Happy 4/20: 10 Great Stoner Songs

420: Wiki page

Legend has it that the 4:20 phenomenon began with a group of California teens in the early ’70s, who would gather together at 20 past 4 in the afternoon to avail themselves of one of Mother Nature’s wonders. Ever since then, the word has spread and the, er, grass-roots 4:20 subculture has grown bigger and bigger. Today 4/20 is the day 4:20 is saluted not only across the country, but around the globe. So whether you’re marking the day in a herbaceous way or you’re simply in sympathy with the spirit of the whole thing, here are 10 essential stoner songs to make your April 20th a smokin’ one.

“Willin’” – Little Feat

Linda Ronstadt’s cover version made this trucker tune about “weed, whites, and wine” famous, but it’s Little Feat’s good ‘n’ greasy delivery that puts “Willin’” straight across the plate.

“One Toke Over The Line” – Brewer & Shipley

An early example of The Man stomping on stoners’ good times, folk-rock duo Brewer & Shipley’s 1970 tune was a Top 10 hit that might have gone all the way to Number One if it hadn’t been stalled by the FCC, who decided to ban it due to lyrical content.

“Ganja Smuggling” – Eek-A-Mouse

A toker tally without reggae would like a PB&J sandwich without bread, so here comes Eek-A-Mouse to give you a little background on how the magic herbs are disseminated. Even if some of the meaning gets lost in Mouse’s thick patois, you still know just where he’s coming from.

“Along Comes Mary” – The Association

In late-’60s California, everybody was a stoner — not just the hairy hippie types, but even clean-cut, super-smooth harmony-vocal groups like The Association, whose ode to their favorite gal had the whiff of something more than puppy love.

“Tell Me About Your Drugs” – Robyn Hitchcock

Odd are that a guy who modeled himself after Syd Barrett, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan knows a bit about altered states of consciousness. And by the song’s end, when he starts rhapsodizing about “human sheep…with their curly little whirly tails,” it seems likely there’s more than just a conversation about altered consciousness going on.

“Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix

Pretty much the stoners’ National Anthem, “Purple Haze” is the ultimate evocation of that “not necessarily stoned, but beautiful” feeling (Yes, we know that lyric is from another song). Has there ever been a better motto for lighting up than “’scuse me while I kiss the sky?”

“Hits From the Bong” – Cypress Hill

You didn’t really think we’d leave Cypress Hill out, did you? Their faces should be emblazoned on the stoner Mt. Rushmore, right next to Dre and Snoop (okay, so we didn’t have room for everyone). Just listening to the vocal delivery on this track is enough to make you feel like you’ve spent the last two weeks in a college dorm with a poster on the wall that says “Get it on, bang a bong,” while the sweet smell of cannabis emanates from everything in the room.

“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ – Bob Dylan

It’s hard to imagine how Brewer & Shipley got shut down by the FCC for “One Toke Over the Line,” but four years earlier, this song — complete with drunken brass band and “everybody must get stoned” refrain — sailed up to the No. 2 spot on the charts unmolested by the powers that be.

“Because I Got High” – Afroman

One of the greatest one-hit wonders of the 21st century, Joseph “Afroman” Foreman provided the theme song for Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with this tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale about the hazards of a weed addiction. Don’t think for a second that he or anyone involved with the film took the warning to heart, though.

“Sweet Leaf” – Black Sabbath

An actual love song to the pot leaf itself, this 1971 Black Sabbath classic starts off with the sound of Sab guitar god Tony Iommi’s hacking cough, which we assume was caused by something other than an excess of smog in the air that day.