Released: April 20, 2004

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

[Intro]
I done been to jail for a lot of stupid shit
And when you go to jail for a lot of stupid shit, you try not to go back
And I...you know...I take precaution, you know
However, sometimes you can take too much precaution
To the point where it gets - ridiculous. Haha, aww man

[Verse 1]
Each day at my dope spot
I watch him as he passes by (Hey black, hey black who dat man, who dat?)
I say to myself he looks like the FBI (Yeah)
A white man like him (White man like him?)
What is he doing over here? (You know what I'm sayin? I don't know)
I wonder what does he want
Then he asks me
"You got a light? You wanna help me smoke this blunt?" (aww yeah)

[Hook]
It was just my paranoia (hey hey hey)
Running away with me yeah
It was just my paranoia
Running away (aww yeah)

[Verse 2]
Down on my luck couldn't find no job
I'd rather sell dope than rob, why squab?
I know I can't do it forever
So uh, I'ma do it quick and clever (quick and clever)
However, drinkin malt liquor, smokin endo (endo)
Two cops ran by my window (aww shit)
It's a raid (a raid?) - or that's what I assumed (yeah)
I flushed two ounces in the bathroom
I ran out the back before they could find me
Come to find out, they raided the house behind me (You're trippin')
Yeah man, they ran through my backyard, hopped over the fence, anyway

[Hook]
It was just my paranoia (hey hey hey)
Running away with me yeah
It was just my paranoia
Running away (aww yeah)
For real boy

[Afroman talking]
I'm tellin you man your paranoia can get to you man
I remember man I used to trip on everything you know what I'm sayin
I'd be chillin with them
And we'd be goin off man
Hey, you know what I hate though (What's that man?)

[Verse 3]
I hate them late model cars doggonnit
Look like bikes with all those antennaes on it
Paranoid I used to sell yell man
Trippin on the telephone and the mailman
Treat customers like compulsive liars (compulsive liars)
Raise their shirt and check for wires (check for wires)
I got a little money but I need a little more
Damn somebody's knockin at my front door
Some guy in a shirt and tie (shirt and tie)
Is it Homicide or FBI? (FBI)
Does he have a warrant for Joseph Foreman? (Joseph Foreman)
Oh you're a Mormon

[Hook]
Just my paranoia (Come on in man)
Running away with me yeah
It was just my paranoia
Running away (aww yeah)

[Afroman talking]
Hey man, you know where my paranoia really get me at man? (What's that?)
When I'm walkin through the mall or shoppin man (Hell yeah)
Everybody be lookin like undercovers, cause they be starin (Man you know)
And I don't be knowin, you know what I'm sayin?

[Verse 4]
I hate sellin dope
I think about stoppin
Undercover cops follow me while I'm shoppin (damn)
Trackin me with a hidden camera (hidden camera)
Plottin to throw me back in the slammer
They think I don't see em, but yes I do (yes I do)
They some haters (haters), actin like they pickin tomatoes (pickin tomatoes)
I'm ready for quick decisions (quick decisions)
Keep 'em in my peri-fee-al vision (in my peri-fee-al vision)
I see 'em in the airport, plain and clear
Street clothes with that little wire in their ear
They rush me, shake my hand
"I'm your biggest fan, sign this for me Afroman"

[Hook]
Just my paranoia (hey hey hey)
Running away with me
It was just my paranoia
Running away
It was just my paranoia
Running away with me yeah
It was just my paranoia
Running away

[Verse 5]
You know
I wrote a hit song "Because I Got High" (high)
Signed with Universal
Now my bank account's dry
Universal records, yeah mon
Took my money like Enron
Broke and alone
Things got hard
However, it brought me close to God
I changed my life and became a Christian, singer, rapper, and musician
I've been high, I've been low, I've been rich, I've been po', I've been right, I've been wrong
Since I been with God my paranoia's gone

[Hook - Repeat until fade]
No more paranoia (hey hey hey)
Running away with me yeah
I have no more paranoia
Running away (aww yeah)

Afroman

Joseph ‘Afroman’ Foreman began writing songs and handing them out to his friends on cassette while in the eighth grade. At 25 years old, he released his first album, 1999’s Sell Your Dope. Soon after, he moved from LA to Mississippi with the mission to ‘get away from competition and sell to actual people’, releasing his sophomore album Because I Got High in 2000 on T-Bones Records. Its title track, written hastily after a friend showed up and interrupted him on an ambitious day and insisted they instead get high, was the last song he had recorded for the album. Soon after, Afroman left the music business.

At the same time, the file-sharing software Napster – heavily used at the time to share and distribute music for free – was at its peak of popularity, and the album’s title track became popular with its users. Universal Records caught wind and signed Afroman to a six album deal and released it as a single on July 6, 2001.

“Because I Got High” immediately became one of the most-requested songs across the nation, growing even larger after syndicated morning radio show host Howard Stern began airing it regularly, helping to make it ‘the most requested song on the radio in the country’. Further boosting its popularity was its inclusion in the film (and soundtrack to) Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back and MTV’s eventual agreement to air a modified, less-controversial music video for the song. It peaked at #13 in the US, and topped the charts in ten countries overseas. Its album The Good Times reached #10 in the US.