Following the album's release, the Screaming Jets went to the UK where they based themselves for over two years, touring there and throughout Europe with a variety of hard rock and heavy metal bands. During a series of shows with Ugly Kid Joe, Heaney was fired and replaced for the rest of the tour by one-time Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland.
The band's next album Tear of Thought, which featured Heaney's drumming, was initially slow to gain acceptance until a cover of Boys Next Door's "Shivers" saw the Screaming Jets back in the charts. Heaney was permanently replaced in the line-up by former BB Steal drummer Craig Rosevear and after a US tour with Def Leppard Lara was replaced by Melbourne musician Jimi "The Human" Hocking, who had previously fronted his own band, Jimi Human and Spectre 7, that released an album and two singles at the turn of the decade.
While the Screaming Jets remained only moderately successful overseas, in Australia they were one of the top-drawing live bands of the early-mid 1990s and perhaps the last remaining example of the pub rock acts that had ruled the country's live scene in the late 1970s - mid 1980s. While their single releases rarely scored high on the charts, they won significant airplay on rock radio and the band's tours were wildly successful. In 1995 the Screaming Jets' self-titled album made history when it became the first CD launched via live Webcast.
By the late 90s the Screaming Jets were touring less often and had not released an album of new material since 1996. Hocking had left in 1997 to be replaced by former Judge Mercy guitarist Izzy Osmanovich and after an extensive Australian tour in 2000, Rosevear left to be replaced by Col Hatchman. Although no longer the force they had once been, the Screaming Jets could still draw large crowds and in 2001 were selected to tour with Kiss and Alice Cooper; at the end of that year the band announced an extended break from all touring and recording, playing a final series of shows.
In December 2002, the Screaming Jets did another brief tour in support of a self-financed live album that had been recorded the previous year, but then did not play live again until mid-2004. Since then have continued to record and tour, though more sporadically than during the early 1990s and have also signed a record publishing deal with Universal Records.
Reefer Madness
The Screaming Jets Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've just smoked the pot they say killed Elvis. I've got a myriad of
colour I love to stare at And I'm told Fred Flinstone was the very first
dead head.
I'm stoned as ten Bob Marleys and my eyes are blazing red.
I can feel the brain cells exploding in my head. I'm stoned:
love to taste
So can you tell me what's so wrong with all these feelings that I'm
feeling
While grand ideals lay the world to waste.
I'm stoned as ten Bob Marleys and my eyes are blazing red.
I can feel the brain cells exploding in my head. I'm stoned
Following behind me in the haze from the setting sun I don't know where
I'm going but I'm happy to be gone
So happy to be gone I ain't.
I ain't never coming back,
I'm going all the way
I'm never coming back on and on and on and on and on
The universe is flooding through my
Senses, I don't need you violent ways or means All your fighting,
sacrificing, loving, murder The smoke it fills me up now I can see.
I'm stoned as ten Bob Marleys and my eyes are blazing red.
I can feel the brain cells exploding in my head. I'm stoned again.
The Screaming Jets's song Reefer Madness is a song about the intense euphoric experience that comes with smoking marijuana. The lyrics actively portray the singer as a "drug f**ked mother f**kin' maniac" who has just smoked a potent strain of marijuana that is said to have killed Elvis. The singer describes a colorful, psychedelic experience that leaves them feeling out of their mind and stoned as "ten Bob Marleys". The song suggests that there is nothing wrong with these feelings, and even questions why "grand ideals" are worth pursuing when marijuana can provide such a pleasurable alternative.
The song's lyrics suggest that there is no need for violence or fighting when the experience of smoking marijuana can be so fulfilling. The singer is happy to be lost in the haze of the drug's effect and feels that they will never come back to reality. Rather than being a cautionary tale about drug abuse, Reefer Madness is an ode to the transformative power of marijuana and the escape it can provide from the harshness of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm a drug f**ked mother f**kin' maniac
I am heavily under the influence of drugs and behaving like a crazy person.
I've just smoked the pot they say killed Elvis. I've got a myriad of colour I love to stare at And I'm told Fred Flinstone was the very first dead head.
I have consumed a lot of marijuana and am experiencing vivid hallucinations. I have heard that famous people like Elvis also used this drug. Additionally, I am fascinated by the subculture of people who enjoy it, like the fans of the Grateful Dead.
I'm stoned as ten Bob Marleys and my eyes are blazing red. I can feel the brain cells exploding in my head. I'm stoned: Refer Madness
I am incredibly high on marijuana and my eyes are bloodshot from the drug's effects. I can feel my brain functioning in unusual ways, and I am experiencing a state of extreme intoxication known as Reefer Madness.
I'm out of my head with marijuana, these buds the buzz I love to taste So can you tell me what's so wrong with all these feelings that I'm feeling While grand ideals lay the world to waste.
I am completely absorbed in the sensations of marijuana and enjoy the taste of the substance's flowers. I do not understand why society condemns this drug, especially when there are much more serious problems happening in the world.
Following behind me in the haze from the setting sun I don't know where I'm going but I'm happy to be gone So happy to be gone I ain't. I ain't never coming back, I'm going all the way I'm never coming back on and on and on and on and on
As I wander aimlessly in the sunset's light, I am content with being lost in my high. I feel a profound sense of liberation and have no intention of returning to my previous state of mind or way of life.
The universe is flooding through my Senses, I don't need you violent ways or means All your fighting, sacrificing, loving, murder The smoke it fills me up now I can see.
As I continue to indulge in marijuana, my mind is expanding and my perception of reality is changing. I am convinced that I do not need to resort to violence or other destructive means to achieve my goals. I believe that everything is connected and that the smoke from the drug is giving me a higher sense of clarity.
I'm stoned as ten Bob Marleys and my eyes are blazing red. I can feel the brain cells exploding in my head. I'm stoned again.
Once again, I am very high on marijuana, and my eyes are red from my blood pressure rising. I am aware of the changes in my mental state and feel elated as a result.
Contributed by Nathan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Earthy Irwin
Pot is not a drug it's a hurb ... & it's helped me with my sesurers... havnt had one since I was 16
AAAAAA!
Back in Napster days this song was impossible to find.