Give me a list of great music that was written while the musicians were baked to the point of drooling stupor. Have you heard any of the Beatles' tracks recorded when they were high? They can't get through a song. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IGryW-eGirc?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IGryW-eGirc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> They used to be very fond of amphetamines when they were trying to put together a new song. There is a story where John Lennon mixed up his LSD and speed stashes and they had to stop recording because he dropped a whole bunch of acid and was beginning to freak out. The creative process is two parts, where you generate ideas and then choose, shape, and refine the best ideas. The weed probably helps with the first part, but completely ruins the second part.
I use to think it was great, but after having to stop and be focused on school and a new family I realized it was doing a lot more harm to me than good. I thought it made me happier and enjoy things better...I don't think it does anymore...but that's me.
Aerosmith while high: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V87ZNemLyRk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V87ZNemLyRk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Aerosmith while sober: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zuzF7ze9AMY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zuzF7ze9AMY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I would love to see the list. I'm going to bet it isn't nearly so long as you think. Usually, the way it works is they get high and maybe come up with the idea for the song while they are sitting around staring at a fish-tank, but then actually do the work to write the song later on when they are no longer baked out of their minds. Absolutely, pot has inspired a ton of musicians. But smoking pot when they aren't writing music and writing songs later ≠ writing great songs while high.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge envisioned "Kubla Khan" while in the midst of an opium dream, then he woke up and copied it down. I don't think drugs effect everyone in the same way, but I think certain creative minds tend to be able to tap into their creativity better when under certain substances. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. John Lennon made some pretty awful music after his first solo album. He was always depressed. They let Ringo do a few songs, they weren't always great, but the Beatles were pretty much stoned all the time in the 60's. The White Album? Abbey Road? I think it just takes away your inhibitions, so everything comes out. Things that you usually wouldn't say or try to do happen. That can be a hilarious mixed bag of results. I know for me, I found things I would post on the BBS way funnier than they actually were.
They smoked a whole lot more pot in the 1970's than the 1960's. See "The Lost Weekend". And Lennon was actually on heroin pretty hardcore in the first part of the 1970's. Paul McCartney was pretty much stoned straight from 1972 on. Have you heard some of the crap that he wrote in that time period? They were. Except when they were writing and recording music. Then, they didn't really smoke. I guess they knew something?
I think John envisioned a lot of surrealism on his LSD trips. I guess it effected his outlook more than his music. But it certainly was influencing the music, there isn't much denying that. One of his famous quotes is "Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn't insanity. Surrealism to me is reality." Probably. I still dig Strawberry Fields Forever, Octopus' Garden, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. "The Lost Weekend" was absolutely necessary in a lot of ways for John. He was in a terrible rut, musically, and everything else... even more than before. May Pang couldn't keep him in line the way Yoko could. Harry Nilsson was right there helping him shoot up, no wonder he referred to that 18-month stretch as "The Lost Weekend", he probably didn't remember most of it. When he came back, he became a devoted father and had found a lot more happiness. "Double Fantasy" showed that his talent was still alive and well. He had just found joy in the simplicity of having a family, and living in NYC.
I used to feel this way, until I attempted to play baseball completely blazed. Terrible idea, on many levels.
Get on drums sober "Man I suck at the drums" Smoke a Bowl and get back on the drums " Man I'm Awesome at the drums"
Listen to a recording of yourself the next day playing on the drums after smoking a bowl "Man I really need to just quit playing all together"
I was moderately buzzed when I wrote this movie review... http://didijustwatchthat.com/2010/06/17/mp-da-last-don/ I was completely stoned out of my mind when I wrote this one... http://didijustwatchthat.com/2010/0...about-the-land-before-time-2-and-toy-story-3/
Jogging high makes it go by so much quicker, you're not thinking about the 9 and 1/8 laps you have left. lol. And yes, yes to sex. I do hear background ambiances ordinarily lost on me, bro! As for the stream of conscious, I can definitely relate. I'm right brained naturally, so it feels as if I've, on occasion, tapped into something beyond the limits of what can be taught and what is innate.
I'm pretty surprised at some of the extremes a few of y'all are taking. Pot, like anything else, requires a balance: A little bit or 'just enough,' and the creativity/energy/whatever can flow as you relax and the creativity can pour out. Too much, and you become incapicitated. I played saxophone for 15 years from junior high all through college and there was nothing better than playing a little stoned, but it depended on what was being played and how much concentration was required. For example, if we were doing a new concert band arrangement, then yeah, being high was more of a detriment, what with multiple pieces of sheet music in front of me. Jazz, blues, and big band swing was another animal altogether as it can be more free-flowing with more improvisation and playing what you feel. Yes, I had music in front of me, but there was more room for feeling and interpretation, especially since I was playing 1st tenor sax and soloing all over the place. I was at a party about a year ago and a bunch of stoners were jamming in the garage with two guitars and a drum kit. I would never call myself a drummer, but I was certainly competent enough to hop on the kit, and keep a good, rock & roll or bluesy rhythm. And after I smoked a little with them, I relaxed and really got into it. Sure, if I had smoked enough I would have been paranoid and/or glued to the couch, but I didn't and I wasn't. It's like having a few drinks vs. getting slobbering drunk, hitting on anything with a pulse, starting a fight, or driving off of a bridge. A little bit or just enough can relax and help create. Some of you might not want to believe that, but....well, you're wrong, simple as that.
drumming on amphetamines is cool though. Until your heart explodes. Plus not really easy to play quieter when on speed.
