Musical narcotics!

Category: How to Keep a Nerd Entertained.

One of my most favorite things to do is listen to music. Now, being a total music nerd/hipster means that I'm really not into the mainstream music thing. I do not like rap, hip-hop or country. I am happiest when the music is from out of the country. Canada, England, Russia and Israel are a few favorites. Sweden and Iceland rank high on the list as well.

An inevitability with music these days is drug references in the lyrics. They're fairly unavoidable, it seems, although some bands are more creative about it than others. I'm not talking about the fairly obvious references (Weezer - "Hash Pipe" or "We Are All On Drugs") or even the rather subtle insinuations (The Beatles - "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") but more the infusing of hints and code words into the lyrics themselves.

It may be a sign of my slightly deluded amusement at these things, or that I have been far too inundated with such things, but I find much amusement in ferreting out these references and deciphering them. A recent favorite is Just Jack, an English electro-rap group. For example, without me telling you, could you figure out the lines: "I'm loving Mary Jane, flying with Lois Lane, on board that bullet train..." etc.? Mary Jane, fairly obvious. But if you weren't looking for it, could you guess the others? This fascination with figuring out drug references in lyrics keeps me entertained for hours - when I have hours to spare.

However, lyrical drug references can also have side-effects. Such as - spotting drug references in songs that definitely do not have any drug references. Like... Christmas songs. "Let it Snow?" Really...

Anyway, if you're into that kind of thing and music seems boring to you, spice it up a bit! Find some drugs in it! And by the way, "Puff the Magic Dragon" does not count. We all know that one already, so go get your own drug references!

--Anna