Deap Lips – "The Pusher" (Steppenwolf Cover)

Both the Flaming Lips and Deap Vally were born to be wild, so perhaps it’s not surprising they’ve decided to cover Steppenwolf on their collaborative album as Deap Lips. The song in question is not “Born To Be Wild,” though. Nor is it “Magic Carpet Ride” or “Rock Me,” Steppenwolf’s other top-10 hits. Rather, in keeping with this project’s hallucinogenic tendencies, they’ve covered “The Pusher.”

Hoyt Axton, the singer-songwriter behind Three Dog Night’s “Joy To The World” and the Kingston Trio’s “Greenback Dollar” among other hits, also wrote “The Pusher,” a track about the dangers crossing over from recreational drug use to something harder. “You know I’ve smoked a lot weed/ I’ve popped a lot pills/ But I’ve never touched nothin’/ That my spirit could kill,” the song begins. “You know, I’ve seen a lot motherfuckers walkin’ ’round With tombstones in their eyes/ But the pusher don’t care if you live or you die.”

Steppenwolf’s blues-rocking 1969 version “The Pusher” appeared alongside “Born To Be Wild” on the Easy Rider soundtrack. Deap Lips have completely transformed the song, presenting it as an eerie electronic experiment with a trippy video to match. Watch it below, where you can also hear Steppenwolf’s version and stream the full Deap Lips album.

Deap Lips is out now on Cooking Vinyl. Purchase it here.