20 Smokin' Songs About Weed
It's hard to imagine that Bob Dylan, Three 6 Mafia and Toby Keith have much in common, but all three artists understand the power of a classic stoner track. Marijuana has served as the inspiration for classic cuts in rock, hip-hop, pop, and of course, reggae, and is still influencing more than a few of our biggest artists (hello, Wiz Khalifa!) today. For 4/20, Billboard.com has put together a countdown of 20 tracks that talk about toking up, with each song including a "potency" level that measures their inebriated energy on a scale of one (mildly buzzed) to 10 (totally stoned).
MORE: Rihanna's 10 Most Memorable Weed Moments
20. "Because I Got High"
Afro Man
Most Smokin' Lyric: "I was gonna clean my room until I got high/ I gonna get up and find the broom but then I got high/My room is still messed up and I know why (Yeah, hey!)/ Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high."
Potency: ONE. At first, "Because I Got High" sounds like a fun, harmless joke about how smoking weed leads to unproductivity. But when Afro Man's problems get more and more serious -- he goes from cutting class to losing his wife and kids -- this song just becomes a buzzkill.
19. "Hash Pipe"
Weezer
Most Smokin' Lyric: "You've got your problems, I've got my ass wide/ You've got your big G's, I've got my hash pipe."
Potency: FOUR. After a prolonged break following the release of "Pinkerton," Weezer came roaring back with this feisty first single from the Green Album. Among the bizarre lyrics -- "The knee-stocking flavor is a favorite treat/Of men that don't bother with the taste of a teat" -- is frontman Rivers Cuomo's snarling defense of relaxing with some hash.
18. "How High"
Method Man and Redman
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane/ It's the funk doctor spock smokin buddha on a train/ How high? So high that I can kiss the sky/ (Up, up to the sky!)"
Potency: FIVE. Though it only has a few literal weed references, this mid-'90s rap gem was the original theme song for one of the greatest stoner music duos to date, Method Man & Redman. To witness them perform it in concert today is to see burly security guards hopelessly attempt to put out dozens of simultaneously lit-up joints.
17. "You Don't Know How It Feels"
Tom Petty
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Let's get to the point/ Let's roll another joint/ And let's head on down the road/ There's somewhere I got to go."
Potency: FIVE. The rock 'n' roll equivalent to Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode," Petty's hit isn't really about weed. The one line that is, however, is just too memorable to go unacknowledged. Radio stations famously censored it, but that hasn't stopped anyone from shouting it out loud in their car.
16. "Roll Another Number (For the Road)"
Neil Young
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Think I'll roll another number for the road, I feel able to get under any load/ Though my feet aren't on the ground, I been standin' on the sound/ Of some open-hearted people goin' down."
Potency: SIX. Though Neil Young's classic isn't solely about weed, the song's general sentiment is all stoner, and it's impossible to listen to these skulking guitar strums without slowing down to a snail's pace.
15. "Young, Wild & Free"
Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg and Bruno Mars
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Roll joints bigger than King Kong's fingers/ And smoke them hoes down until they're stingers. "
Potency: SEVEN. Yeah, it's a softball pop hit. But "Young, Wild & Free" is dope because it unites legendary smoker Snoop Dogg with young puff dragon Khalifa and it ropes in sweetie pie crooner Bruno Mars, whose hook makes this a playful, high-ranking Hot 100 jam about hazy times and not just another album cut to be cherished only by serious stoners.
14. "We Be Burnin'"
Sean Paul
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Everyday we be burnin' not concernin' what nobody wanna say / We be earnin' dollars turning 'cause we mind de pon we pay / More than gold and oil and diamonds - girls, we need dem everyday"
Potency: SIX. Not only is Sean Paul clear of his love for blazin' on "Burnin'" -- he sets that love to a dancehall beat we can get down too. Paul's "We Be Burnin'" spent a full 28 weeks on the Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 6.
13. "Take A Toke"
C+C Music Factory
Most Smokin' Lyric: "You ignite me and I'll ignite you / And once all the sheets burn, baby / I've got some more bamboo / And when the smoke clears / Lady, still my eyes focus on you / Huff and puff some of my funk stuff / Prove my point that I am the joint"
Potency: SEVEN. They may be best known for their club hit "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", but C+C slowed down the mood and lowered the temperature on this 1994 cut, intermixing lovin' (er' sex) and weed.
12. "Weed With Willie"
Toby Keith
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Now we learned a hard lesson in a small Texas town/ He fired up a fat boy and he passed it around/ The last words that I spoke before they tucked me in/ I'll never smoke weed with Willie again"
Potency: SEVEN. On this "Shock'n Y'all" bonus track, Toby Keith spins a yarn about sharing a blunt with one of America's most notorious pot enthusiasts: Willie Nelson. The country legend's stuff might be a little too powerful for Keith, who opts for the whiskey and declares, "I'll never smoke weed with Willie again."
11. "Marijuana"
Kid Cudi
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Pre- pre- pretty green bud/ All in my blunt/ Ohhh I need it."
Potency: SEVEN. Kid Cudi recently swore off smoking weed, but he certainly spent a good chunk of his first two albums celebrating the pastime. On "Marijuana," the airiest track on "Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager," Cudi likens marijuana to a best friend, saying that it "always had my back" and "never left me lonely."
