Cod'ine

Album: It's My Way! (1964)
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Songfacts®:

  • This much-covered number was penned by the folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie and was originally a track on her 1964 debut album, It's My Way!
  • In 1963, recovering from bronchial pneumonia, Sainte-Marie became addicted to codeine; her recovery became the basis of this harrowing song.
  • Among the artists who have covered this are Donovan (who also had a hit with Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier"), Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Charlatans.
  • The Charlatans' version was used in the 1999 movie Boys Don't Cry, starring Hilary Swank.
  • Janis Joplin added new lyrics to this and recorded it in 1965. It went unreleased for 30 years until it was included on the album This Is Janis Joplin 1965.

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