04. Smoking Onion

DJ Spanish Fly is a musician from Memphis.
In several of his tracks he uses the word onion.
For example in the nice track Cement Shoes.
Full lyrics of Cement shoes
Full lyrics of Smoking Onion

In an interview he states:

SF: I took it to Geoff's house and he put that guitar on there. I was like, "Man, that's badass!
You put The Twilight Zone on there!"" He wasn't a hella-fine guitar player, a beginner, but I was like, "Wow!"
Then when I got back home, I just wrote to it: "Smoke the weed, the onion..."", 'cos I was smoking a lot of weed back then.

INTERVIEWER: "Onion" is a slang word for weed in Memphis!?

SF: That's what I named it. I named it 'Smokin' Onion' and everybody loved it. I could play that song right now and everybody would start dancing to it.

Read the whole interview here.


Here you can read another 'interpretation' of the use of the word onion in the music of DJ Spanish Fly. Apparantly this was written by AI.

"In the first verse, DJ Spanish Fly begins by announcing his presence and his ability to make the listener move to his beats.
The repeated phrase "smoke that onion" can be interpreted as a reference to the consumption of drugs, specifically marijuana.
The use of the word "onion" may signify the layers of deception and secrecy inherent in street life.
The rhythm and repetition in this verse create a sense of urgency and intensity, reflecting the fast-paced nature of the lifestyle being depicted.