song for theme #33B: Addiction

“Living Best We Can With Addiction” by Stephen P. Cook

to be sung to the tune of “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder

A boy grows up smoking a pack a day

He tries to quit but finds there’s just no way

Tobacco kills, puts many in early graves

One billion a century die from what they crave¹

Living best they can, best they can with addiction²

Soda pops, he downs them just like candy

Sugar rush, caffeine buzz it comes in handy

‘Bout health, schools could teach kids to care

But many help promote this nutrition nightmare³

Living best they can, best they can with addiction

Our boy’s no sissy, he’s friends with ol’ Jim Beam⁴

It dulls his pain, has stifled many a scream

At school many mornings his mind in a funk

Trying to learn when hung over or drunk

Living best he can, best he can with addiction

Looking at girly pics with his friend Captain Jack⁵

Women become objects, gotta get ‘em in the sack

Orgasmic pleasure—he just can’t get enough

So he shoots up smack⁶ if the going gets tough

Living best he can, best he can with addiction

Paying for expensive habits, making ends meet 

He takes to stealing, selling drugs on the street

When deals go bad, to get away fast he runs

Away from crack dealers after him with guns

Living best he can, best he can with addiction

Emergency rooms, prison, life got hellish mean

It took many years but he finally did get clean

Today he helps young people find their way

To watching sunrise on a drug free new day⁷

Living best he can, best he can with distinction⁸

SONG—NOTES / COMMENTS

1—According to the UN’s World Health Organization, 100 million people were killed by tobacco in the 20th century and as many

     as one billion are expected to die in the 21st century if current trends continue.

2— Addiction is a difficult to define term that generally connects with a person being out of control and unable to stop engaging in

     some activity known to be harmful but instead continuing to compulsively pursue it.  Some addictions can be traced to the

     physiological and / or psychological dependence on particular chemical substances–such as drugs, alcohol, or foods–which

     produce a craving for the substance.  Others are connected with certain behaviors that involve rewards–such as gambling, sex,

     and shopping.  Both involve withdrawal symptoms–continued craving, anxiety, irritability, and depression– when the substance

     or  opportunity to engage in the pleasurable behavior is unavailable.  In either case, it seems that an addicted person's brain fails

     to successfully send a "stop" signal.    

3—Many health professionals link sugary carbonated drink consumption with the epidemic of obesity.

4—A brand of Bourbon Whiskey, 80 to 86 proof = 40% to 43% alcohol, produced in Kentucky since 1795.

5—“Captain Jack” is the title of 1973 Billy Joel song about masturbation (although some say heroin). 

6—Smack is another name for heroin.

7—Contrast this with people who light up a cigarette first thing every morning!

8—Distinction refers to differentiating oneself from others. Here someone is finally able to stand apart from all of those people

      addicted to drugs. 

Comment: living this theme’s reality can promote carrying emotional baggage. Otherwise this theme may have value as emotional armor.  Armed with knowledge that your inability to stop doing things known to be harmful is not your fault—it’s all due to your brain biochemistry—you may (to some extent) feel shielded from your own, and others’, harsh judgment. Of course that probably won’t help you quit.  In general, disengagement / emotion-focused type coping strategies, in which you simply try to escape the distress/pain that stresses are causing, are not long-term solutions.  With them, rather than directly confronting the stressor and getting to the root cause of the problem, you instead turn to drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, etc. These often create other (health, social, legal, financial, etc.) problems leading to additional stress, etc.