The Drugs Don’t Work – The Verve
Lyrics and Guitar Lessons
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Original, live version and covers
The Drugs Don’t Work Lyrics
All this talk of getting old
It’s getting me down my love
Like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown
This time I’m comin’ down
And I hope you’re thinking of me
As you lay down on your side
Now the drugs don’t work
They just make you worse
But I know I’ll see your face again
Now the drugs don’t work
They just make you worse
But I know I’ll see your face again
But I know I’m on a losing streak
‘Cause I passed down my old street
And if you wanna show, then just let me know
And I’ll sing in your ear again
Now the drugs don’t work
They just make you worse
But I know I’ll see your face again
‘Cause baby, ooh, if heaven calls, I’m coming, too
Just like you said, you leave my life, I’m better off dead
All this talk of getting old
It’s getting me down my love
Like a cat in a bag, waiting to drown
This time I’m comin’ down
Now the drugs don’t work
They just make you worse
But I know I’ll see your face again
‘Cause baby, ooh, if heaven calls, I’m coming, too
Just like you said, you leave my life, I’m better off dead
But if you wanna show, just let me know
And I’ll sing in your ear again
Now the drugs don’t work
They just make you worse
But I know I’ll see your face again
||: Yeah, I know I’ll see your face again :|| x4
I’m never going down, I’m never coming down
No more, no more, no more, no more, no more
I’m never coming down, I’m never going down
No more, no more, no more, no more, no more
Guitar Lessons
The Drugs Don’t Work – Step 1 (Free Preview)
Today we start looking at a new song in The Verve’s monster hit The Drugs Don’t Work.
The chords are all from the key of C. Let’s start by looking at the chord progression and how we can extend the chords.
Go to The Drugs Don’t Work step 1.
The Drugs Don’t Work – Step 2
Let’s take a look at the strumming pattern for this song. We are dealing with a 16th note pattern at a slow pace again.
It’s the same pattern for all chords, even when there are two chords in one bar.
Go to The Drugs Don’t Work step 2.
The Drugs Don’t Work – Step 3
Today you’ll learn a bunch of 2nd guitar part ideas for The Drugs Don’t Work.
These parts are picked one note at a time.
Go to The Drugs Don’t Work step 3.
The Drugs Don’t Work – Step 4
In this last step, we fit a capo on fret five and work on playing picked and strummed parts as if in the key of G.
This then becomes a more creative 2nd guitar part that you can use when playing along with me and the singer.
Go to The Drugs Don’t Work step 4.
Related Pages
Chords and Guitar Lessons
The Drugs Don’t Work is an easy song to play for a beginner having simple chords and a repetitive strumming pattern.
Using only simple open position chords it is only the F chord that may present a problem.
Go to The Drugs Don’t Work chords and guitar lessons.
Ben Harper
Ben Harper is an American roots musician who has stretched his appeal around the globe by recording covers of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing and The Verve‘s The Drugs Don’t Work.
Harper’s first album Welcome To The Cruel World (1994) was followed by Fight For Your Mind only a year later.
Go to Ben Harper biography.
The Verve
The Verve is a British rock band formed in 1989, in Wigan. Among their bigger hits, you’ll find Bitter Sweet Symphony and The Drugs Don’t Work.
Since their first debut album, A Storm In Heaven, critics have always favored The Verve as one of the best 90s British rock acts.
Go to The Verve biography.
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