Steppenwolf – Don’t Step On The Grass Sam

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
It will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)

Hmmm, wonder what this song was about? When I was 18 I had a Steppenwolf compilation tape that I would play driving around and this song will stick in your head. I probably listened to it more than any other song on that cassette. Love the riff and the build-up. I really get into this song when it kicks in.

With edibles and pot legal in some states…this song shows how some things have changed. In 1968 the government had a full-blown war on drugs and just having pot could get you in serious trouble. In that year the government created The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. A lot of the laws were made in the 50s and included a first-offense marijuana possession carried a minimum sentence of 2-10 years with a fine of up to $20,000.

In 1970, some of the mandatory laws were repealed when Congress saw it wasn’t doing anything to cut the drug culture. This song was banned for a period for obvious reasons in 1968.

Steppenwolf The Second

John Kay the singer for Steppenwolf advocated for marijuana legalization during his band’s heyday in the late 1960s. The ‘Sam’ mentioned in the title of course refers to Uncle Sam and Harry Anslinger who was the commissioner of The U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics who helped make some of those strict laws early on. Kay wrote this song.

I don’t want anyone to think I’m advocating drugs…but come on… 2-10 years mandatory on possession of pot? Personally…I never smoked pot…not because I had anything against it but because I just cannot inhale smoke (Sorry Bill C.)  of any kind. I’ll take that back…I did try in 2006 on my way to a Stones concert but I just couldn’t deal with the smoke. As a musician, it was all around me constantly so I did have plenty of contact highs.

Don’t Step On The Grass Sam was off of their second album…appropriately named The Second in 1968. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100 and #2 in Canada in 1968.

The song suddenly stops and then….after pounding on the door, a group of actors playing policemen storm in saying, “Alright you guys, you’re under arrest for possession of marijuana.”…then you hear flushing.

Don’t Step On The Grass, Sam

Starin’ at the boob tube, turnin’ on the big knob
Tryin’ to find some life in the waste land
Finally found a program, gonna deal with Mary Jane
Ready for a trip into hate land
Obnoxious Joe comes on the screen
Along with his guest self-righteous Sam
And one more guy who doesn’t count
His hair and clothes are too far out

While pushin’ back his glasses Sam is sayin’ casually
“I was elected by the masses”
And with that in mind he starts to unwind
A vicious attack on the finest of grasses

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
Well it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight, alright)

Misinformation Sam and Joe
Are feeding to the nation
But the one who didn’t count counted them out
By exposing all their false quotations
Faced by a very awkward situation
This is all he’d say to save the day

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
It will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight alright)

You waste my coin Sam, all you can
To jail my fellow man
For smoking of the noble weed
You need much more than him
You’ve been telling lies so long
Some believe they’re true
So they close their eyes to things
You have no right to do
Just as soon as you are gone
Hope will start to climb
Please don’t stay around too long
You’re wasting precious time

Well it’s evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don’t step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don’t be such an ass, Sam)
It will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You’re so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight alright)

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

42 thoughts on “Steppenwolf – Don’t Step On The Grass Sam”

  2. John Sinclair (poet, founder of the White Panther Party, manager of the MC5) was sentenced to 10 years for possession of marijuana (2 joints) in 1969. He won early release and won a case before the Supreme Court for illegal domestic surveillance.

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    1. That may have helped change those laws in 1970…it was around 72 when he was released. Lennon was a big supporter of him at that time…I’m sure that didn’t help though because they were after Lennon.

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  3. There was a lot of talk about legalizing pot in the late 80s and the 70s, but nothing ever came of it. I am glad that people finally came to their senses, as I don’t see this as being harmful, well at least it as no worse than drinking alcohol. People called it a gateway drug and the only thing that made it a gateway drug was because it was illegal, and you had to buy it from criminals who also dealt other things. Nice song, but I don’t remember it.

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    1. Yea…you can abuse anything…sugar, alchohol, food, and more… I’ve played in more bars and clubs than I want to admit. I stayed away from those who were drinking heavily (especially whiskey)…but the pot smokers were always chilled and friendly.
      Too much of almost anything is bad….but like you said…people were going to get it regardless.

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  4. I don’t know this song Max! I had one of the Greatest Hits s as albums and I’m pretty sure this not on it. It’s a great track and as you said a pointed message that got it banned. Always a good sign for a government protest song!

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    1. It was on one of those many by them in the mid eighties or I would have never heard it. The song hooked me…no pun intended.
      Being banned is success usually.

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  5. I’ve never heard this one before, though ‘The Pusher’ was a staple of FM rock in Toronto when I was growing up. Not a fan of the weed myself and I think it’s detrimental to people… but then again, so is tobacco obviously, over-drinking, most of the crap snack food mass-marketed in every store, so the criminilization of it makes no real sense. No one wins if a person is thrown in jail for years just for indulging in it , they lose time out of their lives, their family loses, it costs society tens of thousands of dollars to house them and it creates more crime with things like shootings of dealers to rip them off of their stash. Education, heavy taxation seem a better route to choose to limit it or its ill-effects.

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    1. I never was either…not because I was against it but I just can’t smoke…I tried one cigarette in my entire life…I couldn’t get through it…which was a blessing.
      It has it’s uses… as a safer alternative to opioids to deal with pain… moderation is the key…but many are not good at that…I’m not excluding me! lol.

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      1. I have/had bad asthma. It seldom acts up now, but it almost killed me as a child (when my mom chain-smoked in the house) so I try to avoid any smoky substances. It blows me away as late as the 90s I’d go for my lunch coffee at work& there’d be a cloud of smoke in the donut shop since half the customers & some of the servers were all smoking in it.

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      2. For my back…I can’t smoke so I did do an edible since it is legal…it did help but I never really did anymore…but I would use it again.
        No with asthma….any smoke is bad.

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    1. Yes me also. The worse thing is a stampede to Dominios…
      I shouldn’t be that light about it…but the worse I’ve seen people drive on it was going incredibly….slow and focused because of the paranoia.

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      1. A few nice droll comments today. You know house that uses by the lingering atmosphere but usually the stack of greasy boxes in the trash. You don’t need to be an FBI genius.
        I liked a lot of Steppenwolf, outside the big hits (also, no pun intended.) ‘Monster’ is one from the times but to me it holds up well, still.

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      2. Yes it’s pretty obvious. I do like a lot of their non “hits” also lol. John Kays voice is just so different and it makes me listen…very commanding.

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  10. Steppenwolf was one of the first rock bands I listened to when I began my journey into rock and roll. For some reason, my local Ben Franklin’s music section had their albums up front. I bought 3 LPs on display and spent several days listening to them. When I close my eyes, I can still see those black Dunhill labels spinning on my turntable. This was and still is a great song.

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    1. You are right…those Dunhill labels…I remember those as well. Every time I listen to an older song I think of that single spinning if I had it.

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      1. My earliest memory of 45s is of me sitting on the floor of my older cousin’s bedroom and watching the label of Bang Records spinning on her record player. It was 1966 and she was probably listening to Neil Diamond’s Cherry Cherry. I liked the label because it had a pistol on it.

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      2. In the seventies…my sister who is 8 years older, had a ton of singles. I remember The Big Tree label, another label with a Butterfly (for Bread), and many of them.

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    1. Yes I like this one. Forget the reasons it came to be…I think I concentrated too much on that during the post…the song is catchy to me.

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  12. I love me some Steppenwolf. I remember reading that John Kay and his fam came to Canada when he was a teenager from a country with a repressive government. He was smart enough to see where we were headed by that stupid war on weed. Ironically he also wrote an anthemic tune called, “The Pusher” that is strongly against drugs that “kill the spirit.” Kickass tune and thanks for sharing it today, Max.

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      1. I don’t smoke or use weed in any form, but I don’t begrudge anyone who does. The only risk I see with weed is one side effect of long-term chronic use can be to induce psychosis in some individuals. It’s certainly no more harmful and often LESS harmful than doctor prescribed pharmaceuticals!

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      2. The doctor at one time would give me 180 Vicodin because of my slip discs…this was back in 99 and 2000…
        Since then I’ve tried to manage the pain…and yes I’ve tried an edible….it did help but Lisa….there is NO way I could live with that floaty spacy feelin for days on end….I only use it for severe pain…but better than vicodin lol. Since I started to sleep on my back…it’s relieved a lot of my pain.

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      3. Your doctor was like the guy Steppenwolf talked about: The Pusher. 180 vicodin at a time!?!? WTH!? That would addict you 18 times over. I’m so glad you got away from that poison. Weed is 100 times better than that. I’m glad you found a way to relieve a lot of the pain. Have you ever tried Arnica Gel on your back? Totally herbal and has taken care of a lot of pain for me in my fingers for arthritis and in my leg when I fell on the bike.

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      4. 3 scripts for 60…well of course I took them all…I had to wean myself off of them. I’ve managed it pretty well since. I have some left over from years ago that if it gets too bad I’ll take…but learning to sleep on my back..helped me so much. It took months for me to do that. I was a side sleeper…and it was hard to start doing that.
        I never heard of that…I’ll look it up! The edibles do help but that floaty feeling is fun for 5 minutes…but it gets old.

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      5. I’m glad you reconditioned yourself to sleep in a way that relieves the pain. Most health food stores carry arnica gel. Jennifer would probably have to apply it to your back. It might take the rest of whatever pain you are feeling away. I know what you mean about that “unreal” feeling that weed gives (I smoked it a lot until early 20s and had a bad trip — I think it was laced with something.)

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      6. Mark told me that smoking it is much different than an edible…I can’t smoke period…but when I do take them…it’s just a pinch of one…
        Thats scary about being laced…today…there is no way I would get it from anyone I didn’t know….that awful Fentanyl could be in it.

        Ok…she loves natural things so I’ll look for it.

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