6 Musicians and Poets Who Write About Recovery

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We can often feel alone on our journey in recovery — but we are not

It’s encouraging to know that there are successful poets and musicians that go through many of the same things we do.

In our article about listening habits, we talked about how we need to examine what we listen to and how it makes us feel. Our current music interests could be causing triggers without even mentioning our vices. The songs we play on repeat could be creating the emotional spaces that underlie our urges to act out. We need to do our best to develop a new lifestyle if we want to see successful recovery take place. Changing our listening habits is a small, yet important way we can start to do that.

We also shared how we can rewrite our story in a sense by composing poetry and lyrics ourselves. We can experience emotional awareness, feel heard, and process our trauma just by writing what we feel. But where do you start? You’ve stopped listening to the stuff that triggers you, but what do you listen to now? You want to try writing a poem or a song but you don’t consider yourself a writer or a musician. Why don’t we start with finding new artists that write directly about recovery? Here are a few.

Published

07/07/2022

Category

Music

#1

Luis Rodriguez

A California-based poet, author and speaker that has written eight poetry collections over the last 30 years.

He is a renowned gang intervention specialist on the west coast and frequently writes about his early history in East L.A. gangs and his addiction at that time. In addition to poetry, Rodriguez has also written eight other books, including two memoirs that chronicle his gang days and his journey from addiction to recovery. He uses L.A. as the backdrop to himself, representing both his worst and his best, as seen in his poem, “Love Poem to Los Angeles”.

Luis Rodriguez
Marshall Mathers

#2

Marshall Mathers

Most people, if not everyone, knows Marshall Mathers as world renowned Eminem.

With his early history, the nature of the music industry, and his success, it’s no surprise that Eminem struggled with addiction. He frequently writes about his addiction to pain pills in his music. However, his seventh studio album, Recovery, speaks directly to it. The song, “Going Through Changes”, features another famous musician in recovery, Ozzy Osbourne. In addition to “maning up” to his addiction, the song, and album deal with topics of shame, suicide, and living up to expections.

#3

Hala Alyan

A Brooklyn-based psychologist that specializes in recovery and has written many books.

Among other novels, she has written four award-winning poetry collections that chronicle her journey as a Palestinian immigrant and recovering alcoholic. Alyan has gone as far as writing a set of poems, one for each of the twelve steps of recovery, in her latest poetry collection, The Twenty-Ninth Year. Alyan lays bare her journey to sobriety, as seen in the poem “Step 2: A Higher Power”.

Hala Alyan
Anthony Kiedis

#4

Anthony Kiedis

Frontman and vocalist for The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Anthony Kiedis, has been continuously sober for over two decades now. He is arguably one of the most outspoken artists in the music industry today. For decades, Kiedis has peppered his journey to recovery throughout their albums. Among The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ many hits, “Under the Bridge” remains their most powerful display of recovery in lyrical form. After losing a friend to an overdose, Kiedis recalls a moment of his life when he used drugs under a bridge in L.A. The song is filled with sadness and regret, but thankfully void of shame. It stands as a shiny testament to how we should honestly reflect on our past.

#5

Kaveh Akbar

A poet, through and through.

Although his list of full publications is much shorter than the other poets on this list, he is by far the most focused and potent on the topic of recovery. Akbar’s debut poetry collection, Calling a Wolf a Wolf, chronicles his experience as a Muslim Iranian- American in recovery. In a poem taken from the collection, “Against Dying”, he shares vulnerably how his addiction to alcohol should have taken his life, but by some miracle he’s alive today to tell his story.

Kaveh Akbar
Lecrae Moore

#6

Lecrae Moore

Single-handedly responsible for making “Christian hip hop” mainstream.

With that notion, he’s had a conflicted history with the church. His honest and raw commentary on the Christian church’s poor response to success and recovery is admirable. Lecrae is also one of the most hardworking artists I have ever come across. Over the last fifteen years, he has put out twelve studio albums, written two books, and founded an independent record label. Lecrae’s recovery from drug, alcohol, and sex addiction is prominent through all his albums, but peaks in his fourth and fifth albums, Rehab and Rehab: The Overdose. The song, “Divine Intervention”, combines the Step 2 notion of seeking a higher with the clinical challenge of intervention.

Conclusion

Key takeaways

  • Luis Rodriguez writes about his early history in east L.A. gangs and addiction
  • Marshall Mathers writes about his traumatic childhood and addiction to pain pills
  • Hala Alyan writes about being a Palestinian immigrant and her arecovery from alcohol
  • Anthony Kiedis writes about his life long journey of recovery from drug use
  • Kaveh Akbar writes about his experience as a Muslim in recovery from alcohol
  • Lecrae Moore writes about his recovery from drugs, alcohol, and sex and his struggle with find support in the church despite his strong faith

Challenge

Apply to your life

Spend at least an hour this week checking out one or more of the writers listed above. You could theoretically spend weeks consuming and soaking in their works. Pick one person that really stood out to you (assuming you haven’t already listened to their stuff intensely). Use their works as a catalyst to inspire you to change your listening habits and even write your own poetry or music.

Conclusion

Key takeaways

  • Luis Rodriguez writes about his early history in east L.A. gangs and addiction
  • Marshall Mathers writes about his traumatic childhood and addiction to pain pills
  • Hala Alyan writes about being a Palestinian immigrant and her arecovery from alcohol
  • Anthony Kiedis writes about his life long journey of recovery from drug use
  • Kaveh Akbar writes about his experience as a Muslim in recovery from alcohol
  • Lecrae Moore writes about his recovery from drugs, alcohol, and sex and his struggle with find support in the church despite his strong faith

Challenge

Apply to your life

Spend at least an hour this week checking out one or more of the writers listed above. You could theoretically spend weeks consuming and soaking in their works. Pick one person that really stood out to you (assuming you haven’t already listened to their stuff intensely). Use their works as a catalyst to inspire you to change your listening habits and even write your own poetry or music.

A Recovery Community Center in Chesterton, Indiana.

This location is also the studio and homebase for content creation on Artistic Recovery. The team of professionals at Three20 conceive, draft, and edit many of the articles you find here. These recovery resources are a collaboration between certified recovery coaches, creative writers, fitness trainers, artists, musicians, and chefs. Most importantly, our content is written for people in recovery, by people in recovery.

Ty Walker

Ty Walker is a contract copywriter and graphic designer with a huge heart for recovery. He has spent the last five years serving churches and recovery communities with his creative skills. Ty spends his free time writing poetry and fictional short stories as well as hiking, biking, and kayaking with his wife, Angie, and his two daughters, Winter and Ember.

Credit where credit is due

Portions of this article were originally sourced from readpoetry.com, truehealingcenters.com and Arrow Passage Recovery. If you would like to check out additional recovery articles, videos, and podcast episodes, check us out at artisticrecovery.org.

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Our current music interests could be causing triggers without even mentioning our vices. The songs we play on repeat could be creating the emotional spaces that underlie our urges to act out. We need to do our best to develop a new lifestyle if we want to see successful recovery take place. Changing our listening habits is a small, yet important way we can start to do that.

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