R.E.M. "New Test Leper"

If you're a dope smoker, you're naturally paranoid.

I mean, not just from smoking dope, but (at least back in my day) from getting caught.

I was never one of those guys who could light up a joint in public and not care.

Really, I was never really a pot smoker myself.  But I certainly traveled with pot smokers.

We were seeing R.E.M. at an amphitheater outside Nashville.  This was the tour behind the record "Monster" and they were trying out new material that would eventually appear on "New Adventures In Hi Fi."  It was raining.  There were a lot of young people there who were more interested in drinking beer and making out, than listening to the band.

To make things a little brighter, one of my friends decided to light up a joint.

He hadn't gotten too far, before a figure was coming down our aisle, with a flashlight.

I nudged him.  Instinctively, he tossed the joint to the ground and stepped on it.

The woman with the flashlight brushed passed me, handed something to my friend and kept walking.

I gave him a quizzical look.

He laughed and showed me the sticker she'd give him.

Hear the song on Youtube.