# One Toke Over the Line

"One Toke Over the Line" is a song written and performed by American folk rock duo Brewer & Shipley. It is a track from their 1970 LP Tarkio, and was released as their debut single in early 1971.

## Background

Mike Brewer gives 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."
The song gained popular acclaim while the band was touring as an opening act for Melanie, after they received an encore but had run out of other songs to play.
In a 2012 interview, Brewer said "The president of the record company we were with at the time came backstage and said, 'Oh man, you gotta record that and add it to the LP.' We were kind of like, 'Really? Oh well, OK.' We didn't even take the song seriously. Needless to say it came as a big surprise to us that they released it and not only that it was a big hit but it received so much controversy. The government came down on us."
In 1971, the Federal Communications Commission issued guidance to radio station operators: "Whether a particular record depicts the dangers of drug abuse, or, to the contrary, promotes such illegal drug usage is a question for the judgment of the licensee. Such a pattern of operation is clearly a violation of the basic principle of the licensee's responsibility for, and duty to exercise adequate control over, the broadcast material presented over his station. It raises serious questions as to whether continued operation of the station is in the public interest."
This song also stirred controversy with the references to Jesus and Mary, which caused several radio stations to ban the song from the airwaves.

## Chart history

The song peaked at No. 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on Cash Box during the spring of 1971, and was the duo's only Top 40 hit. It also reached No. 5 in Canada and No. 7 in New Zealand.

## Cover versions

For some, the lyrics evoked the Christian belief of salvation and had a gospel feeling ("Waitin' for the train to come home, sweet Mary" and "One toke over the line, sweet Jesus") without comprehending the drug reference to the word "toke". The song was performed in early 1971 by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale on The Lawrence Welk Show, which Brewer credited with giving the duo "more publicity than we could pay for." Host and bandleader Lawrence Welk later claimed that ABC had forced him to play the misplaced song, as its executives had been pressuring Welk into including more contemporary material that Welk did not want on his show.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee session pianist Floyd Cramer of the Nashville A-Team (who worked regularly with many musicians, including Elvis Presley) recorded an instrumental version in 1971.

## Later uses

The song is notably mentioned in the opening of Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and was "sung" by Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) in the 1998 film of the same name. In the 2014 movie St. Vincent, the song "One Toke Over the Line" is heard playing on Bill Murray's headphones and is listed on the soundtrack credits.