piano, which he said forced him to write music differently. He rejected the notion that he was abandoning rock and said the song's change of musical direction had occurred naturally. Critical reception James Christopher Monger of AllMusic called "Rx (Medicate)" an "opioid crisis anti-anthem" and one of the songs on the record that felt "rooted in the present", and Alternative Addiction called it—along with other tracks on the album—"ridiculously fun". In less enthusiastic critiques of Wake Up Call, Über Röck's Jonni D criticized the single, stating that the "auto-tuned whistling hooks wreak aural havoc". Allen J. Miller from Cryptic Rock said the song sounds socially aware but accused Connolly of "lazy songwriting" that seems to "glorify addiction rather than crusade against it" because of the lyrics in the bridge: "Your friends are high right now ... And no one’s ever coming down", but added that Connolly's lyrics have often been misinterpreted. Connolly acknowledged the song has drawn "some pushback from fans", but the band has also received positive reception at live performances. Guitarist Dave Brenner supported his statement, saying, "You see fans, like, singing with tears strolling down their face. It's crazy." Connolly said he felt this was the "most important song" the band has ever written; bassist Dean Back stated, "It’s looking like it’s the biggest song of our career right now". Commercial performance and recognition In the band's native Canada, "Rx (Medicate)" spent five weeks on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 86, and reached number four on the Canada Rock airplay chart. In the United States, the single debuted at number 32 on the Billboard US Mainstream Rock chart in August 2017. In its tenth week, the single peaked at number one, where it stayed for six consecutive weeks. This made it Theory of a Deadman's third song, following "Bad Girlfriend" and "Lowlife", to top this particular chart. Although it did not appear on the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number 10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, and climbed to number four on both the Hot Rock Songs chart and Rock Digital Songs chart. On the Rock Airplay chart, "Rx (Medicate)" peaked at number eight and reached number 28 in its seventh week on the Alternative Songs chart. The song appeared on the Billboard Year-End charts for Hot Rock Songs and Mainstream Rock at the end of 2017, reaching positions