Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

"needle to the vein"

Just curious. Glad he kicked that.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

Mods please move to main form. My mistake for posting in tour section.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

Not every song is biographical... I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die did not mean Johnny cash was a murderer

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

For a long time, if I had to pick ONE DMB song that I loved most, R&R was it. The intensity both on record and live, but also the way the flow of the song mimics the mania and also quiet slipping into numbness of drug use is just damn brilliant.

I'd think someone in some more in-depth early interview must have asked about it, but this was before every written and video interview was so easy to find in a central place. Anyone remember anyone ever asking Dave about this song or his comments on it?

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

I thought it was mentioned here and there throughout the years on Nancies.org and here that Dave experimented with drugs in the early years, I don't know about heroin.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

I thought it was about giving blood.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

:lol

I recall seeing an interview where he was asked about this a long time ago. He said something along the lines of, “I am afraid to try any drug that stops you from shitting”.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

Most people that "experiment" with intravenous heroin don't just get off it, they usually require rehab. Maybe Dave is stronger than the average person.

I also remember a story about R&R somewhere that it was about a friends mental health problem, same with the nancies line "23 and so tired of life, such a shame to throw it all away" While the lines can be universal, I truly don't think Dave went through these things at the specific level he's writing about.. Just observations and stories...

R&R is most definitely about a person dying from drug usage due to crippling mental health..

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

I remember before they played it at Staples N2 2008, he introduced it as "one of Roi's favorite songs"

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

Roi's playing on it used to be one of the things that thrilled me most about it.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

Sometimes the level of emotion, terror, pain and isolation in art makes it very very VERY hard to believe the artist isn't speaking from experience. Whether it's from loving someone dearly and closely who went through that, or from knowing at least the cycles of mania & numbness and also the "my head won't leave my head alone/I don't believe it will, until I'm dead and gone", this song sounds like it's from experience. " Maybe not from drug use specifically, or maybe he wasn't "the experiencer" (to your point), but to me there's no way I believe this is just a song written 3rd person, from a distance. And my gut is (but I have no direct knowledge) that if asked about it, specifically if asked if he's ever felt these struggles in his head himself, I'd be shocked if Dave said "No, never".

That's not the same as saying he had to have been a heroin user to write the song, because that's not true. But gonna guess he knew one extremely well and loved them dearly if he didn't experience it himself, because he tells the story of the struggle too well and with far too much emotion not to have known that story up close.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

The band The Stranglers decided to try Heroin for a year to see what creative inspiration it would bring.

https://www.loudersound.com/features...on-heroin-plan

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

Has anyone here done it that could elaborate further? I only shot it between my toes once or 10 times.

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

I agree and I can definitely see it coming from the perspective of being close to someone with addiction issues, it can become a huge part of somebody's life without actually being the addicted person

Re: Was Dave a Heroin User? (Rhyme and Reason?)
 

He's still on the black tar. Duh