Ok I promise that this will be the last lyric post for a while for me but…
Now I can’t get this brewer and shiply song out of my head. What does One toke over the line mean? Too high? Sorta makes sense but when I sing the rest of the lyrics it doesn’t make much sense.
One toke over the line sweet jesus one tolk over the line
Sittin downtown in a railway station one toke over the line.
Over what line? Railway line? marijuanna line? what what
Anyone know the rest of those lyrics and what the song means.? Was it just another 70’s meandering, loaded-to the-hilt attempt at lyrical nirvana?
The only “line” I ever encountered was at the point where I just didn’t want any more. You know, when you just pass it on. Ah, the good old days.
Peace,
mangeorge
I only know two things;
I know what I need to know
And
I know what I want to know
Mangeorge, 2000
Mike Brewer & Tom Shipley’s “One Toke Over the Line” peaked at #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in early 1971. The Federal Communications Commission had recently enacted a rule prohibiting stations from playing songs that promoted illegal drug use, so some cautious stations wouldn’t play the song.
From Wayne Jancik’s “One Hit Wonders”: “People are always asking, 'Geez, what was the meaning of that? Was it a drug song?” Mike Brewer said in an exclusive interview, “I always look them in the eye and ask 'em, ‘Come on, have you ever been one toke over the line; done one hit too many?’ Yeah, it’s about any drugs, or anything you push too far. A toke seemed apropos at the time. And at that time, I’d had one too many hamburgers, one too many Holiday Inns, one too many nights on the road: toots, tokes, everything.”
Why was acid measured in “lids”? I recall a couple songs that used this phrase. Not looking to eXPanD mY MinD or anything, just wonderin’. (some questions ya just can’t ask without sounding suspicious) - MC
