It is, if not an attempt to recreate his own childhood, then at least an effort to provide his children a life not predicated upon his success. “I had such a normal, anonymous, peaceful life for so long, and then it was just such a sudden transition,” he said. “I knew myself well enough to know I probably won’t do this forever, and I want to be able to maintain some semblance of that when I decide to just be a normal dude.”

Having felt the pressure of taking on too much, he is brutally selective about what he’ll give his time to. Rather than set out on a grueling yearlong arena tour, he’ll begin the album’s promotion with a handful of small shows, paid for out of pocket, with all proceeds going to the Special Forces Foundation, a charity that supports Green Berets and their families. Next year, he’ll do 40 shows starting in February. (Simpson’s original idea for an opener: Sleater-Kinney.)

“I can safely say I have probably turned down as much money as I’ve made,” he said, “just because the price of it also came with things.”

He has no immediate plan to record new music, because his record deal was for two albums and further negotiations haven’t begun. “How much are they willing to pay to hang my little credibility trophy on their wall?” he said, laughing but not exactly joking.

So for the time being, he’ll stay here, out of reach of anyone who might ask him to do anything other than exactly what he wants.

“I just don’t think I need to make compromises or sacrifices to attain things that ultimately I don’t care about,” he said. “I don’t really know what I would [expletive] do up there in the stratosphere anyway, man, you know?”