70 Songs About Medicine, Doctors, and Health

Wonder why medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States? You're paying for an awful lot of education supporting that physician's expert medical opinion:

• a four-year undergraduate degree
• four more years of medical school
• a residency program lasting from 3-8 years, depending on the medical specialty and
• specialty fellowships lasting 1-3 years (optional).

When medical care saves your life, however, that hefty price is worthwhile, although a new set of worries can begin once those bills begin to pour in. For better or worse, many of us wouldn't be where we are now if it were not for doctors, modern medicine, and our healthcare system. Whether you're a hospital worker or a patient, celebrate doctors, hospitals, and medicine with a playlist of popular songs. We have a long list to start you out!

Isn't this the whole point of the healthcare system—to keep people alive? This disco smash hit from 1977 was part of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and is Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Interestingly, it's also been used to train medical professionals to administer the correct number of chest compressions per minute. CPR requires 100-120, and the song has about 104 beats per minute.

Although he's ailing desperately, the guy in this 1988 hair metal song doesn't have a fever. He's suffering from "a permanent disease" and searching earnestly for a cure. (Sounds really bad.) The narrator has already determined that the remedy for his toxic love addiction is some bad medicine from his sweetheart. Evidently, millions of people were ill that year with the same ailment because the song was an international favorite.

In this pop song from 1984, a man is looking for a new drug to make him feel like he does when he's alone with his girlfriend. Perhaps they broke up or he just can't get enough of her. Whatever the reason, he lists all the side effects that the drug cannot have. Apparently, his honey fills the prescription.

In this 1979 rock song is a man who is wholly smitten with a woman who repeatedly betrays him. He has a bad case of love obsession, and there's no pill for this affliction, although he seeks help from a doctor just in case. An adaptation of the tune is featured as the opening theme song for the medically-themed talk show, The Doctors.

When all medical interventions fail, this is what happens. We go meet our maker. We take a dirt nap. We cash in our chips. Sooner or later, we'll all go toes up, although doctors try to prolong our lives and make the best of the years we have.

This rock classic was a worldwide favorite in 1980. Ironically, because the song is about 110 beats a minute, it is also used to train medical professionals to administer the correct number of CPR chest compressions per minute (100-120). A little creepy, huh?

If you've ever had surgery, then you're probably thankful that there are good people who don't get woozy at the sight of blood and needles. Aren't you glad your surgeon and his or her team can slice and dice you then sew you up, good as new? (Well, almost.)

Sheryl Crow didn't sing this chart-topping rock ballad first, but I think she sang it best with her 2003 cover of Cat Stevens' original.

Nick Jonas wrote this 2008 pop song about his struggle with Type 1 Diabetes, previously called juvenile diabetes. Unless you've walked in the shoes of someone with an incurable chronic illness, you just couldn't understand. The tune describes the frustrations of such an illness and the requisite patience while you wait for medical research to find a cure. May medical researchers find it soon.

In this 2012 rock song, the narrator is headed to the hospital, and he's anticipating all that goes along with hospitalization: hospital gowns, not knowing when you'll be released, not being able to sleep, and lots of pills. The song references the experience of song's front man who suffered major withdrawal symptoms after coming off of ineffective psychiatric medicine which was prescribed to him for a mental disorder.

In this 1983 rock song, the narrator's lover might as well have a scalpel in her hand. She's severing their relationship and hasn't bothered with anesthesia. Rumor is that the woman has been cheating on the poor fella. Although he feels betrayed, he also admits needing her. That sure cuts like a knife.

Dolly Parton wrote this 2017 song for her own niece who battled five brutal years of leukemia and is now an adult. Although it's a children's tune, I included it because it is touching and an important, uplifting song to have in your treasure trove.

The tune describes the heroism of tolerating neverending chemo treatments and being frequently poked with needles. Together with the help of loved ones, doctors, and nurses, the young patient is a "chemo hero" who is getting rid of bad cells.

This international pop hit from 1984 features a narrator who addresses the object of his sexual desire, attempting to lure her closer. He's not sure whether it's love he's feeling, but there's some kind of fever that's "burning, burning" in his loin area. He consults his doctor for an urgent diagnosis.

This 2001 pop song describes the narrator's desire to break free from a dysfunctional romantic relationship. Given her history of drug problems, Pink couches the toxic dynamics within the context of rehab and being on a bad trip.

With just one kiss, a love doctor wrote the lady in this 1977 R&B ditty a prescription for her pain and cured her. Doctor love saved her from a broken heart, performed a smooth operation on her, and she's been healthy ever since. Maybe she needs to share his number?

What do you do when the woman you adore doesn't return your affections? The guy in this fun 1958 novelty song consults a witch doctor on how to win her heart. (Oh, if it were only that easy!) Witch doctors are traditional healers who treat medical ailments, including those caused by witchcraft.

The person Harry Styles is talking to in this 2018 pop song must be a nurse because Harry says he's "here to take my medicine." The sexually suggestive song has been called a bisexual anthem, in that it refers to love interests that are both male and female.

This is not the kind of doctor you want to seek. In fact, he's not even a medical doctor at all. This 1989 heavy metal describes a drug dealer who calls himself "Dr. Feelgood" and sells heroin to the desperate. Beware of his treatments; the medicine is worse than what ails you.

Some people can get over a former lover quickly, while for others it's a process. In this 2017 pop song, a newly empowered woman informs her ex that she has nearly forgotten about him. The guy created too much drama, and now narrator doesn't think about him. Her ex is no longer her medicine.

If you've ever watched Mary Poppins, then you're familiar with the medically-related refrain of this 1964 classic show tune:

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way.

The meaning of the sage advice from the kind and self-assured nanny is that if you include something fun or positive in your work, it'll seem much less cumbersome.

When your unkind lover delivers words that cut deeper than a knife, you'll obviously need stitches to mend that wound. (There will still be scarring, however.) This 2015 pop song was an international hit, and in it, the mean woman whom Shawn Mendes loves simply watches him bleed.

Don't you love how some people think they're all that and a bag of chips? Thinking very highly of his sexual prowess and attractiveness, the make-up adorned dude in this 1977 rock song claims to be Dr. Love. He sees a woman he likes and assures her that he has the cure she's looking for:

You need my love baby, oh so bad
You're not the only one I've ever had
And if I say I want to set you free
Don't you know you'll be in misery.

However, with bravado like that, one wonders whether it's something more than love that he's spreading?