Thin Lizzy - Opium Trail Lyrics

Their finest hour

Lizzy's best album - live or otherwise - as far as I'm concerned. The quality of the songwriting is consistently superb but the band never reached these heights again, unfortunately. Brian Robertson 'only' guested on a few tracks but his playing is blisteringly aggressive. If only Lynott could have forgiven him for the fight in the Speakeasy that sabotaged a previous US tour and ultimately led to Gary Moore permanently joining the band, a misjudgment on Lynott's part that marked the beginning of the end. Oh well. The uninitiated should also check out 'Killer Without a Cause' - hotter than a Port Talbot blast furnace!

@Al Thanks Al. Happy Christmas dude.

The drumming..the FUKKEN drumming!!
The Guitar... the fukken guitar!
The bass..the fukken basslines!!
The singing... the fukken singing!

It all float togehter and the "delay"way hes drumming is so insane giving the song that low "hang"

I give in, I have to fully agree with the wise man called Oghren who said the following, one of the coolest bass lines ever. Me I love the live version of this song, I often wonder, how was it possible for 4 human beings to be able to play such stunningly brilliant music live.

Heard Lizzy almost never chose to play this song live.. One of their very best, in my opinion.

Heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock, post-punk, new wave, glam punk, traditional heavy metal, punk blues, power pop, progressive metal

Yes it's all in there!

It’s a fucking crime how overlooked they are...

John Norum does a nice cover of this on Face the Truth.

It clears all pain but your soul is claimed again...

My absolute favourite Thin Lizzy track and Phil's greatest poetry. Happy 70th birthday Wild One.

Sorry I Just Do Not Trust The Shoot You In The Back Room.

Taco Pasco County Sheriff Heroin Blue Opps Kill Team,,, See Why I Won't Get Into Your Police Car.

Man these guys were no fucking joke. Real deal shit here. What a song and performance. Just bad ass.

Right on !

Heavy metal, hard rock, NWOBHM, progressive rock, space rock

Best. Visconti is genius.

Phils voice in echo

Yes, one of their best songs and the guitar is FANTASTIC here! Robbo, my all time hero!

Best linear flight.

this is real music

Their best song along with Emerald

Wish this song was twice as long!

Law Enforcement using Heroin to control CIs, and protect the supply line and bank, we know not all of them are corrupt, and the ones who aren't are probably just sd pissed off as us. Now why is stay out of our way while we track everything down so hard to understand???

Best song for checking if your headphones/speakers work properly

Kuwait Heroin Banking Trail, mixed with oil money? The best place to hide a piece of straw, a haystack.

The best Lizzy song ever nothing comes close!And Tony Visconti=god!He gets it not a lot of producers do that.

This song clears all my pain. Yes! It really does!

Loved Brian Robertsons solo on this, probably my all time favourite Lizzy song, also Killer without a cause from the same album

Hej Martin! Hoppas allt är som det ska med dig. Ville bara säga att pappa Älskar dig så mycket, och tänker på dig varje dag min son.
Sorgligt att det blivit så här.
Men hur som helst så kommer pappa att Älska dig för "Alltid" Glöm inte det min son. Jag lever för dig! Don't leave me know!!! Ta hand om dig nu!!!❤❤❤😢✈

Fantastic with headphones on!  My love.

Stay clean

Downey was erratic in a truly brilliant way

I wish I got into TL much earlier in my life...

I'm glad I did anyways

"eclipse your pain"

It's killing me to think that every Lizzy song is amazing, from the guitar to drums to bass and vocals, but most people only know them for 1 or 2 of their hits!

22 people are morons. This shit is kick ass!!!!

phil killed it on the bass on this track

Nothing can beat this song its sublime untouchable wat team brilliant brilliant brilliant

O thing can beat

l’héroïne ta tué phil!!!! éternel thin lizzy!!!!

very good

Hell yes!

Fenomenal BASS Solos.Phil immortal music warrior.

My all time favorite musician. Phil lynnot

Don't confuse the band with the drugs

Great song by Lizzy! One of their best in my opinion. Such a waste of a young life and great talent. R.I.P Phil Lynott

in my opinion my fav l.p of thin lizzy brilliant from start to finish :-)

the live version of this is equally amazing in different ways {live in Philly recording]

I'm sorry your heart got broken

Nothing else like it

Such an intense song ,the vocals,Phil at his best,and the solos ,perfect,Robbo,meant it,and ,boy,you can tell,another reason why Lizzy ,are legendary.

its funny.   the classic line up  are known for so many songs that got played to death at the 'live and dangerous' gigs.    people love "emerald" , "black rose",  "boys are back" ,  "jailbreak",  etc....  in fact I think a good percentage of thin lizzy fans would say "emerald" is their favorite, but none of the songs on 'live and dangerous' can hold a candle to this song   . this song has a SINISTER edge, a real menacing sound that NONE of the other songs really have.     this is my 2nd favorite TL song.   number one being the title track to their 3rd album.   my favorite fucking song of all time.

this song is so fucking dark and I love it.   those first 3 notes are so heavy.   I heard those 3 notes on the "behind the music" and decided I wanted to find the song...  as soon as I got on iTunes and looked at the albums, I knew "opium trail" had to be the song that contains those 3 notes.  so dark and heavy and badass.

Leave it to Phil and his friends to be relevant 40 years later.

i just found this song and i have eargasm wooooooow

Don't need to do the drug to love thin song.

im 60 years old with grown kids and grandkids and I Rock to this bad ass song hauling ass in my built 67 Camaro. living the life.

Don't forget the oil change

fuck yeah

Oh fuck yeah, cruising the drag, high as fuck on Thai Stick....the 70's were awesome...

Jesus. Brian Downey was/is some drummer like!

stoner tune😎love it..masterpiece..a topic that is still a issue..

I've always loved this song....very stoney tune

Scott Gorham took a line that led him to the opium trail...

Lynott was a seriously vivid writer, and with this one packed with an illicit mysterious quality, and what a delivery in the voice. Probably one of my favorite Lizzy tracks and Robbo just shreds on the solos.

He followed the line
 of so many Irish writers/poets

chills within 5 syllables

Amazing. First song really heard by them hope they got more like this.

Oh yeah there's plenty more where that came from. Check out classic songs like:
Bad Reputation
Killer Without A Cause
Chinatown
Rocky
Johnny
Don't Believe A Word
Waiting For An Alibi
Got To Give It Up
...and heaps more

Best Thin Lizzy song I've heard.

what's this? sped up a bit? the studio version sounds better. This is the youtube version. LOL.

Lizzy's finest line up. Robbo was a beast back then.

Amen to that.

The greatest

Still no song like this. Brian downey just executing pure hatred on the drum kit.

are you kidding me? wizard..shan.opium..haunting vocals..great guitars ..epic😌

shan _ golden ∆

best song of thin lizzy..get a clue people drugs kill people every day...some one is dead and u dont even know it or do

According to Tony Visconti, Brian Robertson thoroughly impressed everyone in the studio with his solo, and was greeted with a round of applause. Strange duck that he was, Robbo reacted by throwing down his guitar, and storming out of the studio. Immensely talented guy, but he had a severe attitude problem back then.

maybe he realised he had reached a zenith of some kind with the band....

Lee Axelinger
Understandable that he had "an attitude problem", he had been fired from the band! He was only brought in after ALL the tracks were done, just to lay down leads on a few. So all the rhythm tracks you hear on EVERY song on Bad Rep, are in fact, Scott Gorham. I don't blame Robbo for being bitter either. From age 17 he was an integral part of Thin Lizzy, but never received song writing credits (publishing $$) where they were due. In fact, I'd hazard to say that Gorham got more credits and was a far inferior player to Robertson. Scott has stated himself that he had only been playing guitar about 3 years when he joined Lizzy.

Having said all that, there's no denying the magic those two made when playing together live. I was lucky enough to see them twice with Philip in my younger days. Memories that play like a loop in my head... :-)

I can't believe a song like this is real

​@Jaksu74 I found this band 5 years ago and I was 16 years old. I knew a few musics of this band and i didn't care search more musics about it because laziness. But 3 years later I decided to search more musics , and I had a thought "Man, why did not I listen it before", and since then I have all albums of Thin Lizzy in my smartphone.

It's real dude. I first heard this as a cover by John Norum. Thin Lizzy was an awesome band! They
are primarily known for Jailbreak and Boys are Back In Town, but those songs largely represent the quite limited yet flimsier end of their catalog. Chinatown maybe my favorite album. Title track, Killer on the Loose, Genocide, Sugar Blues, great album. You start throwing in the stuff from Black Rose, Johnny the Fox, Thunder and Lightning, Renegade, Vagabonds..., and the rest of the albums, these dudes are rock royalty!

@Mark Rago i agree with you on everything except i do think jailbreak does deserve to be up there with their best tracks, although jailbreak live is a considerable upgrade when they played it faster and heavier. boys are back in town i agree always felt it was inferior to their best work. favorite album for me is thunder and lightning but yes chinatown is excellent, favorite song that you didn't mention is sweetheart, song has a real driving force to it while still having a little laid back feel.

@Mordechai Twersky Yep Sweetheart is good too. Perhaps I mean that songs like Jailbreak played into the dirt for decades, while you never hear Killer on the Loose, Genocide, Sweetheart, Sugar Blues, Opium Trail, Pressure Will Blow, Hollywood, Waiting for an Alibi, and other overlooked classics

One of my favorite tracks, very underrated. Phil's vocals are haunting and the double lead guitars are killa. As always, Brian Downey, rocks the drumkit.

yes just excellent . phil was/is a genius

Manly drug song. Takes balls to go down that road and still function.

did i mention this song rules..wow!!!awesome

My favourite song on Bad Reputation

+Pierre ToavrishPior to me it's the all time favorite song.

Agree to that

I agree, and the title track is awesome, this song is dark and seductive . I got obsessed with this song.

its my all time favorite "classic lineup" song.    its so dark and menacing and sinister.. I freakin love it

thanks TGS

fucking great song.. bestof the classic lineup

this is the best song from the ''classic lineup''. however, wild one and bad reputation and black rose and sha la la and with love are also really awesome

Very similar to the ones i like ... i'm a hard-fan, love Phill to death :)

classic bad ass video game music especially for fallout halo and destiny

So dope!

This tune reminds me of Uriah Heep.

Except it's way better

Heep couldn't hold a candle to these guys ever.

This is hard ! What a great psichedelic power they are giving every time !!!
Great bass rhythm, fanatastic acid guitar

I hate heroin. it destroys so many lives and good people.

Anthony Montero , then you are a mug

You were never good to begin with if you fuck aroind with heroin

Stop doing heroin and start drinking poppy tea

@martin gonzalez fuck off, and listen to this properly!

Agreed. It's the only drug Lemmy from Motorhead never tried. That tells you all you need to know. He said himself it's not a drug it's a death sentence.

Best Lizzy song by far.

Listen to vagabond of the western world. It's the only song I like better from lizzy

Oooh what a song!

Hard to argue that. That bass line is as addictive as Opium. Goddamn...

no doubt

@SepticSchizo955 Absofuckinglutely

Lizzy at their best! I dare you to try listening to this just once.

My dad really hated rock music in general but when he heard this song off my album he told me that this was a really great song. Extreme high praise coming from him. I did become without my knowledge addicted to caffeine, and the two nights I tried to sleep coming off that were pure hell. I can't imagine trying to come off something as strong as heroin.

its a LOT diff coming off opium if you're "dependent", you get physically dependent, dependent and addicted are 2 very different things, with opium your entire body is dependent on cellular level so when that opium is not present your body starts going through physical withdrawals and the side effect can be horrible

fever, sweats, restlessness, stomach pains, heartburn and indigestion are some of the lighter side effects then there is vomiting, a feeling like you are about to die of some sort of poisoning, diarrhea, uncontrollable leg shakes, tremors, it can be VERY VERY bad and thats hwy a LOT of people don't want to STOP and for a long time there was no help, no methadone clinics and withdrawals help at all

the Feds LIE about it to fool the unwary so they can keep their corrupt war on drugs alive, Portugal ENDED any and ALL wars on drugs and its HELPED ten fold, they focus on TREATMENT and save TRILLIONS and at the same time don't trample on the rights of clean positive responsible users..

@nineball26
I agree, addiction should be treated as a medical issue, not a criminal one. One thing I read about heroin is that it actually changes certain structures in the brain that are responsible for proper bodily functions. That's why the body goes haywire when the heroin is reduced or removed. It takes time for the brain to reset itself and if too much change in the brain occurred, it can't reset itself. It's then use heroin for the rest of your life or die.

@Stanley Lucas if you are addicted to Caffeine just go to your local dealer on the corner His street name is Starbucks and he'll hook you up. Cheap too. Lots of girls buy from him, lots of chronics go see him every morning, even cops
score from Starbucks. 

Caffeine, .... Millennials.

Stanley Lucas Coming off heroin is probably the worst experience you can have. Done it a few times, pure hell

One of the best bands ever.The bass and drums withe Downey and Phil set up all the great dueling guitars whoever was with Gorham. Love all their albums.

not "ONE OF the best bands"....  THE best band ever.

Brian Robertson

The Best Band. Lyrics and music are killer.

one of the most heavyweight rockin songs ever, the pure labourwork behind those drums and bass is fantastic...actually tears my eyes..

same feeling everytime I hear this band.

I hear you (Y)
thx

AngryPostmanSthlm2 Absofuckinglutely

OPIUM PHIL LYNOTT, as MOONSPELL, god bless you

this song is to Daniela Cassar - her down to a T

Sun is just coming over the horizon and I would feel alive right now if I had some smack.

and when I started using, I noticed that I because obsessed with Thin Lizzy.  I don't know why exactly. I never took notice of them before.   I found my favorite song ever.  Vagabond of the western world.   I think the drugs somehow enhanced my love of this song.  its really weird.   I always listen to it on the way to get the stuff. its like my drug theme song.   oh, and OPIUM TRAIL is my 2nd fave TL song.   its really close.  I used to listen to this song really loud when I got the stuff in hand.   Thin Lizzy and using just seemed to go hand in hand.  it was freaking awesome for a long time.  then it just because a nightmare cuz of all the detoxing and severe depression.   using is really only "fun" when youre not addicted. I mean it can still be fun, just not nearly as fucking fun as when you weren't mainly doing it to avoid feeling like garbage.

hey bro, i'm still clean. It reminds me of some good times this song😆 How are you? pm me.

I'm Alan btw.

Your dead right pal, nothing compares. I like your summary there of gear, you know what you're talking about.

Sup pal

To all the people saying you can't get off heroin etc. I've been off it 7 years. so stfu.

Scott Gorham managed to get off it. Thats why he's still here and sadly Phil isn't!

Stay clean everyone

A friend of mine was addicted for 11 years and is clean for 9 years now, good work keep it up mate

15vyears

Wow! ... I now need to sketch this picture!

one of the coolest bass lines ever.

Isn't that true of every Thin Lizzy song?

Bryan Howard 🎯

Underrated singing bassist...Thin Lizzy is so badass💯🍀🍀🍀🤘🏻

Man i played this so loud still remember the day Dad stood at the bottom of the stairs telling me to turn it down lol. It wasn't classical, but it now 36 years on it sure is classic. Sorry Dad... miss you, and those days too.

well he thought that heroin was the rock n roll choice as idiots in the 1970 to 1980's but when u do heroin ur fucked and get seriously fuckin hooked forever if u can get off it and that's the bottom line

He's playing on this song after he cut his hand - still rocks it.

Robertson did the guitar solos on this and Killer Without a Cause but in his own words he was 'a total git' at the time so they couldn't keep him in the band.

Steve Veasey
Actually, Robbo was fired BEFORE these tracks were laid down. Fired for slicing his hand in a bar fight the night before Thin Lizzy were to embark on a major US tour supporting Rainbow. Philip was the one who convinced him to come back to the band and the studio for Bad Reputation. Only then did Robbo find out that ALL the tracks were done and would he mind putting a lead on a couple songs. Bit of a poke in the eye, no? All this combined with years of no song writing credits (publishing $$) left him quite bitter. While he was paid well for touring and had all the goodies to go with the lifestyle, he doesn't receive a dime for any Thin Lizzy that is played today. All that money goes to Lynott's estate, which keeps Mum living well.

Can't deny the powerhouse combo of Robbo/Gorham live tho! For the years he was in there, he lived it to the max.

...or individuals. Clearly you are one of the people in the know. Francis Crick discovered DNA while on LSD.