From the recording Just One Cigarette
"Just One Cigarette" is a song about the stories we tell ourselves when we want something badly enough.
Using smoking as a simple and familiar example, the song explores a pattern that reaches far beyond cigarettes. We convince ourselves that one small exception won't matter, one compromise won't change anything, or one indulgence comes without consequences. The problem is that these moments are rarely about the one time—they're about the habits and directions that follow.
At its heart, the song examines the tension between what we know and what we want. It asks how easily people can justify their choices, ignore warning signs, and repeat the same promises to themselves over and over again.
Blending folk storytelling with honest reflection, "Just One Cigarette" is less about addiction and more about human nature. It's a reminder that the biggest battles are often fought not with the world around us, but with the voice inside our own heads.
Lyrics
Just One Cigarette
Smokes three packs a day every night he suffers pain
Vows to quit and the very next day does the same thing again
It’s just one cigarette I’ll smoke it without any regret
Never been a man I ever met who died from just one cigarette
How’s does he keep fooling himself with the same old lie
What goes on in his silly little mind that he’s able to justify
It’s just one cigarette I’ll smoke it without any regret
Never been a man I ever met who died from just one cigarette
It’s a problem of pride to ask the truth to step aside
Give my whim room to breathe I’m free to do what I please
I was sold long ago by a man I did not know
He got me hooked caught me in his net looking so cool smoking that cigarette
It’s just one cigarette I’ll smoke it without any regret
Never been a man I ever met who died from just one cigarette
Just one cigarette I’ll smoke it without any regret
Never been a man I ever met who died from smoking just one cigarette