t'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).
next: Method Man/Redman, Tom Petty 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.
next: Method Man/Redman, Tom Petty
Chart Article  previous: Afro Man, Weezer next: Neil Young, Wiz Khalifa 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.
previous: Afro Man, Weezer next: Neil Young, Wiz Khalifa
Chart Article  previous: Method Man/Redman, Tom Petty next: Sean Paul, C+C Music Factory 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. "In The Cut"
Wiz Khalifa
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Rolling all this weed I am holding/ Thinking she high before she even get the chance to smoke it"
Potency: SIX. Who would have thought that Frou Frou's "Let Go" would serve as a killer sample on a stoner rap anthem? Wiz Khalifa's hazy flow has rarely sounded more cohesive than on this "Kush & Orange Juice" cut, and the refrain "In the cut, in the cut, rolling doobies up" is like the stoner-friendly version of "Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow."
previous: Method Man/Redman, Tom Petty next: Sean Paul, C+C Music Factory
Chart Article  previous: Wiz Khalifa, Neil Young next: Toby Keith, Kid Cudi 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.
previous: Neil Young, Wiz Khalifa next: Toby Keith, Kid Cudi
Chart Article  previous: Sean Paul, C+C Music Factory next: Bob Dylan, Dr. Dre 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."
previous: Sean Paul, C+C Music Factory next: Bob Dylan, Dr. Dre
Chart Article  previous: Toby Keith, Kid Cudi next: Mighty Diamonds, Luniz 10. "Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35"
Bob Dylan
Most Smokin' Lyric: "I would not feel so all alone/ Everybody must get stoned!"
Potency: SEVEN. Dylan was no stranger to philosophical songwriting in the mid-60s, but the opening track to "Blonde on Blonde" remains a particular triumph for marijuana enthusiasts. Backed by a brass band, the folk legend delivers a loopy anthem punctuated by the exclamation, "Everybody must get stoned!" at the end of each verse.
9. "The Next Episode"
Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Hey-ay-ay-ay! Smoke weed every day!"
Potency: EIGHT. On this 2001 West Coast classic, the Doctor recruits his conglomerate, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Nate Dogg (R.I.P.), to show how the left side lives: namely, sporting greenery of every type.
previous: Toby Keith, Kid Cudi next: Might Diamonds, Luniz
Chart Article  previous: Bob Dylan, Dr. Dre next: Black Sabbath, Cypress Hill 8. "Pass The Koutchie"
The Mighty Diamonds
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Pass the kutchie pon the left hand side / Pass the kutchie pon the left hand side / It a go bun, it a go dung, Jah know"
Potency: NINE. The Mighty Diamonds' 1982 classic was loved by many in Jamaica, but exploded it in the U.K. and U.S. when Musical Youth covered it as "Pass the Dutchie." Musical Youth interchanged pots, substituting the "kutchie" with a cooking utensil.
7. "I Got 5 on It"
The Luniz'
Most Smokin' Lyric: "I'm gone, beatin my chest like King Kong / It's on, wrap my lips around a 40 / And when it comes to get another stogie / Fools all kick in like Shinobi."
Potency: NINE. Listen closely to Luniz' 1995 "I Got 5 On It," and you'll get a full lesson on the do's and don't's of dope. The Oakland rap duo's 'Operation Stackola' knocked Michael Jackson's "History" of the charts solely off the strength of the platinum certified Indo anthem.
previous: Bob Dylan, Dr. Dre next: Black Sabbath, Cypress Hill
Chart Article  previous: Mighty Diamonds, Luniz next: Sublime, Peter Tosh 6. "Sweet Leaf"
Black Sabbath
Most Smokin' Lyric: "My life is free now, my life is clear/I love you sweet leaf, though you can't hear."
Potency: NINE. Marijuana, of course, is an inanimate object. But don't tell that to Ozzy Osbourne, who professes his love directly to his "sweet leaf" as though it's his wife, Sharon, or some mythical metal goddess, over grinding guitar riffs. Being pro-weed never sounded so romantic.
5. "Hits from the Bong"
Cypress Hill
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Still it, goes down smooth when I get a clean hit/ Of the skunky, funky, smelly green sh*t/ Sing my song, puff all night long/ As I take hits from the bong..."
Potency: NINE. Complete with bong rip sound effects and a hazy soul sample, Cypress Hill's hip-hop classic could persuade even the straightest of the straight edge to take a walk on the high side.
previous: Luniz, Mighty Diamonds next: Sublime, Peter Tosh
Chart Article  previous: Black Sabbath, Cypress Hill next: Three 6 Mafia, Rick James 4. "Smoke Two Joints"
Sublime
Most Smokin' Lyric: "I smoke two joints a dime a piece, and two the time before / I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints / And then I smoke two more"
Potency: NINE. Anytime, anywhere is the mentality when it comes to the toke on Sublime's 1992 hit, "Smoke Two Joints." Originally by The Toyes, Sublime adds in other samples ('Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' film, Eazy E, Just Ice and Bert Suzanka) and seals it with the sounds of a bubbling bong.
3. "Legalize It"
Peter Tosh
Most Smokin' Lyric: "Singers smoke it, and players of instrument too/Legalize it, yeah yeah, that's the best thing you can do"
Potency: NINE. Whether they call it weed, marijuana, tampee or ganja, smokers have been grooving to Peter Tosh's plea for legalization for over 35 years. Reggae legend Bob Marley later tried his hand at a new version of "Legalize It" after guesting on Tosh's 1976 album of the same name.
previous: Black Sabbath, Cypress Hill next: Three 6 Mafia, Rick James
Chart Article  previous: Sublime, Peter Tosh . 2. "Stay High"
Three 6 Mafia
Most Smokin' Lyric: "What's up Mary! Mary Jane!/Since I have met you, girl, you ruined my brain/You stole my heart, right from the start"
Potency: TEN. Before they became Academy Award winners for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Three 6 Mafia crafted arguably the greatest hip-hop song about smoking weed ever laid to tape. From the syrupy soul sample to Young Buck's wild middle verse to the zonked-out bliss of the chorus, "Stay High" (or its censored counterpart, "Stay Fly") invites the listener to do just that.
1. "Mary Jane"
Rick James
Most Smokin' Lyric: "And when I'm feeling low, she comes as no surprise / Turns me on with her love, takes me to paradise."
Potency: TEN. Rick James' oft-sampled 1978 hit is one of the first songs to define punk-funk. "Mary Jane" opens up strong with strings, then lightens up with female vocals that introduce the star of the show and James' leading "lady." Like Ozzy, James knows how to turn crooning about weed into a potent act of seduction.
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