The Ten Best Songs by Daniel Johnston

In case you’ve never heard of him, Daniel Johnston is one of the most influential singer/songwriters of the last twenty-five years. But, to understand the music, one must first attempt to comprehend the man. Born in 1961 in Sacramento, CA, and raised in West Virginia in a Christian Fundamentalist household, Johnston began recording “lo-fi” pop classics in his parents’ basement. In 1983, he moved to Texas and joined the traveling carnival, all the while compiling four albums worth of timeless music. The mid-eighties Austin music scene was booming, and soon, Johnston found himself on MTV, explaining to millions how he compiled his first album, Hi, How Are You?, while undergoing a “nervous breakdown”. Throughout his adult life, he struggled with bipolar disorder, and several incidents (including crashing an airplane with his father in the passenger’s seat, pummeling his manager with a lead pipe, running amok through New York City and “going crazy” in a mental institution over his love of Mountain Dew) planted the seeds for one of the most compelling stories in the history of modern music. In 1992, Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain was photographed numerous times wearing a t-shirt of Johnston’s Hi, How Are You? album, and as his popularity bloomed, he was offered a major label deal with Atlantic records (arguably the most “artist-friendly” contract ever, as he was not required to promote or perform live for his album, Fun). However, due to frequent hospitalizations, Johnston was limited in his ability to record. Instead, his original art work, featured on all of his album covers, began selling for millions. Soon, the legend of Daniel Johnston began to grow, and 2006’s documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Director’s Award recipient, 2005 Sundance Film Festival) cemented his legacy as one of the most important voices of a generation (and of those yet to come). But “without any further ado”, here are the ten best songs ever sung by Daniel Johnston. (However, I must exclaim that the true genius of Daniel Johnston can only be discovered through his collective works, not just individual songs.)
10) “Casper the Friendly Ghost” – Yip/Jump Music
Through years of drawing iconic cartoon characters (including Captain America) in his youth, Johnston derived inspiration for this song from an obvious source;
He was smiling through his own personal hell/
Dropped his last dime in a wishing well/
He was hoping too close but then he fell/
Now he’s Casper the Friendly Ghost.
But the melody carries the tune, and even if you’ve heard this story before, the track sounds like something brand new to the world of the creative arts, both in children’s comics and music.
9) “Sorry Entertainer” – Yip/ Jump Music
The token-story of any artist-performing-for-food, Johnston displays his “skills with strings” (as the only song from his early albums not performed on an organ or piano). Also, he describes his use of art as an emotional release (Drove those demons/Out of my head/With an organ/And a pencil full of lead) and his own form of “self-help”. The song also helped Yip/Jump Music land on Kurt Cobain’s personal list of favorite albums.
8) “Wild West Virginia” – Songs of Pain
The single tribute to his true home (of the naïve), “Wild West Virginia” expresses Johnston’s longing for a return to his youth of the rolling hills across the landscape where the antelope never roamed. As he sings in the final verse;
God is an artist/
And he painted a pretty picture/
And he called it West Virginia.
7) “Story of an Artist” – Don’t Be Scared
Johnston reflects back and looks forward to his undetermined future as an artist, as he walks alone through the flowers, appreciating life in the early morning. But the song hits the climax with the final chorus;
Listen up and I’ll tell a story/
About an artist growing old/
Some would try for fame and glory/
Others just like to watch the world.
6) “Urge” – Songs of Pain
One of Johnston’s most poignant expressions of life, he describes his “urge” to be with his love, but how internally he will eventually destroy the relationship, so instead he wanders home alone. But, the heart of this song rests in the radiant genius of the melancholy in the opening/closing verse;
Get attached to a rolling stone/
And you’re libel to get crushed/
You’re better off to sit at home/
And watch the toilet flush.
5) “Lennon Song” – Laurie EP
A tribute to his childhood idol and musical inspiration, Beatle John Lennon, Johnston expressed the admiration and joy he still feels when his hero performs for him everyday on his record player. Also, the song explores how Lennon’s views (There was no god/That’s what you told me/No heaven above/That’s what you told me then) contrasted so much with his conservative upbringing.
4) “Devil Town” – 1990
The simplest song in Johnston’s repertoire, “Devil Town” is sung a cappella without the support of any instrumentation, and is the first of his original music to appear in national television commercials;
I was living in a devil town/
Didn’t know it was a devil town/
Oh lord it really brings me down/
About the devil town/
And all my friends were vampires/
Didn’t know they were vampires/
Turns out I was a vampire myself/
In the devil town.
3) “True Love Will Find You in the End” – 1990
Johnston’s most beautiful love song, it is also his most hopeful (a theme absent in most of his songs concerning love), expressing that the only way to find love, is to spend a lifetime searching for it;
True love will find you in the end/
You’ll find out just who was your friend/
Don’t be sad, I know you will/
And don’t give up until/
True love will find you in the end.
2) “Funeral Home” – Continued Story
This straightforward track is only one of many devoted to Johnston’s lost love, a girl named Laurie, who went on to start a family with an undertaker (clearly shown in this song, and also the number one song on this list). From his first studio album, “Funeral Home” remains to this day one of his most recognizable songs and the introduction of the electric guitar with a backup rock n’ roll band to his evolving sound.
Funeral home, funeral home/
Going to the funeral home/
I got me a coffin, shiny and black/
I’m going to the funeral/
And I’m never coming back.
1) “Man Obsessed” – The What of Whom
His greatest contribution to popular music, the irresistibly catchy anthem for male losers hopelessly infatuated with a woman who would never so much as notice their existence is an instant pop standard. However, specifically focusing on the specific details of his “lost love” Laurie and the life she continued without him, Johnston reveals the source of his internal torment;
He’s a man obsessed/
He couldn’t be a lover/
So now he’s a pest/
He played the game/
But he failed the test/
He’s a man obsessed/
He’s a pest/
He’s a man obsessed/
She’s strictly restricted/
She’s strictly business/
And her business is death/
He’s a man obsessed/
He’s a pest.
But, the most brilliant part of this song rests within the haunting chorus;
The only way/
You could get her to look at you/
Is to die/
Why don’t you die?