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 had a chilling effect and some radio stations stopped playing popular songs like "One Toke Over the Line." Other stations played the songs even more frequently in protest.

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 Christian Rock feeling. (e.g. Waitin' for the train to come home sweet Mary," etc.) Without comprehending the drug reference to the word "toke," a cover version was performed in early 1971 by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale on The Lawrence Welk Show. (Welk was seemingly unaware of the song's drug references or the meaning of the word "toke," and had programmed it after mistakenly concluding that the song was a "modern spiritual.")

Longtime Elvis Presley pianist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recording artist Floyd Cramer 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.