Cocaine Addiction In Tommy Shaw's Song Snowblind

Snowblind,” a song written by Dennis DeYoung and James Young of the American rock band, Styx, was released in 1981 on their Paradise Theater album portraying the dreadfulness of cocaine addiction. The “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll” era of the sixties to the eighties had glamorized cocaine use. The core members of the band, having performed throughout that period, released this song to serve as a deterrent. With the exception of Tommy Shaw, the group has not spoken out about their own involvement with the stimulant, yet this song gives a very accurate depiction of dependency on it.

The lesson the country had formerly learned about the use of cocaine was unfamiliar to the generation of young Americans emerging during the sixties and seventies. A new way of life was being sought after where some saw illegal drug use as a right they should be entitled to. Cocaine, as well as other drugs, was …show more content…
Twice, “Mirror, mirror” is used in the lyrics and represents paraphernalia that is used as well as reflecting the individual’s own condition (Snowblind). They began under the impression that the whole affair would remain harmless and they are now afraid of what they see. Regardless of the means by which they arrived, there is the eventual humbling acknowledgement that this “Paradise” is, in fact, a prison from which they cannot escape.

The chorus explains the song’s title. There is nothing redeeming in this affair with a treacherous thief. “Can’t live without you” and “can’t get away” reveal the obsession that holds this relationship together (Snowblind). The connection between the two is concluded as that of a prisoner and their jailor. There is no more professed freedom for the inmate as they have come to accept the truth about their confinement. They make a small futile effort to call out for help with no real expectation and concede by beginning the process all over