Released: March 3, 2000

Songwriter: Afroman

Producer: Afroman

[Hook] (Afroman talking)
Hush, hush (yeah yeah)
Somebody's callin my name (if you listen closely baby)
Hush, hush (yeah yeah)
Somebody's callin my name
Hush (listen baby) hush (somebody's callin)
Somebody's callin my name
Oh my lord, oh my lord, what shall I do

(A man sometimes girls think I'm crazy cause I wake
Her up and I tell her)
Sounds like Jesus (sounds like Jesus)
Somebody's callin my name (I know I'm high but baby)
Sounds like Jesus
And somebody's callin my name
Sounds like Jesus
Somebody's callin my name
Oh my lord, Oh my lord, what shall I do

(You know man, I think about all the hard times that I
Went through and I think)
I'm so glad that trouble don't last always
I'm so glad that trouble don't last always
I'm so glad I'm glad that trouble don't last always
Oh my lord, Oh my lord, what shall I do

I gotta feelin, that everything's gonna be all right
I gotta feelin everything's gonna be all right
I gotta feelin that everything's gonna be all right
Be all right
Be all right
Be all right

(A man it's funny cause I learnt this song when I was a little kid
When I went to visit my granddaddy down there in Mobile, Alabama
He stayed in this place called Trendy Garden you know what I'm sayin?
He used to grow his vegetables right there on the side of the house
And every now and then he'd get me to help him out know what I'm sayin?
And as he was like weedin out his garden and everything
He'd sing all kinda tunes and hymns know what I'm sayin?
And sometime he'd sing the same one like over and over and over again
You know what I'm sayin?
He'd get tired of singin the words
Sometimes he'd take a sip of his water outta that glass jar, set it back down
And while we was plantin them collard greens, he'd hum it
Just like this right here, help me out cuz, you know how we used to do it)

{*humming*}

It gets all in my hands
It gets all in my feet
It makes me wanna sing my song
To every little girl I meet
It gets all in my heart
It gets all in my sole
It comes straight out my mouth
And then I lose control
Cause I, I got this feelin, that everything's gonna be all right
Be all right
Be all right
Be all right

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.