"Snowblind" was written in 1980 by Dennis DeYoung and James Young as an anti-cocaine song. They were having trouble with the lyrics, and asked Tommy Shaw to contribute some, which he did: from the addict's point of view. The verses he sang are the ones he wrote.
As for drummer John Panozzo being an addict, he did like to party (and did often with Tommy), but alcohol was his weakness, culminating in his death in 1996. Tommy was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, but got clean by the late 80s, and has been sober ever since.
"Snowblind" was written in 1980 by Dennis DeYoung and James Young as an anti-cocaine song. They were having trouble with the lyrics, and asked Tommy Shaw to contribute some, which he did: from the addict's point of view. The verses he sang are the ones he wrote.
As for drummer John Panozzo being an addict, he did like to party (and did often with Tommy), but alcohol was his weakness, culminating in his death in 1996. Tommy was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, but got clean by the late 80s, and has been sober ever since.