"I have to confess, the song was not about smokin' dope," the folk singer-songwriter told Performing Songwriter of the opening track from his debut album. "It was more about how, ever since I was a child, I had this view of the world where I can find myself smiling at stuff nobody else was smiling at. But it was such a good anthem for dope smokers that I didn't want to stop every time I played it and make a disclaimer." "When I first started singing it I went on this underground TV program, and the only stage set they had was two chairs and this fake marijuana plant. I came on and sang 'Illegal Smile,' and they kept having the camera pan in, real psychedelic-like, on the plant. On top of that, I got fine by the musician's union for not taking any money to do the show."
This was used in Ron Mann's 2000 documentary Grass, about the history of marijuana in the US.
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