Songfacts®:

• This song is sung from the perspective of a cocaine addict who is in love with a girl, but having a hard time coping with reality when he's not high. His girlfriend keeps asking him: "Did you forget to take your meds?" >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Zana K. - Hicksville, TX
• Alison "VV" Mosshart from the Kills sings on this. Michael Stipe from R.E.M. also shows up on the album, performing on the track "Broken Promise." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Victor - New York, NY
• Molko told Rock Mag (in 2006) the story behind the song, which is the opening track from Placebo's fifth studio album. He said: "The original version of 'Meds' was very unlike the one we've recorded. I wrote it during my stay in India, like 'Song To Say Goodbye.' 'Meds' is about losing yourself, not recognizing yourself. You feel lost, desperate, and you don't know what you think anymore, what you really feel. It's a very disturbing feeling, for me and for everyone, and I wanted to express it. I'm glad it's the opening song of the album, it's the first time a Placebo record opens with an acoustic chord."
• When Placebo were brainstorming potential female vocalists to duet with Molko, they first considered Courtney Love but thought she would be too difficult to work with. Dimitri Tikovoi, the album's producer, suggested Alison Mosshart, and the band were blown away by her vocals. "Her voice is a real turn-on, like Viagra," Molko said.
• When the Belgian magazine Humo pointed out that Mosshart, a lithe singer with dark hair and pale skin, resembled the similarly featured Placebo frontman, Molko replied: "Well, I've always thought that love is quite a narcissistic thing. You like to see yourself reflected in your lover. Not that I was ever involved with those two, but I do think they're very beautiful women. And a duet always sounds better with someone you have the hots for."
• Meds was a difficult album to make thanks to the band's preoccupation with drugs and the infighting that led to drummer Steve Hewitt's departure. The cover art, a collage of the trio's blurred faces, hinted at the struggle. "We couldn't have had a better album cover to represent what was going on at the time," Molko told Vice in 2017. "I think it's a very accomplished record, but I am surprised that we managed to make such an accomplished record considering how shot up in the clouds we were when we made it. There was a point in time as well when the lifestyle we had embraced so wholeheartedly started to turn dark and our personal relationship with Steve Hewitt was eroding. So it was a record borne out of a lot of psychological trauma. I think it's more honest than its predecessors. It really gives a window into how we were living at that time."
• Meds was the first Placebo album to chart in the US, where it stalled at #180. It fared much better in the English alt-rock band's homeland, where it peaked at #7.