Spring starts in March and that is why a flower fair was held on Saturday, March 30, at Orman Garden in Giza. Didn't I tell you that March is a great month? Egypt's Minister of Agriculture inaugurated the 2013 Spring Flower Fair, which saw the participation of 160 exhibitors and producers of plants and flowers. This event is held annually at Orman Garden, which has been the show's permanent home since 2004. The Egyptian Spring Flower Fair started in the 1920s and we really need something beautiful in this country, for a change. What we don't need is the story I will tell you now. During the fair, the Minister of Agriculture was shocked when a man approached him, while holding a sign that demanded the Government grow ‘Turkish hashish' in Egypt. Excuse me, because I'm not an expert, but I believe hashish is hash, which is a drug! This man claimed that hashish cultivation would provide Egypt with up to 10 billion euros every two months! I still don't know why he didn't say ‘5 billion euros every month'. Maybe it takes two months to grow. Whatever... Luckily, the Minister turned his back and walked away from him. However, many artists haven't turned their backs on drugs. In the 1960s, drugs became quite popular among artists and some of them lost their lives because of this. Many say that the pressures of fame and the urge to maintain a status in the business drive artists to addiction, but I totally disagree. Numerous songs have been made about this terrible curse and most of them try to raise young people's awareness, in a bid to keep them away from even trying drugs. The Verve is a British band which had two hugely successful songs, one of them being ‘The Drugs Don't Work'. Although it seems to be about a painkiller or some kind of a medicine that the man was taking to get over losing his girl, the song is actually about drugs, as singer Richard Ashcroft says. He should know, because he wrote it. What were Huey Lewis & the News talking about when they released the hit ‘I Want a New Drug'? It is a rather complicated story, but the song sounds a lot like Ray Parker Jr Academy Award nominee ‘Ghost Busters'. Anyway, Huey sued Ray for that and won! When the Beatles released ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', most people thought that this was a psychedelic number about the drug LSD. Actually, John Lennon's elder son Julian came home from school with something that he had painted in his class. When John asked him about it he said, “That's Lucy in the sky with diamonds." Lucy was Julian's classmate and the innocent boy knew nothing at all about drugs. The Beatles were wrongfully accused of suggesting something that they didn't. However, they never denied that they did drugs on many occasions, including the day they met the Queen of England to receive their MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) medals. Prince was aware that many pop artists are addicts and he expressed his anti-drug opinion with the brilliant ‘Pop Life', on which he severely criticised those who spend fortunes on whatever they sniff. Don't they have better things to do? German trio Alphaville had an international smash hit with ‘Big in Japan' and no-one knew what the song was about. Despite its catchy melody and upbeat style, this track is in fact quite tragic – it is about drug addicts who get hooked and then are willing to do anything to get their fix. On that song the, trio referred to people who prostitute themselves to get the money they need for drugs. They only survive such a wretched existence by imagining things like they were famous and important in Japan! I don't know if I should hate or feel sorry for those people. ‘White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)' is the title of a 1983 hit by Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five. It bluntly warned everyone about cocaine and, in 1995, the same song was covered by Duran Duran, who had a hit with it as well. The dangers of this particular drug didn't stop legendary rock and blues artist Eric Clapton from proudly singing about ‘Cocaine'. Let me explain... the man who had serious drug-related problems at one point, decided to release this track as an anti-drug song... so he is innocent after all. Besides, it is only a cover version of an original track by J.J. Cale. The cast of British TV series Grange Hill did a great thing by releasing ‘Just Say No', which reminded youngsters that they should refuse drugs if asked to try them. What kind of a monster would tempt others and lead them into addiction? Roxy Music realised that drugs are not necessarily made of plants or chemical substances. For instance, a drug could be what they declared on the hit ‘Love is the Drug'. So, now we know that love should be prescribed by a physician. Do you think love is addictive? Robert Palmer thought so and he even accused his woman of being ‘Addicted to Love'. Although the Queen of Rock, Tina Turner, is very healthy and fit, she was ‘addicted' to this song and often included it in her live performances. Some things have no cure, but still we shouldn't rule out ‘Rehab'. Amy Winehouse made a very good song about this topic. Unfortunately, she died of alcohol intoxication in 2011. One final note. I believe everyone should stay away from anything harmful and those who think they should try something once should be aware that this might lead to addiction. Please stay safe. Send me drug-free emails to: [email protected]
