The Opioid Diaries

Album: Let The Bad Times Roll (2021)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song finds The Offspring addressing the opioid addiction epidemic that is plaguing America. But rather than judging the abusers, the band blames the pharmaceutical companies that are making these substances available.

    But they're not junkies like the news guy said
    They're just kids who've gotten over their heads
    Big Pharma hooked them in the first place
    And it won't stop


    Lead singer Dexter Holland noted: "While drug addiction is certainly not a new issue, the opioid epidemic in America is different. It's different because it was created by, and driven by, Big Pharma - and I wrote this song to say that the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable for its consequences."
  • Holland dissects how opioid addiction in now not only derived recreationally, but also affects people prescribed medication.

    When those pills are gon?, what drug is next?
    We've made a nation full of kids on dope
    They're looking down now at the end of their rope
    So now who's gonna come and fix this?


    Holland told American Songwriter the opioid crisis is different because victims get prescribed these drugs for pain not knowing how addictive they are. When the prescription runs out, they get hooked on illegal street drugs like heroin. "It's almost like you're accidentally addicted in a way," he said. "It was an interesting viewpoint that I hadn't really seen discussed before… this is a scourge that's really caused by big pharma."
  • Daveed Benito directed the music video, which uses hallucinatory images, time-lapse photography, and somber statistics to capture the damage created by the opioid epidemic.

    Benito found it tough-going producing the clip. "Addiction is a heavy subject to take on, but it's important to bring awareness to this crisis," he said. "My hope is that these visual metaphors shed more light onto this epidemic - an epidemic that does not discriminate with regard to race, wealth, or age."

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