Analysis Of Medicate) By Theory Of A Deadman

The song Rx (medicate) by Theory of a Deadman highlights addiction, it’s causes and the implications of drug use from the perspective of an average American addict. Addiction is a prevalent disease in America, especially in the restaurant industry where I work.

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, half of people twelve and older have used drugs at least one time (that would be about thirteen students in this class). Since 2000, nearly seven hundred thousand people died of an overdose. These insane numbers have caused the federal budget to allocate thirty-five billion dollars to drug control in 2020. On a local scale, all 95 Tennessee counties have received a share of the $31.4 million dollar payouts from the Tennessee

Why, oh, why does God hate me?

When All I wants to get high

And forget this so called life”

This stanza focuses heavily on the fact that drugs are often used as a coping mechanism. They are used to mask problems and “escape reality”. When the singer mentions God hating them, it can be explained with many addicts feeling like they got the short end of life to begin with. As the listener further examines the song, the main chorus further speaks of the feelings of drug use.

“I get so freakin bored

Nothing to do today

I guess Ill sit around and medicate” The narrator shows symptoms of depression (possibly exemplified by drug use) and appears to have no motivation. This is interesting because some classes of drugs cause hyper productivity and an increase of energy. Based off the fact that this song mentions “Crushing candy, crushing pills”, it is likely that the singer is on some form of opioids or phencyclidine (PCP) and not accelerants such as methamphetamine or Adderall. Opioids are generally used and prescribed as a pain medication. The listener can assume based off this evidence that the singer likely has sustained a serious injury and become addicted to opioids and fighting depression. On the other hand, if the narrator is on phencyclidine the point would be to be in a dissociative

Rx (Medicate) was written to highlight how prevalent and common drugs are in North America. Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian band, but this song was written to target American audiences as well. It is important to note that Theory of A Deadman was signed under the record label owned by Nickleback, further targeting American Audiences. The band used this song as a launching point for their campaign with Shatterproof, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating about addiction and reducing the stigma around the disease. Further, the band sells pins with “RX Medicate” on them to raise money and awareness for Shatterproof. This song opened the door when it was released in 2017 to conversations about how common addiction is to start breaking down the walls and stigmas surrounding the