“One Toke Over the Line” by Brewer & Shipley (1970) is clearly about marijuana.
“The single, “One Toke Over the Line,” peaked at #10 (#5 in Canada) and was the group’s biggest hit. Spiro Agnew said the song with its reference to marijuana use was “blatant drug-culture propaganda” that “threatens to sap our national strength.”
Mike Brewer can give this account of the origin of the song, “One day we were pretty much stoned and all and Tom says, “Man, I’m one toke over the line tonight.” I liked the way that sounded and so I wrote a song around it.”[4]
A cover version was performed by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale on The Lawrence Welk Show, which billed it a “modern spiritual.”[5] The song is notably mentioned in the opening of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and was notably “sung” by Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) in the film of the same name. “
The cover from the Lawrence Welk Show may be the weirdest cover ever. They clearly have no idea what the song is about or it would never have been on the show.
