[koolthing78]

Interesting thread (at least if I understand you right), but for me, it's not so much about the lyrical representation of drugs as the music itself. I have always liked Sonic Youth (well, since 1995), and have smoked pot on and off about that long, but I didn't really combine the two until relatively recently. Actually, back around 1999 or so I did try a little mushrooms, smoking, then listening to EVOL, but as fantastic as that was, I never really did that again. But when Rather Ripped came out, I had also just started smoking heavily again (well, once a day). And I listened to that record every night for at least 6 months. After a while, I started working my way back through their catalogue, and I found that everything I had never really gotten before seemed to make so much more sense. I think it helps most with noisier/abstract stuff, because it causes you to pay much more attention to the little details. A song like "Fire Engine Dream" may sound kind of aimless to someone just passively listening to it, but if you close your eyes and focus, you notice all the ups and downs, the crescendos, changes in mood, etc., and the whole song takes on this complex story arc, complete with conflict, climax, and resolution. Same can be said for Three Part Sectional, and countless other songs (like the entirety of Bad Moon Rising, which is just BRILLIANT). That being said, I disagree with the idea that a certain song that seems to be about one thing can not be enjoyed by someone who does not do that thing. For me, while smoking weed can help me "get" a song, once I get it, that understanding doesn't go away. It may not always be as intense as in that initial "Holy Shit!!" moment of "clarity," but I can always appreciate the genius behind it.