What is this song about?

Environmentalism, climate change, anti fossil fuel, pollution, manipulation based on emotion.

All liberal traits.

JMNSHO!
 
Not much of a Country Western singer. Nothing about momma, jail or trains. He won’t last long.
 
My take is that Sturgill is a deep thinker and I feel he is sometimes bothered by what he sees as an overly-simplistic lack-of-introspection from others that contributes to his tortured soul.
That overly simplistic lack-of-instrospection reminds me of a couple posters on this thread.

It’s hard not to imbue a song like this with my own struggles in dealing with issues and events that matter to me today. I think you and others have already offered some great analysis of the song, but I’ll throw in another two cents:

There are the generators of misinformation who have something to gain ($$$) from duping us:
Forked tongues and voices behind curtains with no name
They plot their wicked schemes setting fate for all mankind”


And there are the average knuckleheads who gobble up that misinformation and vomit it on everyone else because it satisfies a simple narrative that is understandable or comforting to them:
“I hear voices all around me in society's depression
Over and over they recite their first impression”


I see this song as calling out the voices that sell us bullshit and the duplicitous masses that just go along with it. I worry about how often I’m a member of those masses.
 
To me this song is about the media. nonsense droning on and on about nothing of importance and making a big deal out of false flags, corrupting/suffocating the world with their take on situations.
 
To me its about all the noise that we are subjected to about every minute of the day and night that will cause you brain damage if you don’t know how to tune it out.
 
According to the interwebs, the song is about the usual leftist condition: “Mental health problems – you may hear voices as a symptom of some mental health problems, including psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder or severe depression.”
 
Joins up in the middle of the night, posts once to resurrect a 3-year dead thread, and disappears. FNG…
 
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