There are probably not a lot of people who can say that Janet Jackson is the reason they quit smoking weed. Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, however, is one of them.
The story came up while McConaughey was speaking to Rolling Stone for the outlet’s My Life In 10 Songs feature. On his list, the Rivals of Amziah King actor included Jackson’s 1993 single “That’s The Way Love Goes”.
“What a cool, groovy little tune,” McConaughey said, then revealing how impactful the song really was on him. “It’s also the reason I quit smoking weed.” After a chuckle, he explained that, “right around the time weed started turning hydroponic,” he heard the song and was taken aback by the marijuana’s hallucinogenic capabilities.
“That’s the Way Love Goes” was the first single of Janet Jackson’s fifth album
“A lot of y’all don’t remember, but weed used to be: you could roll a joint, smoke it, pass it around, everyone giggles, gets the munchies, and maybe runs off and tries to get some snuggle time,” McConaughey reflected. “Well then it started getting this hydroponic stuff where one toke, the subplots could become unmanageable, and people would implode.”
“I was headed to my own birthday party,” he went on to share. “We’d taken over the club for my birthday party. I’m gonna drive myself. Before I go, my buddy hands me this joint; he goes, ‘Here, man. Have some of this, super fun.’ I get there, and I take the toke in the car. It was not like the weed I’d smoked before.”
McConaughey continued, “I listened to Janet Jackson’s ‘That’s the Way Love Goes’ 24 times in a row, and when I finally got out of the car to go into my birthday party, no one was in there, ‘cause it was over. They’d all left.”
“I sat in the frickin’ car listening to ‘That’s the Way Love Goes’ 24 times because I thought, at the time, that that was more important than going to my own birthday party,” he concluded. “Love the song, didn’t love the weed. Still like the tune, though.”
Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The post Matthew McConaughey Quit Smoking Weed With the Help of This 1993 Smash Hit (Played Over 20 Times) appeared first on VICE.
