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Sturgill Simpson Presents Johnny Blue Skies
02/08/25 | 53m 25s | Rating: TV-PG
Grammy-winning Sturgill Simpson makes his highly-anticipated return to the ACL stage with new songs from his acclaimed album, Passage Du Desir, under a new name, Johnny Blue Skies; the iconoclast and his ace four-piece band thrill with a new chapter.
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Sturgill Simpson Presents Johnny Blue Skies
-Sturgill Simpson presents Johnny Blue Skies.
- Well, now everybody's worried 'bout a good look But they need to be worried 'bout a good hook Instead of skippin' straight to the last page In that ol' rationalization book I'm alone in a way that I've never been Since you left me behind If you think you can ever love me again Please go ahead I don't mind -Austin City Limits celebrates 50 years.
-This is "Austin City Limits"!
-Can somebody check the mic?
-It's all right!
We gonna be all right!
-Austin City Limits!
-All right, Austin, Texas!
-1, 2, 3, rock!
-All right, all right, all right.
Thank you very much.
-50 years of Austin City Limits!
-Celebrating 50 years of great music, it's "Austin City Limits."
[ Cheers and applause ] -Sturgill Simpson presents Johnny Blue Skies.
[ "Jupiter's Faerie" plays ] - For some reason Today I thought of you Thought I'd look you up and see what you'd been up to How long's it been, ten years or maybe more Since I told you not to call me Shut you out and closed the door I'm sorry, I know it hurt, but I'd moved on The memories remained, but the sentiment was gone We belonged to the darkness and the moon But I found a light so bright Thought I might live in its sun Then, today, while walking lost, I saw a sign That without effort brought your name to mind So I decided to reach out after so long Decided how we left it was all wrong It's okay to move on But we don't have to close the door And after all, what are real friends for?
So I went home thinking I would try to call you Searched your name And then I saw the news That there was no more you I hear there's faeries out on Jupiter And there was a time when I knew one But today I'm feeling way down here on Earth Crying tears of love in the light of mourning dawn I used to write so many songs about you Long after you went home that day I laid alone so many nights without you Spent years just hoping that you were okay I cried an ocean of tears Hoping it'd wash the pain away But then, today, I read the news that you were gone You'd left a year ago Chose to check out and move on I guess the pain became the only thing Each and every day would bring I'm sorry I wasn't there, I wish I'd known I would've tried to give you love It'd been so long since I'd shown But then had I, maybe you'd be here today Suffering and crushing under sadness and its weight But in my heart, I guess I always knew Somehow one of us would end this way So what's done is done Now there's nothing left to say I hear there's faeries out on Jupiter And there was a time when I knew one But today I'm feeling way down here on Earth, babe Crying tears of love in the light of mourning dawn One more glass of wine for a love so true Then another and another, for today one just won't do There's no happy endings Only stories that stop before they're through I hear there's faeries out on Jupiter And there was a time that I knew one But today I'm feeling way down here on Earth Crying tears of love in the light of mourning dawn [ Cheers and applause ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ "Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)" plays ] Hello, my son Welcome to earth May not be my last But you'll always be my first Wish I'd done this ten years ago But how could I know How could I know That the answer was so easy I've been told you measure a man By how much he loves But when I hold you I treasure each moment I spend On this earth, under heaven above Grandfather always said God's a fisherman And now I know the reason why And if some times Daddy has to go away Oh, please don't think That it means I don't love you Oh, how I wish I could be there every day now 'Cause when I'm gone It makes me so sad and blue And holding you Is the greatest love I've ever known Oh, when I get home, it breaks my heart Seeing how much you've grown All on your own [ Cheers and applause ] [ "It Ain't All Flowers" plays ] Cleaning out the darkest corner of my mind Taking all my full circles and making straight lines Getting to the bottom of the bottom getting to me Then holding up the mirror To everything I don't want to see It ain't all flowers Sometimes you gotta feel the thorns And when you play with the Devil You know you gonna get the horns Been dancing with demons all my life Every time I find my groove, they cut in like a knife Been a sin eater now, Lord, since the day I was born Tired of feeling weighed down from carrying round All the pain that keeps me torn So I pray when I lay me down to die Grab a glass of wine and a seat to dine And go ahead and eat the whole damn pie It ain't all flowers Sometimes you gotta feel the thorns And when you play with the Devil You know you gonna get the horns [ Cheers and applause ] [ "Best Clockmaker on Mars" plays ] Wanna grow old and die with you Wanna make babies till you say you're through Go to bed and wake up when you tell me to Turn off all the TVs, there ain't nothin' new Wake up every day and be the best clockmaker on Mars Some days, I hate everything I am But your love holds a mirror to me Shows me a love I can understand And makes sense of the world I see Gonna wake up every day and be the best clockmaker on Mars Wanna grow old and die with you Wanna make babies till you say you're through Go to bed and wake up when you tell me to Turn off all the TVs, there ain't nothin' new Wake up every day and be the best clockmaker on Mars Wake up every day and be the best clockmaker on Mars [ Cheers and applause ] [ "I Don't Mind" plays ] There's a lonely feeling I carry That will follow me all my days I walked out on the heart you were nursing Turned my back on a love you saved Well, just when my clouds were drifting My plan got rearranged But there ain't no going back now And ain't no way that I can change I believe that I found God About the same time that I found you All that stuff about heaven and angels Well, I know now that it's all true But you drift in and out of my dreams now Like a ship out at sea in a storm And when I wake up every morning I roll over to find you still gone I'm alone in a way that I've never been Since you left me behind If you think you can ever love me again Please go ahead, I don't mind It feels like you're so far away now And I'm stuck out here all by myself All the things I wish I had told you Still inside my mind, bottled and shelved In my dreams, although, I can hear you There's a darkness that hides you from sight So I search all around trying to feel you All I find is a world without light There's a world I want to leave And a world where I want to stay There's a dream that I believe When I wake up, it goes away It goes away I'm alone in a way that I've never been Since you left me behind If you think you can ever love me again Please go ahead, I don't mind If you think you can ever love me again Please go ahead, I don't mind [ Cheers and applause ] [ "All Said and Done" plays ] Spent the last year going out of my mind Looking for reasons I could never find Till I put my finger on it And saw every sign Take all you can get Keep your fingers off of mine Sitting in the tower without a clue or care And goodbye opportunities hanging off of my head Handing several items out to anyone who dares Climb my own way up to the top Just to get kicked down the stairs Being pulled a million ways all at the same time It's enough to make anyone go insane When you find yourself forgetting all your own rhymes Givin' up on dreams floating 'round inside your brain [ Saxophone solo ] Being pulled a million ways all at the same time It's enough to make anyone go insane When you find yourself forgetting all your own rhymes Givin' up on the dreams Floating 'round inside your brain Keep staring at the pages, going over the same lines It's all been said and done by now, two or three times [ Cheers and applause ] [ "A Good Look" plays ] The star of David don't belong to David at all Borrowed it from Peter just so he could pay off Paul Well, now, Peter copyrighted the star And now he owns the claim But a star is still a star by any other name Well, now everybody's worried 'bout a good look But they need to be worried 'bout a good hook Instead of skippin' straight to the last page In that ol' rationalization book I write my poems in the dirt with an oily rag I've gotta wear a gas mask just so I don't gag Got a SOCOM Scout and 20 extra mags And a couple severed heads in my bug-out bag Well, now, everybody's worried 'bout a good look But they need to be worried 'bout a good hook Instead of skipping straight to the last page In that ol' rationalization book Oh, ow, why you gettin' pissed 'Cause you're gettin' discovered?
Are you talking all this... just to get on the cover?
Well, now, how you gonna eat when you're bitin' the hand?
Well, you know they don't like it when you take a stand So enjoy it while you can And say hi to all the boys in the band, babe 'Cause it's all over now Just a flash in the pan Well, now everybody's worried 'bout a good look But they need to be worried 'bout a good hook Instead of skipping straight to the last page In that ol' rationalization book [ Cheers and applause ] [ "One For the Road" plays ] Sit down, baby I've got some things that you need to hear It's been building inside me And there's some air that we need to clear What if I told you I'm not the man that you think I am Would you listen or would I only hear The door behind you slam In my face As I watched you walking out of my world Knowing it'd be the last day I could call you my girl 'Cause I broke your heart There's nobody but me left to blame now And the face in my mirror won't be the same Sit alone hoping you're okay But how will I know?
You say my eyes will never see you again After you go I love you, but I broke it Cracks are starting to show So before you go, here's one for the road I've been searching For a way to say that you should move on Oh, and I think we both know That you'd be better off after you're gone You'll find somebody that looks at you The way you used to look at me Well, and I think we both know I'm not the man that you used to see I'm so tired of walking around Knowing I'm the one that let us down And I broke your heart There's nobody but me left to blame There was a fire between us, but I blew out the flame And ever since we've both been trying to hang on But I think we both know the fire's gone Our love was a garden But it seems some weeds have grown All the flowers have wilted And the seeds have all been sown So, before we go, here's one for the road [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you very much.
[ Cheers and applause continues ] Since this is the 50th season, and the gentleman that started recording the show was in here tonight, here's one for him that I think they might have played that first night.
I don't know.
I'm not sure.
But it's a pretty Texas song, so we're gonna play it.
[ Cheers and applause ] Have to be crazy To stop all my singing Never play music again Call me a fool Grabbed up my top hat Ran out to flag down the wind Have to be weird To grow me a beard Just to see what all the hipsters in Nashville would do [ Laughter, cheering ] Have to be crazy Plumb out of my mind, now Fall out of love with you Know I've done weird things Told people I've heared things Yeah, when silence was all that abounds There's been days when it pleased me Crawl on my knees Following ants as they crawled across the ground Been insane on a train But I'm still me again But the place where I hold you is true Have to be crazy Plumb outta my mind, now Oh, to fall out of love with you [ Cheers and applause ] Well, I don't intend to Ever should there come a day When I say I don't love you Oh, you can knock me away Sure would be dingy Live inside an envelope And, whoa, waiting alone for a stamp You'd swear I was loco Rubbin' for my genie Oh, while burning my hand on the lamp May not be normal Yeah, but nobody is So I'd like to say to you 'fore I'm through Have to be crazy Plumb out of my mind, now To fall out of love with you Have to be crazy Plumb out of my mind, now Oh, to fall out of love with you [ Cheers and applause ] Whoo!
[ Cheers and applause continues ] [ "Railroad of Sin" plays ] Well, they say you live and learn But it really seems more to me All along, I've been learning how to live Well, for years, I been drifting Like a boat lost out at sea Been out walking them ties on the railroad of sin And now looking back on my life Some things I done Lord, it makes me wanna hang my head in shame I was a no good, no account, lowdown heartbreaker On that railroad of sin, I was a high-balling train I'm just a poor boy had to beg, steal, and borrow Just a leaf blowing lonesome in the wind I'm just a hitchhiker on that old highway of sorrow Just a high-balling train on that railroad of sin Well, you won't feel it and you won't hear it coming When she's rolling slow, don't make a sound I got that throttle to ten on the railroad of sin I'm going off of the rails, and I can't slow it down I'm just a poor boy had to beg, steal, and borrow Just a leaf blowing lonesome in the wind I'm just a hitchhiker on that old highway of sorrow Just a high-balling train on that railroad of sin I'm just a poor boy had to beg, steal, and borrow Just a leaf blowing lonesome in the wind I'm just a hitchhiker on that old highway of sorrow I'm just a high-balling train on that railroad of sin [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you very much.
[ Cheers and applause ] [ Cheers and applause continues ] [ Cheers and applause ]
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