One Toke Over the Line

Track 1 on Tarkio

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The one hit wonder by the duo reached No. 10 in the charts in 1971, and left an eternal impression as one of the top stoner songs of all time… From an album named after… Read More

Jan. 1, 19701 viewer34.9K views

One Toke Over the Line Lyrics

[Intro]

[Chorus]
One toke over the line, sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line
Waitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary
Hopin' that the train is on time
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line

[Verse 1]
Who do you love? I hope it's me
I've been changin' as you can plainly see
I felt the joy and I learned about the pain that my mama said
If I should choose to make a part of me, would surely strike me dead

[Chorus]
And now I'm one toke over the line, sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line
Waitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary
Hopin' that the train is on time
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line

[Verse 2]
I sailed away a country mile
And now I'm returning and showing off my smile
I met all the girls and I loved myself a few, and to my surprise
Like everything else that I've been through, it opened up my eyes

[Chorus]
And now I'm one toke over the line, sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line
Don't you know I'm just waitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary?
Hopin' that the train is on time
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line

[Bridge]
Don't you know I'm just waitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary?
(Hopin' that the train is on time) I'm hopin' that the train is on time
(Sittin' downtown in a railway station) Sittin' in a railway station
One toke over the line

[Lost Verse]
I was born to give and take
And as I keep growin' I'm gonna make some mistakes
The sun's gonna set and the bird is gonna wing
They do not lie
My last wish will be just one thing
Be smilin' when I die

[Chorus]
I wanna be one toke over the line, sweet Jesus
(One toke over the line) One toke over the line
(Sittin' downtown in a railway station) Sittin' in a railway station
(One toke over the line) One toke over the line
(Don't you know I'm just waitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary?)
Waitin' for the train that goes home
(Hopin' that the train is on time) I'm hopin' that the train is on time
(Sittin' downtown in a railway station) Sittin' in a railway station
(One toke over the line) One toke over the line
Sittin' downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line
One toke, one toke over the line

About

The one hit wonder by the duo reached No. 10 in the charts in 1971, and left an eternal impression as one of the top stoner songs of all time…

From an album named after a small Missouri town where they performed.

In a 1971 interview, the song’s writing story was presented clearly –

One day we were pretty much stoned and all and Tom says, “Man, I’m one toke over the line tonight.” I liked the way that sounded and so I wrote a song around it.