The origins of “420” as weed-related slang were hard to pin down for a long time. But the lore is rich with endless references. So many that it would take several lifetimes to compile every weed reference in popular culture. Plus, there would still be new ones emerging every day. Since we don’t have the research funding for that particular project (unless the Ohio Cannabis Museum wants to hit me up), we’ll focus on a few sneaky 420 references in music.
In June 1966, Bob Dylan released “Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35” on his double album Blonde on Blonde. With its talk of getting stoned and the ramshackle backing music, “Rainy Day Women” was written off as simply a “drug song.” At the time, Dylan responded to the backlash. He said he would play no more concerts in England, where the song was removed from airplay.
Allegedly, Dylan also said he “[didn’t] know how” to write a drug song. “It’s not a ‘drug song’,” he claimed, according to the 1987 biography No Direction Home. “It’s just vulgar.”
Additionally, Boston’s first single, “More Than A Feeling”, included the B-side “Smokin’”. Not only do the lyrics capture the drug-and-dance vibe of late-’70s rock and roll, but it also clocks in around 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Critics at the time were conflicted, with some finding it a flat, uninspired single. Decades later, the opinions seemed to soften, and many critics retrospectively considered it a foundational single for classic rock radio. Still, there’s no denying the dedication of writing a 420 song with a runtime of exactly 4:20.
Where Did ‘420’ Actually Come From, Anyway?
Now, a little history. While cannabis has been used therapeutically and medicinally since roughly 2000 BCE, “420” is obviously a 20th-century turn of phrase. Allegedly, it was coined in 1971 by a group of friends at California’s San Rafael High School. They called themselves The Waldos. Every day after school, at 4:20 p.m., they would meet, smoke a joint, and comb the nearby woods for the crop of cannabis a friend’s brother was growing out there.
420 became a recurring code for The Waldos, showing up in their letters over the years. In 2017, the Oxford English Dictionary officially recognized the term, and the origin story of The Waldos gained widespread attention.
It also helped that they hung around with The Grateful Dead. A brother of one of The Waldos was friends with bassist Phil Lesh. Allegedly, there was a flier passed around at an early-90s Grateful Dead concert in California. It read, “Meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.” When the flier was published in High Times magazine, April 20 gained widespread attention as the unofficial weed holiday.
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