As the leading steward of a cannabis-driven lifestyle, Willie Nelson has told his share of stories centered around the bud. Throughout the decades, Nelson has teamed up with fellow outlaws and Highwaymen, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, and others to get his messages across with songs that are as much about the bliss of taking a toke as they are about how drugs can also take a toll on one’s life.
Here’s a look at three songs, including two co-written by Nelson, about the highs and lows of a pot-filled life.
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1. “I Can Get Off On You” with Waylon Jennings (1978)
Written by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings
Outside of their No. 1 “Mamma’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” the founding fathers of Outlaw, Nelson, and Waylon Jennings, shared more duets on their first collaborative album Waylon & Willie, including one centered around cannabis. In the song, Nelson and Jennings are willing to give up the weed—and cocaine, whiskey, pills, and more—for love.
Take back the weed, take back the cocaine baby
Take back the pills, take back the whiskey too
I don’t need them now, your love was all I was after
I’ll make it now, I can get off on you
I can get by on little
Or nothing at all, I know
I can get high just thinkin’
About you and so
Well, take back the weed, take back the cocaine baby
Take back the pills, take back the whiskey too
I don’t need them now, your love was all I was after
I’ll make it now, I can get off on you
Who would have thought
This was somethin’ that I’d ever do
I’m working it out
Mellowing out on you
2. “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” with Kris Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, and Jamey Johnson (2012)
Written by Willie Nelson, Buddy Cannon, Rich Alves, John Colgin, and Mike McQuerry
Initially, Nelson wanted to title his 2012 album Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die before landing on Heroes. On the album, Nelson sings about how he hopes to leave this world on “Roll Me Up,” which features vocals from Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, and co-writer Jamey Johnson.
[RELATED: The Regretful Meaning Behind Willie Nelson’s 1989 No. 1 “Nothing I Can Do About It Now”]
Roll me up and smoke me when I die
And if anyone don’t like it, just look ’em in the eye
I didn’t come here, and I ain’t leavin’
So don’t sit around and cry
Just roll me up and smoke me when I die
Now you won’t see no sad and teary eyes
When I get my wings and it’s my time to fly
Call my friends and tell them
There’s a party, come on by
And just roll me up and smoke me when I die
Roll me up and smoke me when I die
And if anyone don’t like it, just look them in the eye
Say I didn’t come here, and I ain’t leavin’
So don’t sit around and cry
Just roll me up and smoke me when I die
Produced by Buddy Cannon (Reba McEntire, George Jones) and featuring Nelson’s sons Micah and Lukas, who also co-wrote or wrote several tracks, Heroes—which went to No. 4 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and broke into the Top 20 of the 200 chart at No. 18—also features covers of Pearl Jam‘s “Just Breathe,” Coldplay‘s “The Scientist,” and Tom Waits‘ 1999 song “Come on Up to the House.”
3. “It’s All Going to Pot” with Merle Haggard (2015)
Written by Buddy Cannon, Jamey Johnson, and Larry Shell
Released on Nelson and Merle Haggard‘s 2015 collaborative album Django & Jimmie—named after Nelson’s favorite guitarist Django Reinhardt, and the “father of country music” Jimmie Rodgers—”It’s All Going to Pot” is an homage to marijuana—all the whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee / Just couldn’t hit the spot. On “It’s All Going to Pot,” Nelson sings the first two verses before Haggard comes in at the third with That cackle-babble-head-in-a-box / Must think I’m dumb as a rock.
Well, now it’s all going to pot
Whether we like it or not
The best I can tell
The world’s gone to hell
And we’re sure gonna miss it a lot
All of the whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee
Just couldn’t hit the spot
I got a hundred dollar bill, friend
You keep your pills
‘Cause it’s all going to pot
That cackle-babble-head-in-a-box
Must think I’m dumb as a rock
Readin’ me the news
While I’m kickin’ off my shoes
And it’s scarin’ me outta my socks
The music video features Haggard and Nelson recording the song in the studio, playing the guitar, and having a little toke. A year before his death, Haggard admitted that he wasn’t much of a pot smoker despite their reefer-loving track.
“Well, you know, everybody falls off the wagon once in a while, and I’ve been quit for some time, but when you go down there around Willie, it’s kinda hard to turn down everything,” said Haggard in 2015. “He’s got his own brand; I think it’s called Willie’s Reserve. But, because of my lungs, I’m not able to do that much anymore. I’m 78 years old, and I had one lung lobe removed in ’08, so I have a little problem with that.”
Along with Django & Jimmie, Nelson and Haggard released three other collaborative albums, including their 1983 No. 1 Pancho & Lefty, Seashores of Old Mexico from 1987, and Last of the Breed, featuring Ray Price in 2007.
Photo: Liaison/Getty Images
