Analysis

Alongside proper scholarly sources, this paper demonstrates analyzing results or evidence in ways consistent with a selected discipline-appropriate method/approach. Because the discipline was music the paper was broken up by song. Each song analyzed and organized to best answer the research question. 

The single Mr. Brownstone by Guns N’ Roses, was released in 1987. The song was written by band members Slash and Izzy Stradlin, about their struggle with addiction to Heroin. The song describes the lows of addiction. The song begins with the user's daily routine, “I get up around seven, Get outta bed around nine.” This serves as a contrast to later in the song to show how the heroin addiction became his only focus. The next verse continues with this timeline, “The show usually starts around seven, we go on stage at nine.” The song starts the show the distraction the drug became. Although the show was supposed to start at seven, the band was too concerned with getting high causing them to not start the show until nine. Then through the course the listener hears the ongoing battle addiction causes, 

“we been dancin’ with Mr.Brownstone 

he’s been knockin’ 

he won’t leave me alone

no, no, no 

He won’t leave me alone.”

Dancing with Mr. Brownstone refers to the ongoing use of heroin, causing the addiction. This addiction consumes the user's life, and the constant desire to be high reflects “he won’t leave me alone.” The bridge opens with “I used to do a little but a little wouldn’t do, so the little got more and more.” The writer comments directly on the tolerance that builds through addiction. Because of the overwhelming use of the drug, addicts begin building a tolerance and most use more of the drug to feel the same high. This line also shows how a drug problem can start with a small amount. In the second verse the audience sees the direct contrast to the first verse, “Now, I get up around whenever.” The drug now begins to really take a toll, going from just being late to not being able to get out of bed. The audience begins to hear the user's desire to become clean, “But that old man, he’s a real motherfucker, gonna kick him on down the line.” The user knows he feels the way he does because of the obsession with heroin he currently possesses. However, in the future he wants to get clean. Finally, in the closing verse the user “said, I leave it all behind.” Lead singer of Guns N’ Roses quit Heroin cold turkey, which perfectly reflects this last line. However, in the beginning of the closing verse he says, “Stuck it in the bindle and I shot it in the middle, and it, it drove outta my mind.” A bindle is a small package of heroin. Before the user quits, he uses one last time. “Mr. Brownstone” by Guns N’ Roses reflects the less desirable effects of heroin use. However, this song represents how easy heroin is in conversation, and using it is normalized to the public.