Claiming that it has always been an anti-drug song, Eric Clapton has returned the classic hit "Cocaine" to the play list for the North American leg of his current world tour. Clapton, who established the Crossroads Centre addiction recovery center on the Caribbean island of Antigua, stopped playing the song after he began recovery for addiction and alcoholism.

"I thought that it might be giving the wrong message to people who were in the same boat as me," Clapton told The Associated Press. But the blues guitar playing icon recently changed his mind about playing the song and explained his reasoning.

"But further investigation proved ... the song, if anything, if it's not even ambivalent, it's an anti-drug song. And so I thought that might be a better way to do it, to approach it from a more positive point of view. And carry on performing it as not a pro-drug song, but just as a reality check about what it does," Clapton told the AP reporter.

"It's one of those songs that you can take it any way you like," Clapton said. "But it very clearly says in the opening verse, `If you wanna get down, down on the ground,' I mean, that's, I think, the focal point of the song. That's what the song's about, is that, you know, there's a price."

Clapton also admitted that he missed playing the song.

But is the song really an anti-drug song and is it perceived as such by loyal Slowhand fans? Following are the lyrics to "Cocaine" written by J.J. Cale. Read them and decide for yourself.

If you wanna hang out you've got to take her out; cocaine.
If you wanna get down, down on the ground; cocaine.
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie; cocaine.

If you got bad news, you wanna kick them blues; cocaine.
When your day is done and you wanna run; cocaine.
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie; cocaine.

If your thing is gone and you wanna ride on; cocaine.
Don't forget this fact, you can't get it back; cocaine.
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie; cocaine.

More Information:
The Health Effects of Cocaine
Basic Facts About Cocaine
Cocaine Questions

^{Photo: Crossroads Centre}