Creativity Quote by Smokey Robinson

Smokey Robinson’s line lands like a backstage truth slipped into a pop song: the drug story isn’t a sidebar, it’s the whole stage. The power is in the roll call. By stacking “doctors, lawyers, preachers” alongside “the guy who works for IBM” and “teenagers,” Robinson collapses the comforting myth that drugs belong to a single “type” of person. It’s an anti-moral-panic move disguised as plain talk, refusing the usual villain casting of addicts as outsiders. Even the IBM detail matters: it pins the problem to mid-century respectability, corporate order, and clean-cut futurism, suggesting that the culture most invested in control also produces escape.

The subtext is less “everyone’s doing it” than “everyone’s touched by it,” which is a crucial distinction. Robinson isn’t glamorizing; he’s indicting the way society launders its own habits through class and credential. When he puts “preachers” in the same breath as kids, he’s quietly challenging hypocrisy: the people tasked with guidance are not immune, and the institutions that claim moral authority may be compromised.

Contextually, coming from a Motown icon - a figure associated with polish, crossover appeal, and American optimism - the statement hits harder. It suggests a performer who’s seen behind the curtain: touring economies, nightlife, pressure, pain management, and self-medication as occupational hazards. The cadence reads like testimony, not theory: drugs aren’t “out there.” They’re everywhere we pretend is safe.