The Devil Wore a Lab Coat: Country Confronts the Opioid Crisis
Mary Kutter's powerful song about Big Pharma targeting the working poor of Kentucky coal country
America is full of hard-working folks.
There are plenty of “dirty jobs” left in the United States. And coalmining is one of the nastiest.
In the Appalachian region of Eastern Kentucky coal mining is generational. From the 1800s to today the legacy of coal is an American working class history lesson.
Working 10-12 hours a day, miners endured cramped conditions, poorly ventilated mines and daily hazards from coal dust, cave-ins and explosions.
Pain from chronic back, knee and joint injuries was just part of the job.
Pitiful pay and poor working conditions led to a lifetime of economic poverty.
According to Grok, when machines took over the labor, jobs fell from 47,000 to under 7,000 over 35 years. And coal production dropped from 173 million tons in 1990 to only 24 million tons by 2025.
This left most of the tight-knit community with no work, no health care and in a lot of pain.
Big Pharma the Bounty Hunter
In the wild, when a predator spots its prey weakened by injuries, it pounces.
During this downturn in the economy, Big Pharma went on the attack.
Chronic pain signaled an opportunity to create a profitable market. Rural isolation helped to keep it all under control and beyond the knowledge of others.
In the 1990s, doctors in Eastern Kentucky promoted OxyContin, an addictive opioid, as a safe painkiller. Why? Pharmaceutical reps provided kickbacks to boost sales.
By 2011, the CDC recorded more opioid prescriptions (128) per 100 persons than people. Pill mills, like moonshine under Prohibition, became a cottage industry in rural areas.
In just twenty years, two Kentucky counties climbed from 300 to nearly 2,000 overdose deaths, with 70% attributed to opioids.
Hardscrabble families suffered the consequences: more breakdowns, more crime, and meagre healthcare.
Despite securing legal settlements from Big Pharma for recovery programs, the opioid crisis still thrives due to addiction and economic challenges.
Oh, Kentucky Girl
Country music is dominated by Nashville, Tennessee.
This is where musicians, artists and songwriters gather to tend to their craft and build their musical dreams.
But dreams cost money. And some songs don’t fit the commercial success model. This is especially true when you go after the “deep pockets” corporate culture.
Enter a young woman from Kentucky: Mary Kutter.
At 34, Kutter is a seasoned artist and songwriter. Other artists have recorded over 60 of her songs and her music appears in commercials and on Netflix.
She’s not just another pretty face, she is talented and proven.
She also grew up on a Kentucky farm, where she evolved her grit and storytelling artistry.
For Nashville though, her stories might be a bit too real.
Appalachia Killing Fields
Let me make a confession first.
I love the art of country music, but I can’t stand the limited scope of its song lyrics.
That’s why Mary Kutter is so special.
Her stellar stories are in the tradition of country music, however, she writes outside the normal lyric limits of Nashville.
“The Devil Wore a Lab Coat" is a personal anthem for the forgotten folks of Kentucky. It evokes the tribulations of a working class community caught in the grip of predatory capitalism.
It was "hey Doc, there's a thing in my knee
Been workin' underground since '83"
Doctor said, "I got you the remedy
It'll kill that pain real quick, trust me"
In the chorus, Kutter lays it on the line and pulls no punches. This is country at its best, when the whiskey is left on the shelf and the lyrics are sober.
One man's grave is another man's paycheck
Rx meds at our expense
Forget the coal mines, they hit a goldmine
Hooked us on six feet of side effects
Like a wolf dressed in sheep's clothes
The devil wore a lab coat
Both God and Big Pharma are really outsiders to the coal mining towns of Kentucky. The only difference is that one is in heaven and the other hell.
Only God can judge
But they're corrupt and they don't care
We'd tell them to go to hell
But they're already going there
Yeah, they're already going there
Without a personal connection, these truly Americana stories are lost in the banality of commercial country songs that aim to please beer and truck advertisers.
Mary Kutter reminds us that reality is not always dressed up in tight blue jeans, it’s also wearing a white lab coat and lying straight to your face.
Writers: Mary Kutter, Ross Grieb, Brian Alexander
Copyright: Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
Coda
It’s refreshing to hear a contemporary country song with some homemade grit and backbone.
Today, America is overrun with corporate drabness. Every music genre suffers from sameness. Making money means prioritizing sales, not soulfulness.
Real artists know better. Not every story is from the Disney catalog.
Mary Kutter cuts her own path.
And it follows the road far past Nashville, down into the neglected hollers of the Kentucky mountains.
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