Many great musicians from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to the majority of modern artists use cannabis as part of their creative process, but what about the songs that overtly discuss the drug? The web editor for cannabis seeds website Sensible Seeds lists some of the more memorable numbers…

5 Songs about Marijuana

Many legendary rock groups have done their best work under the influence of marijuana or other drugs, but here’s a selection of songs that have been argued to be about cannabis itself:

Ben Harper – Burn One Down

Ben Harper’s Burn One Down is one of the more blatant songs about marijuana, and on a live DVD he tells stories about people so uptight they need to take a hit, and others who smoke so many that they lose sight of their dreams. The song uses marijuana as a reference point but is more about allowing people to do their own thing:

“My choice is what I choose to do

And if I’m causing no harm

It shouldn’t bother you

Your choice is who you choose to be

And if you’re causing no harm

Then you’re alright with me”

…but also exposes the fact that Ben’s rather fond of a spliff now and then:

“Herb the gift from the earth

And what’s from the earth

Is of the greatest worth

So before you knock it try it first

You’ll see it’s a blessing

And not a curse.”

Is it about weed? Almost certainly.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Last Dance with Mary Jane

There is some debate over whether the Mary Jane in the song refers to marijuana (Mary Jane being common slang for the drug) or his ex-wife Jane, who he had divorced from one year earlier. Even The Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell didn’t seem to know for sure, stating that “My take on it is it can be whatever you want it to be. A lot of people think it’s a drug reference, and if that’s what you want to think, it very well could be but it could also just be a goodbye love song.” The main reason the drug explanation has stuck is thanks to the chorus:

“Let’s dance with Mary Jane

One more time to kill the pain

I feel summer creeping in

And I’m tired of this town again”

With marijuana’s well known pain-killing properties, it would seem obvious. Even if you don’t think this particular song is related to cannabis, Petty often discusses the drug at his live concerts, and includes the lyric “But let me get to the point, let’s roll another joint, and turn the radio loud, I’m too alone to be proud” in the song “You Don’t Know How It Feels”.

Is it about weed? Possibly not.

Black Sabbath – Sweet Leaf

This is one of the more straight forward songs to call: it’s definitely about cannabis. The band say so in the notes to their greatest hits, and the lyrics are pretty straight forward too (though interestingly the song coined the phrase ‘sweet leaf’ as slang for the drug):

“Straight people don’t know what you’re about

They put you down and shut you out

You gave to me a new belief

And soon the world will love you sweet leaf”

Is it about weed? Definitely.

Bob Dylan – Rainy Day Women #12 and 35

At first this song seems clear cut, with its chorus of:

“I would not feel so alone

Everybody must get stoned”

The original recording also sounds like the band are all under the influence of cannabis as well. However, the song is also said to be about judgement of women (as in the punishment of stoning from biblical times.)

Another point often raised is that if you multiply the two numbers in the song (12 and 35) you reach 420: common code in America for cannabis usage. But even this evidence needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the term did not become common code until around 5 years after the song was written. Another explanation of the numbers is that it was Dylan correctly guessing the ages of a mother and daughter who came into the recording studio out of the rain. Chalk this one up to an inconclusive.

Is it about weed? Inconclusive.

Afroman – Because I Got High

This one is surely about as clear cut as it gets: Afroman got to number 1 in the UK charts with his ode to cannabis: “Because I Got High” – a song with a not altogether positive message about days spent smoking and growing cannabis seeds:

“I was gonna go to court before I got high

I was gonna pay my child support but then I got high

They took my whole paycheque and I know why

Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high”

As the lyrics suggest, Afroman wrote the novelty song as a joke for his friends, but based it on the personal experience that plans for the day tend to go abandoned upon taking a toke.

An interesting postscript to this: it was reported in the news that a Massachusetts judge ordered a 17 year old boy to listen to the song and write a three paragraph summary of the song as part of his punishment for being caught driving under the influence of cannabis and alcohol in a car without licence plates.

Is it about weed? Oh yes.

While all these songs are debatably about marijuana, one song commonly claimed to be about a high that isn’t is Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon.” The allegations suggested that lyrics referring to “Puff”, “little Jackie Papers” and “autumn mist” were a veiled reference to smoking cannabis. At various points, the folk trio and author of the original poem have insisted that it’s simply a kids’ song about loss of childhood innocence, but perhaps Peter Yarrow explained it best when he argued that: “When ‘Puff’ was written, I was too innocent to know about drugs. What kind of mean-spirited SOB would write a children’s song with a covert drugs message?” Conclusive proof that Peter, Paul and Mary were not trying to start kids growing cannabis seeds!

Robert Kane is the web editor of Sensible Seeds. Based in the UK, the company sells cannabis seeds and informational books on marijuana to customers all over the world.