Wildwood Weed by Jim Stafford (1974) | Live TV Performance

"Wildwood Weed" is a 1974 hit song written by Don Bowman and recorded by Jim Stafford. It was the fourth of four U.S. Top 40 singles from his eponymous debut album. Musically, the song takes its inspiration from The Carter Family's instrumental recording "Wildwood Flower". The lyrics in the verses are spoken, rather than sung.

The song is a story about farmers who take a sudden interest in a common wildflower on their farm and soon discover and enjoy its hallucinogenic and mind-altering properties after one of them begins to chew on one. They begin to cultivate the plant in earnest; however, federal agents raid their property and destroy their crop. Nevertheless, the men are undeterred by the destruction of their plants, as they have saved a supply of seeds, overlooked by the agents.

"Wildwood Weed" reached number seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number five on Cash Box and number three on the Canadian pop singles chart. It was a crossover hit onto the Adult Contemporary charts of both nations (reaching number two in Canada), as well as the U.S. Country chart. However, some AM radio stations banned the song because of its reference to marijuana. So, what's your reaction to this song? I'm a big fan of Jim Stafford. He is a talented performer.

Lyrics:
The wildwood flower grew wild on the farm,
And we never knowed what it was called.
Some said it was a flower and some said it was weed,
I never gave it much thought
One day I was out there talking to my brother,
Reached down for a weed to chew on,
Things got fuzzy and things got blurry,
And then everything was gone!
Didn't know what happened,
But I knew it beat the hell out of sniffin' burlap.

I come to and my brother was there,
And he said, What's wrong with your eyes?
I said, I don't know, I was chewing on a weed.
He said, Let me give it a try.
We spent the rest of that day and most of that night,
Trying to find my brother, Bill.
Caught up with him, 'bout six o'clock the next morning,
Naked, swinging on the wind mill!
He said he flew up there.
I had to fly up there and bring him down,
He was about half crazy

The very next day we picked a bunch of them weeds,
And put 'em in the sun to dry.
Then we mashed 'em up and chopped 'em up,
And put 'em in the corncob pipe.
Smokin' that wildwood flower got to be a habit,
We didn't see no harm.
We thought it was kind of handy,
Take a trip and never leave the farm!

All good things gotta come to an end,
And it's the same with the wildwood weed.
One day this feller from Washington came by,
And he spied it and turned white as a sheet.
Then they dug and they burned,
And they burned and they dug,
And they killed all our cute little weeds.
Then they drove away,
We just smiled and waved
Sittin' there on that sack of seeds!

Y'all come back now, hear?

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We all come from different times and places, but there are commonalities, or threads, that bind us and bring us closer to one another. Let us rejoice in the simple days of the past. Our Nostalgic Memories is dedicated to remembering the best of times and the best of people.

#wildwoodweed #jimstafford #1970s #wildwoodflower #heehaw

[scottjohnson]

70’s kid here and I approve of this message.

[kirkharry]

People forget how big of a hit this song was..

[ramona]

Between Jim Stafford and Ray Stevens, we had some pretty funny, fun songs back in the day

[patriciajrs]

Good ole wildwood weed. I loved this song, still do.

[robertwagner]

I remember growing up on a farm in Ca. and this song came out on the radio. I was smokin home grown and learning about my favorite weed.

[johnlong]

I love The Wildwood Weed.
I love the song, too.

[deedoyle]

'Love it! Humor is the ONLY thing that's getting me through these weird times!

[marknorthrup]

It's now the anthem of growers all over our great land.

[jamesweb]

I use to be able to sing this word for word me and my late brother use to joke and song this jokingly to each other great memories of this tune

[mikemiller]

There's definitely a difference between good fun music back in the day and what gets the most likes now

[jen]

In 1974 when this came out I lived in a small town called Wildwood.

[arthurwatt]

Jim Stafford was funny. Spiders and snakes. My girl, bill. Lol

[vickiekoenig]

I heard this song for the first time in my life yesterday and I was born in the 68. It cracked me up. 😊

[paulaboynton]

Born in the 50’s, I remember this song from the 70’s. Still funny.

[RedDevilMoto]

born in '65, grew up in 70's and early 80's...i can still remember this song and how, backt then...i had NO idea what he was talking about. What I DO know, is that they dont write songs like this anymore.

[robertsprafke]

Great song, I loved growing up in the 70’s in Wilmington California it was a easygoing time but I’m glad I moved to Arkansas. It got really crazy before I left.

[pamsummers]

70s kid also I love those farms ! 2024 I'm 64 still loving that weed🎉

[shockedjeanshepard]

Me and ol' Grandpa Jones used to toke it up. That old coot could smoke me under the table!

[MarshaShelley-tn]

Always loved this song! Had some good, goofy and funny songs back then that were fun!

[jessiejames]

Always sings all those funny songs. This one is a gem!😉