It was the first track of Bowman's debut album, Our Man in Trouble..."It Only Hurts When I Laugh", under RCA Victor.

Its most famous version was recorded in 1974 by Jim Stafford and became the fourth of four U.S. Top 40 singles from his eponymous debut album.

While the Carters' version is a song, as performed by Bowman, Stafford and The New Lost City Ramblers in concert,[1] the new lyrics are spoken rather than sung.

The song is a story about farmers, two brothers, who take a sudden interest in a common wildflower on their farm and discover, after one of them begins chewing a piece, its enjoyable hallucinogenic and mind-altering properties.

They begin to cultivate the plant in earnest; however, federal agents raid their farm and destroy their crop.