Sturgill Simpson Playlist

Cover of Nirvana's In Bloom. I like the changes he made to a line of the lyrics.

The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita

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I love Sturgill Simpson's new bluegrass, country, old Appalachian music album, The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita. The album is very short like an EP, 10 tracks 28 minutes but the songs tell an interesting story that I'm imagining it as a movie, really "cinematic" lyrics. Someone should make a film based on the album and sell it to Netflix just like Sound & Fury. Yeah!

Tracks

1. Prologue 

Come hear a tale, that awful trails of old Kentucky hills

Hear a story from the year they started hiding stills
Back in pioneering days of 1862
About a maiden named Juanita, and a man called Dood
Story of it's time, when time was tough on a man
When all he had to get by was a pail and powder can
Ol' Dude was an eagle eye, Juanita was his love
He was a mighty mountain man, she was his one true love

2. Ol' Dood (Part 1) 

Had a monster of a mule, was a mighty fine steed
Sham, and Sam, a tomahawk, and that flintlock's all he need
Finding food, and finding trouble, and always taking heat
Any man who crossed him was surely gonna bleed
And he'd stretch you up and burn you
For calling him half-breed

3, One On The Saddle, One On The Ground

First time ol' Dood laid eyes on Juanita
He knew then and there that she was the one
She gave him a love every man knows is needed
She gave him a daughter, she gave him a son

One day while Juanita was out in the garden
A bandit rode up without making a sound
Dood was working the plow far away from his rifle
Tried to get to it, but the bandit drew down

Last thing he remembered was Juanita screaming
As the world faded black and Dood crumpled down
When he came to the bandit was nowhere to be seen
His true love Juanita, nowhere to be found

A man and his rifle, a mule, and his hound
One in the saddle, one on the ground

Saw the ball had passed through
Clean as a church fold
And the wounds washed up by Sam, his old hound
So he saddled up Shamrock and powdered his rifle
And put on his old hat, worn, weathered and brown

Told his son to stay strong
Take care of his sister
'Til daddy returned, with mama safe and sound
Then they set out together to go find Juanita
Old Dood in the saddle, and Sam on the ground
Vowing never to stop 'til Juanita was found

A man and his rifle, a mule, and his hound
One in the saddle, one on the ground
One in the saddle, one on the ground

4. Shamrock

Never was a finer breed than the steed who was Shamrock

Plain to see by his confirmation that he came from finest stock

Daddy was black mammoth jack, mama was a thoroughbred mare

Had four white feet on a buckskin coat, blonde mohawk in his hair

Stood about 19 hands, didn't need no kick to go

With ol' Dood up top, deep in the saddle, hollering

Whoa, boy, whoa

Whoa, boy, whoa

Only ever had one rider, anyone else was gettin' bucked

Cross any kind of land, through the rain, snow, and muck

Surefooted as a billy goat, with 33 inch ears

Clog dance on a snake with his front two feet, give coyotes the rear

Kick so hard it'll send 'em up and out the stratosphere

Make a coyote fly so far, it wouldn't land until next year

From the hightop to the holler, no place Sham can't go

With ol' Dood up top, deep in the saddle, hollering

Whoa, boy, whoa

Whoa, boy, whoa

Ain't scared to cross that river, jump clear across that creek

Steed don't need no shoes when his hooves is one foot thick

Leather and tack can't hold him back, he'll bite right through a bit

Rope bridle made of mooring line was the only thing that'd fit

Hot on the bandits trail, fence posting through the snow

Ol' Dood up top, high in the saddle, hollering

Go, boy, go

Go, boy, go;

Go, boy, go

Go, boy, go

Here's the live version

5. Played Out

Still no Juanita after 5 days and 5 nights of searching. The sad part - Sam died.

6. Sam

He was the hound of hounds

He was the wonder of all walkers
He loved howling at the moon
He loved treeing that raccoon

Most of all he was my best friend
And he's gone too soon

7. Juanita 

(ft. Willie Nelson)

Juanita, where'd your mama get that name
There's no senoritas from the mountains where you came
And if I ever saw one
She wouldn't be pretty as you
With black hair so long
And soft eyes so blue

Juanita, I'll search the world 'til you're in my hands
Juanita, I'll find you
I'll find you again

8. Go In Peace

A group of Cherokee found Dood and Shamrock passed out. They recognize him as a Shawnee and they are brought to the Chief where Juanita is safe and sound. She was traded for a horse by the bandit, McClure. Ol' Dood, Juanita, and Shamrock went back home.  

9. Epilogue
Now that mama's safe and sound
All peaceful and secure
He set back out on Shamrock
To find and kill McClure
It didn't take him very long
To track old Seamus down
McClure wanted Juanita back
And wanted to be found

10. Ol'Dood (Part 2)

Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury

tags: anime, country, electonica, pop, music video, Netflix

 

from Netflix official site

In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.  

Although I've been listening to country music the past 3 years, I've never heard of Sturgill Simpson until this animation appeared on my Netflix streaming suggestion list in September of this year. Instant like because of the music genre bending and I love his Waylon Jennings voice, anime, electtronica, and bloody revenge stories. I've been watching and sometimes just listening and the video will probably stay on my Netflix list for forever. I turn the subtitles on to read the lyrics while playing. 

Track list

 1.  Ronin

 2.  Remember to Breathe

 3.  Sing Along

 4.  A Good Look

 5.  Make Art Not Friends

 6.  Best Clockmaker on Mars

 7.  All Said and Done

 8.  Last Man Standing

 9.  Mercury in Retrograde

10. Fastest Horse in Town

My favorites are 5 and 9. Great tune and lyrics.

Mercury in Retrograde

I got a haircut in Norway 
When all the weight started pulling me down 
Smelling like a waterlogged wet dog 
Ain't no way to travel 
But as soon as I chopped it all off 
It just grew back, thick and brown 
I keep tugging on the thread 
Hoping it all might come unraveled 
I keep trying to throw it all away 
But it comes right back around
They come backstage and on my bus
Pretending to be my friend
Shaking hands behind grandstands
All wearing the same old grin
Oh, but none of them bother knocking
Oh, they all just come on in
Asking me what all my songs mean
Wonderin' if they're all about them

Mercury must be in retrograde again
But at least it's not just hangin' around pretendin' to be my friend
Oh, the road to Hell is paved with cruel intention
If it's not nuclear war, it's gonna be a divine intervention

Living the dream makes a man wanna scream
Light a match and burn it all down
Head back home to the mountain
Far away from the pull
Of all the journalists and sycophants wielding their brands
And all the traveling trophies and award show stands
And all the haters wishing they was in my band
Sorry boys, the bus is plumb full

Mercury must be in retrograde again
But at least it's not just hangin' around pretendin' to be my friend
Oh, the road to Hell is paved with cruel intention
If it's not nuclear war, it's gonna be a divine intervention

And there's nothing for me outside this hotel room
But another letdown, lonely day
Tour is almost over, and I'll be home soon
And it's all been done two or three times anyway

Mercury must be in retrograde again
But at least it's not just hangin' around pretendin' to be my friend
Oh, the road to Hell is paved with cruel intention
If it's not nuclear war, it's gonna be a divine intervention