10 Rock Songs about Marijuana

Today’s the day that stoners around the world gather together under one cloudy haze of cannabis.

That’s right, it’s 420! In order to celebrate properly, we want to throw down some great ROCK songs about marijuana that you can toke to.

Here are 10 Rock Songs about Marijuana!

Black Sabbath – Sweet Leaf

Who would have thought that Sweet Leaf was about marijuana? What a crazy concept! I mean, it’s not like you couldn’t tell that Sabbath guitarist Tommy Iommi was coughing from a fat joint he was smoking. This song was actually the first of it’s kind to include audio of someone coughing from big hit they just took.

Steve Miller Band – The Joker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgDU17xqNXo&feature=youtu.be

It’s easy to be a Midnight Toker when you are a Space Cowboy named Maurice. The Joker is one of two Steve Miller Band songs that feature the nonce word “pompatus“.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – You Don’t Know How It Feels

Let’s just get to the point -and roll another joint- MTV and many radio stations aired a censored version of “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” taking the word “roll” out of “let’s roll another joint” — although a version replacing the word “roll” with “hit” was also made.

Jimi Hendrix Experience – Purple Haze

Many fans and the press interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience due to lines such as “purple haze all in my brain” and “‘scuse me while I kiss the sky”. However, Hendrix and those closest to him never discussed any connection between psychedelic drugs and the song, although Shapiro admits that, at the time, to do so would have been “professional suicide”.

RUSH – A Passage to Bangkok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnXRwmcKnes

The song’s lyrics, written by drummer Neil Peart, are widely interpreted as describing drug tourism, specifically cannabis. The lyrics employ innuendo, eschewing naming any actual drugs. The song describes visiting Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica, Morocco, Thailand, Afghanistan, “golden Acapulco nights” (a reference to Acapulco gold), Nepal, and Lebanon. Mention is made of “smoke rings”, “pipe dreams”, various fragrances, and welcoming natives who “pass along” their unspecified crops.

Bob Dylan – Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35

Bob Dylan‘s connection with marijuana and music is historic. It was Dylan who introduced it to The Beatles in 1964, and by the time he released his 1966 masterpiece Blonde on Blonde, it had become a regular part of his creative process. This was especially true on the song “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” which, according to Dylan biographer Howard Sounes, required that session musicians Hargus “Pig” Robbins and Henry Strzelecki smoked a “huge amount of marijuana” prior to recording.

The Beatles – Got To Get You Into My Life

The song is a homage to the Motown Sound, with colourful brass instrumentation, and lyrics that suggest a psychedelic experience. “It’s actually an ode to pot,” McCartney explained.

The Doors – Light My Fire

“Light My Fire” was performed live by The Doors on The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast on September 17, 1967. The Doors were asked by producer Bob Precht, Sullivan’s son-in-law, to change the line “girl, we couldn’t get much higher”, as the sponsors were uncomfortable with the possible reference to drug-taking. The band agreed to do so, and did a rehearsal using the amended lyrics, “girl, we couldn’t get much better“; however, during the live performance, the band’s lead singer Jim Morrison sang the original lyric. Ed Sullivan did not shake Morrison’s hand as he left the stage.

Led Zeppelin – Going to California

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAQeZNjmJDA

Led Zeppelin were always far more subtle in their musical drug references — although behind the scenes, they allegedly indulged as much as anyone. The wistful “Going to California” is a perfect example. Here, both the song’s protagonist and the band’s backing melodies seem to waver drastically between chilled out bliss and understandable paranoia — and it all begins with the woman unkind who smoked his stuff and drank all his wine.

Aerosmith – Reefer Head Woman

Steven Tyler had the lyrics to Reefer Head Woman in a notebook that got stolen, and had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant where they finished the album, and the Doctor read back the lyrics to him over the phone.

Honourable Mentions

Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb

While this song from The Wall isn’t necessarily about marijuana, it is still a stoner favourite.

Sublime – Smoke Two Joints

While Sublime does a cover of The Toyes classic (and NOT Bob Marley), this detox version doesn’t quite hit the mark as a rock song, but still pretty catchy to bob your head to.

Brewer and Shipley – One Toke Over The Line

One of their most commercially successful songs, which they wrote as a joke while preparing backstage for a performance.

Fraternity Of Man – Don’t Bogart Me

It’s laid-back swing is more country rock than classic rock, but what would our list of pot songs be without it?