My Gen X Playlist: Pass the Dutchie – Musical Youth

I was hanging out with a friend a few days before returning home from Japan. His brother mailed him a box of books and he handed me one. I opened it and found there was a hole carved out in the middle of the pages and hidden inside were a few joints. He said, What better way to say sayonara to Japan than smoking weed on tatami mats. He was right.

Fast forward two months. I’m back in the states interviewing for jobs. Because of my detoured year abroad, I felt like I had fallen behind in my career. I was working with a recruiter on a position and he said the company had narrowed down two hundred candidates to me. I was a shoe in. I just had one more interview, but it was a formality.

The interview was short. One of the questions asked was if I ever used drugs of any kind. I had tried pot a few times in college and remembered I also recently smoked out a few months ago in Japan. I heard rumors that marijuana stayed in your system for three months. I wasn’t sure if that was true and had no way of checking. The internet hadn’t been invented yet to confirm this. He then added, You’ll have to take a drug test before an offer is extended. In a split second, I decided to come clean. Yeah, I’ve tried marijuana in college, but only a few times. Keep in mind, this was the 90’s and attitudes towards weed were different from today. Later, I peed in a cup and crossed my fingers for the job offer.

A month later, I remember my mom asking me about that job opportunity. Uh, they decided to go with someone with more experience, I explained. There was no way I was going to tell her the real reason. The funny thing is, I told her the real story a few weeks ago. She laughed and shook her head. I guess it’s easier to fess up to my stupid 20-something mistakes when I’m in my fifties and she is in her eighties. I’m sure her reaction would have been completely different thirty years ago.

Musical Youth released Pass the Dutchie in 1982. I always thought they were too young to be singing about pot. I was right about dutchie being pot, I just didn’t know it was a different kind of pot. But honestly, you can’t fool me…

A “Dutchie” is a Jamaican cooking pot, and while there’s not much reason to pass one around, it was an acceptable substitute for the original lyric: “Pass The Kutchie,” Kutchie being Jamaican slang for a pot that holds marijuana (a pot pot?).

“Pass The Kutchie” was a song that came out earlier in 1982 by the reggae group The Mighty Diamonds, which was adapted by Musical Youth, or at least their handlers. The five boys in the group were between the ages of 11 and 16 years old at the time, and their manager suggested they record the song with the modified lyric.

– Songfacts

I haven’t tried gummies yet. A buddy of mine takes one at the end of a stressful day to take the edge off. Maybe one day I’ll give it a try. Right now ice cream works just fine.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

This generation
Rules the nation
With version

Music happen to be the food of love
Sounds to really make you rub and scrub

Pass the dutchie on the left hand side
Pass the dutchie on the left hand side
It a gonna burn, give me music make me jump and prance
It a go done, give me the music make me rock in the dance

It was a cool and lovely breezy afternoon
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)
You could feel it 'cause it was the month of June
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)
So I left my gate and went out for a walk
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)
As I pass the dreadlocks' camp I heard them say
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)

Pass the dutchie on the left hand side
(I said) pass the dutchie on the left hand side
It a gonna burn, give me music make me jump and prance
It a go done, give me the music make me rock in the dance

So I stopped to find out what was going on.
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)
'Cause the spirit of Jah, you know he leads you on
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)
There was a ring of dreads and a session was there in swing
(How does it feel when you've got no food?)
You could feel the chill as I seen and heard them say
(How does it feel when you've got no food ?)

Pass the dutchie on the left hand side
(I said) pass the dutchie on the left hand side
It a gonna burn, give me music make me jump and prance
It a go done, give me the music make me rock in the dance

'Cause me say listen to the drummer, me say listen to the bass
Give me little music make me wind up me waist
Me say listen to the drummer, me say listen to the bass
Give me little music make me wind up me waist, (I say)

Pass the dutchie on the left hand side (I say)
Pass the dutchie on the left hand side
It a gonna burn, give me music make me jump and prance
It a go done, give me the music make me rock in the dance

You play it on the radio, a so me say, we a go hear it on the stereo
A so me know you a go play it on the disco
A so me say we a go hear it on the stereo

Pass the dutchie on the left hand side (I say)
Pass the dutchie on the left hand side
It a gonna burn, give me music make me jump and prance
It a go done, give me the music make me rock in the dance

On the left hand side
(I said)
On the left hand side
(I said)
On the left hand side
We meet on the left hand side
(I'm fellin') on the left hand side
I say east, say west, say north and south (on the left hand side)
This is gonna make us jump and shout (on the left hand side)
I say east, say west, say north and south (on the left hand side)
This is gonna make me be able to jump and shout, I say (on the left hand side)