""Make America Fuk Again" sets the tone. The opener blends all of these impulses into a rip of blue-eyed funk, inspired by Earth, Wind and Fire and the velvety tones of Steely Dan. Simpson is clearly having fun, as when he boasts that "I got that Hunter Biden energy/ I'll make a hooker fuck around and fall in love." But he's also seething with anger, and the chorus features him crying, "Wanna make America not suck again/ Wanna start a revolution, watch it begin.""
""Excited Delirium" is an upbeat protest song with viscerally upsetting words. Over a chord progression that would make Jerry Lee Lewis boogie down, Simpson sings, "I can't breathe and I'm turning blue/ What's the problem, what did I do?/ I can not cooperate if you don't want me to/ I hear you screaming telling me to get down/ I hear you telling me not to resist/ Hard to move with your knee on my neck/ Hard to have a conversation with 14 fists""
Mutiny After Midnight, released under the Johnny Blue Skies pseudonym with backing band The Dark Clouds, represents Sturgill Simpson's continued departure from alt-country toward funk and psych-rock influences. The album divides thematically between sexual content and political commentary on America's problems. Opening track "Make America Fuk Again" establishes this duality, blending blue-eyed funk inspired by Earth, Wind and Fire and Steely Dan with both playful boasting and seething anger about national decline. However, this dual approach sometimes creates tonal friction, particularly when upbeat protest songs like "Excited Delirium"—addressing police brutality with visceral lyrics—transition into romantic tracks, creating jarring emotional whiplash that complicates the listening experience.
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