| StoreTags: daniel johnston
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People who enjoyed reading this: mixedtape, astroid, FailedSitcom, j_chot, Locopomo, lysdexic, Hikikomori, utofbu, GrapeApe, zfigz, papergoose, reehc, rivot, bb01, SenorFrio, ignatius, jogn, energygiant, yghartsyrt, daswesen, djugel, evilai, Fredo
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anyone heard this guy? i find it really amazing. he has had loads of mental health problems over the years but its still about sometimes. better than bob dylan imo.
i just saw the dvd - the devil and daniel johnston. its crazy. that mans life is crazy.
he was once flying back from a gig in his dads plane (he was like 35 at this point and had just come out of a mental hospital) and he was reading a casper the friendly ghost comic. on the front was casper parachuting so he said to his dad that he wanted to do it. his dad said they didn't have any parachutes, so daniel johnston got angry, turned the engine off and threw the keys out the window. his dad had to crash land in a load of trees. the funniest thing is the pics of him afterwards, he has a massive smile on his face as he things he did a good thing.
anyway, you should watch the dvd, or watch some of his stuff on youtube, he really is amazing. | |
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12/29/06
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utofbu
wow. Simply Wow.
12/29/06
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fakeBlooper
spoiled rich kid who never grew up. FLAME ON!
12/29/06
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race4prize
haha ok then fakeblooper
12/29/06
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utofbu
yeah, we had a guy like that in my Arts High school, His name was Carl DiCasoli.
So we called him Carl Dick Ass Holy
12/29/06
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GrapeApe
yet another musician that i've tried to turn my friends/co-workers onto countless times only to be laughed at for liking him. i've given up trying to turn other people on to him though. the last time i played his music for people (on a mixtape with gary wilson, the shaggs, jandek, wesley willis, etc.) my friends all thought it was overrated, artsy shite. whatever.
the film is excellent. it's a great introduction to him.
12/29/06
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GrapeApe
by the way, while i admit that a ton of his antics are hilarious (mountain dew song, show in ny, statue of liberty, etc.) the guy's life is dead tragic. anyone who's had first hand experience with mental illness will know how sad that shit can be.
12/29/06
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astroid
i meant only to compare wesley wilis and daniel johnson because they are (were) both diagnosed schizophrenics, correct?
schizophrenic art is wonderful. i feel bad for liking it sometimes, but i sure do like it.
12/29/06
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Fredo
I'm really interested to hear more of this guys work. Mostly because the one or two songs I have heard I thought were really atrociously bad, but I trust so many folks here's opinions so much, so I must have heard bad ones. Where can I find some online?
12/29/06
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GrapeApe
fredo, do you remember which songs you heard? walking the cow, casper the friendly ghost, speedy motorcycle?
it's a shame that most people's only contact with his music was through the kids soundtrack or the target commercial. many people link his music to novelty/comedy type music. they hear walking the cow or casper and go "oh sounds like dr. demento would like this guy" ...for those of you who don't remember dr. demento, he discovered weird al and has a novelty/kitsch radio show.
most people also relate technical playing ability with talent. he can't play guitar, chord organ, or even sing well. most of his music was recorded on a crap cassette recorder ...before it was cool to be lo-fi.
i hate to be cliche and mention bob dylan, but many people have a hard time listening to him and love cover versions. maybe that's the way to enjoy daniel johnstons music. link beck does a decent job covering "true love will find you in the end."
his music is all over the internet but please buy his albums. he lives in waller, texas for christ sake. 
12/29/06
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Fredo
I have heard that song that begins with something like... "listen up I'll tell a story, bout an artist growing old..." and I really didn't like that one at all. Maybe I'm just not getting it. The lyrics were awkward and didn't seem to go so deep to me. I rented the documentary and will watch it this weeekend. Hopefully my mind is in a better place for it now.
12/29/06
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race4prize
ah thats a shame fredo, thats one of my favourites. i think you either love or hate daniel johnston. for me its the fact that he was so detached from anything else. i mean the guy got massive promo from kurt cobain wearing his t shirt in the early nineties and he didn't even know who nirvana where. he didn't hear the beach boys until a few years ago apparently. his music wasn't written as a sort of sit down and write some lyrics that sound good, his music was actually written from the stuff that he geniunely had inside him. you'll see the emotion when you see his shows on the dvd, like the times he would burst into tears. and he really didn't care about anything, he was so detached. the guy was recording with sonic youth and the drummer from the velvet underground and he wouldn't even know who they were. he is such an amazing character, with such an amazing story, and such true pain in his lyrics that it is so hard not to be moved, even if he is a pretty terrible instrumentalist.
12/29/06
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astroid
the awkwardness was a big part for me.
12/29/06
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Fredo
so his story is the moving part...
His music reminds me a little of the soundtrack to a Cassavettes film called A Woman Under The Influence, hell, maybe it's the same guy, I don't know who wrote that very simple, raw, emotional music. And I really love that soundtrack. But to me there isn't anything musically so interesting in any of what I've heard from Johnston. I wasn't aware of his amazing story, and was just listening to it on a purely musical level. But I'll be watching this film with a really open mind, thank you all for the enthusiastic recommendations. And I'll even give that song I mentioned another try.
12/29/06
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race4prize
yeah daniel johnston is like a living piece of art. but i also find his songwriting amazing, not so much his guitar playing but he's on so many meds i don't think he gets a fair shot.
12/30/06
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papergoose
It's far more than the story, Fredo.
It's the purity of the music that hits home, for me. The story helps explain it, helps you to SEE it, but that song you are talking about (I think maybe you heard it when I posted a link to it in the 'most beautiful music' thread?) just makes me ACHE. I find the simple chord progression/melody to be haunting, perfect, and addictive. ICC is working on a cover of that one.
The man FEELS the music, with no care at all about writing music for anyone else. I really don't think he even understands the concept. It's simply what he feels like writing, more pure than I've heard from any other artist, ever. Absolutely. He's one of my heroes, in a weird kind of way.
Seeing the footage of him on stage, singing a song in his shaky adoloscent-sounding voice, with awkward but soul-naked lyrics, and tears streaming down his face just.... gah, I don't know. It shakes me to my core.
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