Welcome to a special double feature on Old School. Presenting two hard hitting social commentaries from 1968 and 1972, in a way you’ve never heard them so stick around.. The Pusher was written by Hoyt Axton, whose mother wrote Heartbreak Hotel for Elvis. He didn’t record his version until after Steppenwolf had made it a hit with a little help from it’s placement in Easy Rider.
James Brown co wrote King Heroin along with Charles Bobbit, Manny Rosen, and David Matthews. It’s not a dance tune but it is a serious pondering of a global problem that has yet to go away.
Whether you know them both, of this is your first time, listen to it with fresh ears and a slightly different mix.
James Brown joins forces with John Kaye and Steppenwolf…
Lyrics
You know I've smoked a lot of grass
O' Lord, I've popped a lot of pills
But I've never touched nothin'
That my spirit could kill
You know, I've seen a lot of people walkin' 'round
With tombstones in their eyes
But the pusher don't care
Ah, if you live or if you die
God damn, The Pusher
God damn, I say The Pusher
I said God damn, God damn The Pusher man
You know the dealer, the dealer is a man
With the love grass in his hand
Oh but the pusher is a monster
Good God, he's not a natural man
The dealer for a nickel
Lord, he'll sell you lots of sweet dreams
Ah, but the pusher ruin your body
Lord, he'll leave your, he'll leave your mind to scream
God damn, The Pusher
God damn, God damn the Pusher
I said God damn, God, God damn The Pusher man
Well, now if I were the president of this land
You know, I'd declare total war on The Pusher man
I'd cut him if he stands, and I'd shoot him if he'd run
Yes I'd kill him with my Bible and my razor and my gun
God damn The Pusher
God damn The Pusher
I said God damn, God damn The Pusher man
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Hoyt Wayne Axton
The Pusher lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Ladies and gentlemen
Fellow Americans
Lady Americans
This is James Brown
I wanna talk to you about one of our
Most deadly, killers in the country today
I had a dream the other night, and I
Was sittin' in my living room
Dozed off to sleep
So I start to dreamin'
I dreamed I walked in a place and
I saw a real strange, weird object
Standin' up talkin' to the people
And I found out it was heroin
That deadly drug that go in your veins
He says
I came to this country without a passport
Ever since then I've been hunted and sought
My little white grains are nothin' but waste
Soft and deadly and bitter to taste
I'm a world of power and all know it's true
Use me once and you'll know it, too
I can make a mere schoolboy forget his books
I can make a world-famous beauty neglect her looks
I can make a good man forsake his wife
Send a greedy man to prison for the rest of his life
I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a five-dollar bag
Some think my adventure's a joy and a thrill
But I'll put a gun in your hand and make you kill
In cellophane bags, I've found my way
To heads of state and children at play
I'm financed in China, ran in Japan
I'm respected in Turkey and I'm legal in Siam
I take my addicts and make 'em steal, borrow, beg
Then they search for a vein in their arm or their leg
So, be you Italian, Jewish, Black or Mex
I can make the most virile of men forget their sex
So now, no, my man, you must, you know, do your best
To keep up your habit until your arrest
Now the police have taken you from under my wing
Do you think they dare defy me, I who am king
Now, you must lie in that county jail
Where I can't get to you by visit or mail
So squirm, with discomfort, wiggle and cough
Six days of madness, you might throw me off
Curse me in name, defy me in speech
But you'd pick me up right no if I were in your reach
All through your sentence you've become resolved to your fate
Hear now young man and woman, I'll be waitin' at the gate
And don't be afraid, don't run, I'm not chased
Sure my name is Heroin, you'll be back for a taste
Behold, you're hooked, your foot is in the stirrup
And make, haste, mount the steed and ride him well
For the white horse of heroin will ride you to Hell, to Hell
Will ride you to Hell until you are dead
Dead, brother, dead
This is a revolution of the mind
Get your mind together
And get away from drugs
That's the man
Back, back
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Charles Bobbitt / Charles Fred Bobbitt / Dave Matthews / James Brown / Manny Rosen
Theme From King Heroin lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
Need more? The hits (and misses) just keep on coming! Some of these you may have never heard, but you will never forget them!
Thanks to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics for the following info:
Since 2010, the number of Americans who die from overdosing on heroin has more than quadrupled.
Key Findings
14K
The number of Americans who die annually from overdosing on heroin.
902k
The number of Americans who use heroin annually.
6.25M
The number of Americans who use heroin within their lifetime.
Heroin Usage Statistics
From 2019 to 2020, heroin usage has increased among all people aged 12 or older. A large majority of people who used heroin first misused prescription opioids.
902,000 Americans use heroin annually.
6.25 Million Americans will use heroin at least once in their lifetime.
Heroin makes up 4.5% of all illicit drug use in the lifetime of Americans aged 12 or older.
Heroin makes up 1.5% of all illicit drug use annually among Americans aged 12 or older.
103,000 Americans first start using heroin annually.
80% of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.
Heroin Usage among Grade School Children Statistics
Heroin usage has shown up as early as middle school in minimal amounts. Less than 1% of students in either high school or middle school use heroin on an annual basis.
2% of highschool students have used heroin in their lifetime.
0.5% of 8th graders reported using heroin within their lifetime.
0.2% of 8th graders, 10th graders, and 12th graders combined reported using heroin in the last 12 months.
Heroin Use Disorder Statistics
Among the U.S. population aged 12 or older, less than 1% had a heroin disorder which still translates to hundreds of thousands of Americans. More people receive treatment for using heroin in a year than the number of people who have a substance abuse disorder with heroin.
691,000 Americans aged 12 or older had a heroin disorder in 2020.
0.2% of Americans aged 12 or older had a heroin disorder.
Americans with a heroin substance abuse disorder made up 1.7% of the total population with a substance abuse disorder.
755,000 people aged 12 or older received substance use treatment for heroin.
The population with a heroin substance use disorder is the 8th largest population with a substance use disorder.
Heroin Overdose Deaths Nationwide Statistics
Deaths due to heroin overdoses have significantly increased since 2010. From 2012 to 2014 the rate of heroin overdose deaths nearly doubled. After 2014, the death rate remained in the tens of thousands.
14,019 die annually from overdosing on heroin.
Over nearly a decade, the annual death rate due to heroin overdose has risen by over 10,000 people.
8,746 people die annually from overdosing on heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone.
5,273 people die annually from overdosing on heroin without taking synthetic opioids other than methadone.
2.7 deaths occur annually from overdoses on heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone for every 100,000 people.
1.7 deaths occur annually from overdoses on heroin without taking synthetic opioids other than methadone
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