Smokin' in the Boys Room 2012

This was written by Brownsville Station lead singer/guitarist Michael "Cub" Koda. Koda wrote for various music magazines, including Goldmine, until he died in 2000.

This song is about a group of schoolboys who sneak out of class to smoke tobacco in the boys' bathroom, only to be found by the principal who reminds them "No smoking allowed in school." Cub Koda got the idea for the song from memories of hanging out at a movie theater with his childhood friends - they would smuggle cigarettes lifted from their parents into the men's room at the Clinton Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Friday nights. Coda says the "old duffer" who owned the theater would come after them, but never caught them in the act. When he found himself in a band, Koda drew from this experience to write the song, shifting the scene from the movie house to the schoolhouse.

For school outcasts who often questioned authority, this was a very validating song. It became an anthem for frustrated youth who felt marginalized at school.