VIDEO Sturgill Simpson summons righteous rage on SNL

“Well son I hope you don’t grow up believing that you’ve got to be a puppet to be a man.”

Sturgill Simpson laid down one of the greatest Saturday Night Live musical performances ever during a raucous take of his song “Call to Arms,” the closer to his Grammy-nominated album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.

Simpson hinted at the possibility of what was to come during an energized run through another Sailor’s track “Keep It Between the Lines.” It was apparent that he and the boys have been working on the sound during their recent tour. The country soul outfit was tight as all get out and way down in the groove as the horn section swooped and wailed, punctuating the lines from the cycle of songs that were written as a field manual of sorts for his newborn son.

Any and all tensions that were manifested and ratcheted up during this first take were later strapped to dynamite and blown straight to glory in a take-all-comers, spittin’ fire, GET IT SON, #epic, blistering cannon shot of righteous rage.

Donning a clean cut black suit and holstering a Telecaster featuring the rebel insignia from Star Wars, the “Turtles All the Way Down” singer hollered out his sermon about the manipulations of the military industrial complex:

Well they cut off your hair and put a badge on your arm / Strip you of your identity / Tell you to keep your mouth shut boy and get in line / Go and meet your maker overseas

After the final line was sung, Sturgill backed up and let his band take turns firing it up. Everything came together just right as all the players continued to elevate everything higher and higher. The keyboardist ended up standing on his rig, Simpson scowled at his rhythm section as he danced around the center of the stage, the drummer’s eyes were on fire, the bass player bobbed his head in ecstasy, the lead guitarist grinned with delight as the music built to a crescendo…

Then Sturgill Simpson lifted his guitar way above his head and sent it crashing down to the stage in one final crunch.

He looked flat out possessed as he peered right into the faces he just melted.