It's All Gone to Pot

Listen while you read:  https://youtu.be/A6c6eUeoa9Q

Well, it's all gone 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
It just couldn't hit the spot
I got a hundred dollar bill
Friend, you can keep your pills
'Cause it's all going to pot

That cackle-bobble-head-in-a-box
Must think I'm dumb as a rock
Readin' daily news
While I'm kickin' off my shoes
It's scarin' me outta my socks

The Red-Headed Stranger I'm not
But Buddy, let me tell you what
If you ask ol' Will
He'll tell ya here's the deal
Friends, it's all going to pot

~  Johnson / Cannon / Shell (for Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard)

I just spent a couple of hours deciding what song to do today, 4/20. There was even a site that listed 420 songs about marijuana. Seriously. Why did I settle on Willie's song? If you don't know, you have not been paying attention. (I also seriously considered Willie's signature "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.") Anyway, the story of how April 20 became a day to celebrate cannabis is an interesting one that involves Louis Pasteur, Where's Waldo, and a bunch of California kids. You can google it if you're curious.

"It's All Gone to Pot" was released on April 20, 2015 (of course!) on Django & Jimmie, a Willy Nelson / Merle Haggard collaboration. Merle didn't quite make it to the following year's 4/20 celebration, dying on April 6, 2016. Willy, of course, is still with us. I've seen Willie in concert a few times, and in recent years, he kind of looks half-dead on stage. That is either because he is stoned (most likely) or because he will turn 84 later this month (god-willin' and the creek don't rise).

My intention is not to get up on my pedestal to try to convince you that marijuana should be legalized.  I already did that in my February 25th post on Ben Harper's "Burn One Down," inspired by recently confirmed Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions' agenda.

But today's editorial in the (NJ) Star Ledger is titled "Sessions Aims to Revive Failed War on Drugs."

"He's setting the stage for a crackdown on marijuana, which is against federal law but legalized by many states, because he thinks it's 'only slightly less awful' than heroin -- which causes tens of thousands of deaths annually. Pot? Zero. Martinis? Somewhere in between." How angry does it make you that Sessions' exaggerated opinion should trump (word intended) the opinion of the 71% of Americans who do not want a federal crackdown on marijuana?

Okay, I'm stepping off the pedestal I said I would not get up on.

This installment will post at 4:00 this afternoon. Twenty minutes later, I will chill in honor of the day. I hope there's a happy hour in your afternoon, too.