10 Radio-Friendly Songs About Drugs

9. Beetlebum - Blur

Blur’s second chart-topping single was a heartbreaking study into the dark side of fame, youth, and the pressures of living life in the glare of a tabloid freak show.

A sulking, brooding alt-rock stomper, this was Britpop at its most melancholy ebb, drawing on frontman Damon Albarn’s own experiences with heroin use to weave a painfully candid picture of addiction in the public eye.

The title is thought to be a nod to the term “chasing the beetle” - a variation on the euphemism “chasing the dragon” - and from it’s unrelenting, trudging opening bars to the short-lived soar of that bittersweet chorus, it feels like a sonic illustration of the grim routine and fleeting relief of dependancy.

While Albarn tends to avoid discussing his struggles openly in the press, he did deliver an uncharacteristically frank answer when asked about the meaning behind the song in the 2010 documentary No Distance Left To Run.

On the matter, he said: "Well that whole period of a lot of people's lives was fairy muddied by heroin for a lot of people.

"And it's sort of, it's in that place. And a lot of stuff was at that time."