy "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and several other academic-ish books on the matter (and the culture). I think it's fascinating how so many creatives throughout history have utilized the mind altering properties of substances, from Ginsberg, Kesey, and Thompson to Shaun Rider and Jarvis Cocker. I would be lying if the allure of such romanticised intoxicants as Absinthe and LSD wasn't difficult to ignore, but then I'm way to much of a wuss to actually try any of that stuff.

I wonder if it's part of the mainstreaming of the drug culture, or if it's something else, but being one who thinks of himself as a creative I can't help but wonder if one of those mood altering substances might have an acceleratory effect on my consciousness. I mean, it worked for those other guys, why should I be any different? I guess I'm also always thinking of those drug horror stories, the Hendrixes and the Joplins and the Cobains, those super famous, spectacular burn outs that took these special folks from us too soon. As Jack Black once asked, "Is it better to burn out or fade away?" Would we have elevated these artists to such heights if they had lived long enough to jump the shark?

I also often think about what's been described as being crushed under the weight of one's own genius. These folks that are so incredibly intelligent that they lack the ability to function as a normal human being. Now, there is a huge difference between the sort of craziness exhibited by nutcases like Britney Spears and the kind of crazy genius exhibited by someone like Syd Barrett or Brian Wilson. I wonder how much of their eccentricities were fueled by the drugs and how much of them were fueled by genius? Perhaps the drugs, the psychedelics and the mood elevators, served to merely bring a greater focus to their delusions, to bring these sideline aspects of their personality to the forefront. I'm not sure.

Whatever the cause, the result is still interesting. Creative output that seems otherworldly, unattainable by mere mortals, a bar set so high that the plebes can merely stare and point, wishing they could touch it, but never possessing the reach. It's sometimes disheartening to think about being an equal to these greats, but I'm sure that's something almost everyone feels, even those geniuses. Did Ginsberg feel overshadowed by Poe? Did Syd Barrett feel secondary to someone like Robert Johnson? I imagine they did at some point, maybe they pushed through it until they came into their own. I know I read things by famous rock critics like Chuck Klosterman and it's awfully difficult to keep going, but maybe I just need to push through it and trust that I may one day eclipse even him. Maybe I need some drugs, or maybe I just need to believe in my ability.

"Hallelujah (Club Mix)" The Happy Mondays
"Spaceface (Live)" Doves
"Baba O'Reilly" The Who
"Going Out" Timothy Leary


image courtesy of JasonLeibig