Brewer and Shipley, a folk rock duo from the late 60s and early 70s, released One Toke Over The Line as a single in 1970 and it quickly climbed to number 10 on the US singles chart. If you were around back then you know exactly what the song was about and if you weren’t around then it probably doesn’t matter so I don’t intend to explain the lyrics.
I will tell you that Spiro Agnew, Vice President to Richard Nixon labeled the song as subversive which was probably the best compliment that anyone could have every paid Brewer and Shipley. Let’s listen….
It was really a nice piece of music and I expected that more hits would follow but they never did. Cue the crickets……
On a humorous note, it is funny/sad how conservatives in the US grasp onto songs that they don’t understand and try to make them mean something that is completely different from their true meaning (Think about Ronald Reagan trying to use Born In The USA as a campaign song). This was the case with One Toke Over The Line as well. 1971 a cover of the song was performed on the Lawrence Welk show. Let’s watch…..
I don’t know about you but I am laughing my ass off. A “modern spiritual” indeed!
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 