The new Sturgill Simpson song ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is like an “I’ve Been Everywhere Man” but with destinations of the mind instead of the lower 48. It’s the kind of psychedelic honky-tonk. Gram Parsons would approve.
“Marijuana, LSD, psilocybin, DMT…They all change the way I see, but love’s the only thing that ever saved my life.”
That’s a long, strange trip that ends up with the greatest of mind alterations.
Simpson will release his second album, “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music,” on his own High Top Mountain Records. “Turtles All the Way Down” is the first release.
“I would urge anyone that gets hung up on the song being about drugs to give another listen, To me ‘Turtles’ is about giving your heart to love and treating everyone with compassion and respect no matter what you do or don’t believe.” The song — which Simpson tells NPR was inspired by “theology, cosmology and breakthroughs in modern physics and their relationship to a few personal experiences I’ve had”
A psychedelic country song deserves to be represented by a psychedelic-inspired video. That’s exactly what director by Graham Uhelski has created. The words and visuals works to to further establish the Outlaw reputation which Simpson eschews (much like Waylon did)
The video description: “Through Dr. Rick Strassman and Andrew Stone at www.cottonwoodresearch.org I was introduced to visionary software artist Scott Draves, creator and founder of Electric Sheep, a form of raw synthetic consciousness communicated between sleeping computers. After some correspondence, Scott was gracious and generous enough to contribute to the project. I am very grateful for their collective assistance in helping me fully realize this vision.”
Check out the video below and see some crazy imagery. More importantly hear how country music can be modernized and evolve without being packaged into radio-friendly drivel.