40. 10 Smoking Songs

Cigarettes and Coffee - Otis Redding
Smoke Detector - Rilo Kiley
Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk - Rufus Wainwright
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands - Band of Horses
Cigarette Sandwich - Scud Mountain Boys
Smokin' - Super Furry Animals
A Life Less Ordinary - Ash
Been Smokin' Too Long - Nick Drake
Last Cigarette - Ed Harcourt
Hymn to the Cigarettes - Hefner

I stopped smoking a few months ago [woo!]. For about the 90th time, but I think that should be the last time. I've stopped for long periods before, twice for almost two year, another time for one year. In fact, I smoked for less of my 20s than I didn't, I'd think, but it still casts a large cloud. How stupid does one have to be in this day of age to smoke more than the occasional cigarette beyond the age of around 22?
Well, not that stupid, it is a very smart, subtle beast, as many of us know. The trick is, if you think you've nailed it, there may yet be some occasion where you think one cigarette might slightly enhance the pleasure you have on one particular evening, and until you're over that thought, there's a good chance you still will.
And also, it's the iconography. The fact censors are much sharper on not letting people smoke on screen these days really does make a big difference, becasue I promise you, if you've just given up smoking and you're trying not to, the image of seeing Paul Newman or Marlon Brando timelessly enjoying a smoke is pretty hard to resist (the knowledge that Paul Newman died of lung cancer should counteract that somewhat of course).
Anyway, that's a good collection of songs up there, I particularly like the Hefner one - it's about all I know by them, but let's hope there are no more hymns to the cigarettes, apart from this one...

EXAM REVISION
Each cigarette was
every fifty six minutes
a four minute prayer