"Not an Addict" is a song by Belgian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

K's Choice K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are brothers Sam Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Bart Van Lierde (bass), Tom Lodewyckx ...

from their second studio album, ''

Paradise in Me ''Paradise in Me'' is the second studio album by Belgian band K's Choice. It was released in 1995 by Double T Music. In the United States, it was released on 20 August 1996 by 550 Music. The album reached #121 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 ch ...

'' (1996). It was written by the band's core members—siblings

Gert Gert is a mainly masculine given name ( short form of Gerrit, Gerard, etc.) with some female bearers (short for Gertrude). Since 1993 no one in Sweden has been baptised as Gert according to the Swedish Bureau of Census, so the name is becomin ...

and Sam (then known as Sarah) Bettens—produced by Jean Blaute, and recorded at Jet Studios in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The song was first released as a single in Belgium in July 1995 and was issued in other territories between late 1995 and mid-1997. It became the band's most successful hit, reaching the top 40 in several countries, peaking at number eight in the

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

region of Belgium, and climbing to number five on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. The song won a ZAMU Award for Best Single in 1995.

Background and meaning

The song's content originates from

Sam Bettens Sam Bettens (born in 1972) is a Belgian musician and the lead singer of the Belgian band K's Choice. In May 2019, he came out as a transgender man. Career K's Choice In the mid-1990s, Bettens formed the band K's Choice with his brother Ge ...

' previous experiences with drugs and his views on

substance dependence Substance dependence, also known as drug dependence, is a biopsychological situation whereby an individual's functionality is dependent on the necessitated re-consumption of a psychoactive substance because of an adaptive state that has develope ...

. He explained in an interview that he was addicted to

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

s and experimented with

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the na ...

but never tried any hard drugs, fearing that it would make him lose touch with his self-control. Bettens went on to explain that the song is not pro-drug and expressed his worry about fans of the song trying drugs because of the subject matter. However, he also revealed that the track is not anti-drug, saying, "At home, there's a lot of debate about legalizing soft drugs, like pot, to separate them from the criminality that sometimes surrounds hard drugs. The issue isn't black and white, and neither is the song".

Composition

"Not an Addict" is written in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

and has a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 169 beats per minute. It has a length of four minutes and fifty seconds.

Critical reception

The song was proclaimed the "single of the week" on the 23 December 1996 issue of ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' magazine. According to the entry: "Among all that talent pouring out of Belgium—

dEUS ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or "deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief g ...

, Moondog Jr., The Sands—it is possible to overlook the latest gem out of this small country. To pass up on K-Choice would be a major mistake. K-Choice's singer/co-writer Sarah Bettens is obviously inspired by US alternative rock queens such as the Deal sisters,

Heather Nova Heather Nova (born Heather Allison Frith, July 6, 1968) is a Bermuda, Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. , she has released eleven full-length albums, six EPs and twelve singles. Biography Heather Nova was born Heather Allison Frith on Berm ...

and

Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Nap ...

. A little bit of Bangles pops up at the end, but the guitars remain loud and clear." ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it three out of five, describing it as "a brooding, bass-heavy torch song overlaid by breezy atmospheric vocals from the Belgian four-piece". In 1995, the song earned a ZAMU Award for Best Single.

Track listings

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

CD single (1995) # "Not an Addict" – 4:48 Benelux CD single (1996) # "Not an Addict" – 4:48 # "Dad" (recorded 4 December 1995 for "2 Meter Sessies") – 3:19 # "Not an Addict" (recorded 4 December 1995 for "2 Meter Sessies") – 4:36 # "Something's Wrong" (live version) – 3:49 European CD single # "Not an Addict" – 4:48 # "Something's Wrong" – 3:49 European maxi-single # "Not an Addict" – 4:48 # "Something's Wrong" – 3:49 # "Little Man" – 3:54 # "Basically the Same" – 3:30 German maxi-single # "Not an Addict" – 4:48 # "Concert Intro + To This Day" (live at

Pinkpop The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. ...

'96) – 5:13 # "My Record Company" (live at Pinkpop '96) – 3:54 # "My Heart" (live at Pinkpop '96) – 3:32 # "Walk Away" (live at Pinkpop '96) – 3:13 US promo CD # "Not an Addict" (radio edit) – 4:19 # "Mr. Freeze" – 4:23 # "A Sound That Only You Can Hear" – 4:15 # "My Record Company" – 3:42

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the 1995 Benelux CD single liner notes. Studio * Recorded at Jet Studios (

, Belgium). Personnel * K's Choice – performance **

Gert Bettens Gert Bettens is the lead guitarist of the Belgian band K's Choice. He, with his brother Sam Bettens, is the face of the band. The band is popular in Europe and had toured in the U.S. with The Verve Pipe, Tonic, Alanis Morissette and the Indig ...

– writing, artwork illustration ** Sam Bettens (as Sarah Bettens) – writing * Jean Blaute – production, mixing * Werner Pensaert – mixing * TTT-Rick Tubbax – management * Jurgen Rogiers – photography * King & Kong – artwork design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs 550 Music singles Columbia Records singles English-language Belgian songs Songs about drugs