It’s such a very long time since I last placed a thin white stick gently between my lips, held a flame to its end until it glowed with an almost throbbing intensity, and then inhaled, feeling that hot tingly sensation at the back of my throat and a momentary light-headed rush. I’m glad I stopped smoking – over twenty years ago now – and I have absolutely zero desire to ever start up again. But I can’t pretend I didn’t enjoy it when I did.
Smoking sporadically through my late teenage years, during college, and on and off for some time after was just part of normal life. You could smoke just about anywhere for a start, certainly in all the places I frequented: gig venues, pubs and clubs, shops, train carriages. It was as if everybody indulged in it – although I realise they didn’t. I find it interesting to watch those old TV interviews, when both host and guest would happily puff away in between the probing questions and their responses, smoke visibly curling up into the air between them as if to illustrate their words.
Anyway, whatever you think about smoking, I really just wanted an excuse to post a single on here today which deserves to be listened to again because I think it’s great. Its lyrics could only have come from a very different time (in this case, 1978). It’s hard to imagine a song that is purely about the ‘evil weed’ ever being written again, well, certainly not in quite such a charming way as this one. Enjoy. With or without a cigarette.
Prag VEC - Cigarettes
