About this Playlist
“I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is a flower. God put it here.” – Willie Nelson
So where…and how, did it all happen?
As Will Shakespeare once intoned, there is nothing new under the sun…
Our usage of cannabis goes back as far as 2800 BCE. Assyria, India, Egypt, Macedonia.
Of course, the earliest records indicate that cannabis was mostly used in a medical context.
It appears that physicians in the royal court discovered the analgesic properties.
In fact, one of the nicknames of cannabis drops a valuable clue to its proliferative qualities.
Weed.
Cannabis can grow virtually anywhere. Resilient, highly adaptive and hardy. Cannabis ticks all the boxes when it comes to user friendly gardening.
So, no surprise that its usage would spread among humanity community by community. When you think these people were finding out the many usages of this versatile plant, it would only be a matter of time that using it for social consumption would become a thing.
Cannabis superhero origin story…
Cannabis belongs to the Cannabaceae plant family. One of its distant relatives is Cannabaceae Homolus, which we know better as beer hops.
(There. That’s a thing you know now.)
So when it comes to the job of intoxication, the Cannabaceae family seem to be somewhat overqualified for the job.
The name cannabis is derived from the Greek word kannabis (cane), but instances of the word origin go back even further to ancient Persian, Aramaic, Babylonian, and Semitic texts as kannab, kunnab and kene busma or kanna bosem. There are references to kanna bosem (‘aromatic cane’) in the Old Testament of the Bible, ANNNND the legendary verse of Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 29: Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.
The male cannabis plant is better known to us as hemp. It doesn’t produce any seeds, has negligible amounts of psychoactive agents, and is mainly what makes up all the stuff currently out there in the consumer market.
We are concerning ourselves with the female plant, because that’s where all the fun is, quite frankly.
Thank you for sitting briefly through the teachy stuff, but it is hella important to the story…
“Marijuana helped me write Pet Sounds.”– Brian Wilson
There is no actual recorded jump off point where cannabis and music officially became a power couple, but using a bit of detective work, there are nodal points where we can kinda figure things out.
We know for historical fact pirates (really sailors in general) were enthusiastic consumers of hashish, the concentrated resin derived from the cannabis plants, and back in the day, a many a seafarer would have a musical instrument. As both music and cannabis travel well, it stands to reason more than a few sea shanties were fairly well soaked in hash smoke and resin.
It wouldn’t be until the early 20th century when vinyl records would allow for the mass production and distribution of music to the general public that cannabis and music would officially have their first coming out party.
Because of its unusual time signatures, off kilter melodies and skewed chordal relationships, jazz seemed like a perfect fit for cannabis. Which is a good thing, because pretty much almost every subsequent music genre since has been a variation or evolution of jazz.
You can go confirm this. Take your time. I’ll wait…
The psychoactive properties of cannabis transform listening to music from a process to an experience of a lifetime. It transcends genre, tempo, beat, lyrics, whatever.
Layer upon layer is opened and exposed, like a sonic lotus flower.
I believe there will be a movement, sooner rather than later, that will embrace the idea of cannabis and music being a more active undertaking.
Spaces such as cannabis consumption lounges will become more prevalent. Meeting spots to actively engage and fellowship with others. An exchange of feeling, ideas, concepts and brainstorms.
Under clouds of smoke, great things will take place and new schools of thought will be born.
Or not.
It doesn’t have to be that. But the fact that we can entertain the possibilities is the more important thing.
At some point, someone took the first steps for us to be right where we are.
Right here, at the end of the beginning.
The accompanying playlist will shed some more light on this topic, if you’re willing to explore the possibilities. I encourage you to do so, and share it with those who you feel might think the same way.
As always, keep it weird. It works better that way…
Part of the Green Space Collection
Track Listing
- Dutches – Clap Cotton
- The Beginning – Seal
- Bend Over – Wagon Christ
- It Keeps You Runnin’ – The Doobie Brothers
- This Beat – The Jazzual Suspects
- Smokestack Lightnin’ – Howlin’ Wolf
- Themes From Venus – Love Tractor – Remastered
- Computer Blue – Prince
- Temptation Waits – Garbage – 2018 – Remaster
- Rollin’ Tumblin’ – R.L. Burnside – Remix
- Click Bitches – PEST
- Since I Left You – The Avalanches
- Deep Shit, Pt. 1 & 2 – Kruder & Dorfmeister
- On the Rhodes Again – Morcheeba
- It Ain’t Nothing Like – Rae & Christian feat. The Pharcyde
- Xtal – Aphex Twin
- Screenwriters Blues – Soul Coughing
- Airglow Fires – Lone
- Poor Leno – Röyksopp
- Kumomi – Funky DL
- Move – Jazz Spastiks
- Roygbiv – Boards of Canada
- All That We Perceive – Thievery Corporation
- HiiiPower – Kendrick Lamar
- To Be Loved – Bent
- Assassinations – Stateless
- Tinseltown to the Boogiedown – Scritti Politti
- Hinterland – Aim – Remastered
- One Device, One Method, One Thing – Tall Black Guy
- Drown in the Now – The Crystal Method
- Dusted – Leftfield
- (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do – Filter – 2009 Remastered Version
- We Want Your Soul – Adam Freeland
- Rude Boy Rock – Lionrock
- I Got You – Split Enz
- Pink + White – Frank Ocean
- Cola – Toro y Moi
- ‘Cause I’m A Man – Tame Impala
- Like It Like That – A Tribe Called Quest
- Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime – The Korgis
- Missing Persons – Go West
- Nothing’s Gonna Hurt U – SwuM
- Stay Puff – Cloudchord
- Unlimited Capacity For Love – Grace Jones
- Nobody Lost, Nobody Found – Cut Copy
- Strength Of Character – China Crisis
- I Say a Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin
- That Is Why – Jellyfish
- Light My Fire – Jackie Wilson
- Cirrus – Bonobo
- What’s the Use? – Mac Miller
- Pedestal – Bipolar Sunshine
- Astral Traveling – Pharoah Sanders
- Saturn – Sun Ra Arkestra
- Illegal – Swayzak with Benjamin Zephaniah
- Distant Traveller – The Lost Children of Babylon
- Saturnz Barz – Gorillaz feat. Popcaan
- The Space Program – A Tribe Called Quest
- Where Do I Begin – The Chemical Brothers
Playlist image GPT4
