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My freshman year of college was interesting because I was meeting new people and my taste in music was becoming way more expanded. There was one artist who I was turned on to that still sticks with me today and that person’s name is Daniel Johnston. I remember hearing his song “Casper the Friendly Ghost” in the 1995 Harmony Korine movie, “Kids,” but wasn’t familiar with the rest of this man’s discography, so I figured I’d take a listen and when I did I got my socks blown off. This sound was so different from anything I have ever heard in my entire life. He provided this hauntingly beautiful sound of poorly recorded piano or a very out of tuned guitar that he really didn’t sound like he knew how to play. This music had a very simplistic almost childlike wonder combined with lyrics that referenced the devil and god. I never quite figured out why the devil played such a huge role in Daniel's music, but after further research I completely understood why the dark lord was constantly referenced and that’s because Daniel was seriously mentally ill. As Daniel’s career progressed the more unstable he got. While completely losing his mind he made some of the most influential music ever to be recorded and really developed a serious following from fans, along with highly regarded musicians such as David Bowie, Wilco, Tom Waits, Beck, Sonic Youth, and even Kurt Cobain from Nirvana who was in every picture at the time was wearing a Daniel Johnston T shirt that showed the album cover “Hi, How are You?” While stroking complete genius with these recordings and gaining a following, Johnston's mental health was seriously deteriorating. Johnston being a completely polarizing figure as well as him is being a very gifted artist and songwriter, seriously brings up the argument that extreme mental health issues have given birth to some of the most influential and beautiful compositions of music ever to be created and in this case a lot of the reason why Daniel Johnston created both music and art was as a way to vent about the issues that plagued his life. So ultimately could Daniel have made the same impact if not for his suffering?
Daniel Johnston was born on January 22nd, 1961 and he was the youngest of all of his siblings. Despite succumbing to serious mental illness later in his life, he tested in the top of his class and was put in the more advanced classes. His mother in the interview in the film “The Devil and Daniel Johnston” claimed that she knew Daniel was different at an early age. She claims despite him succeeding from an academic standpoint, he “lost some of that wonderful confidence, I guess that was the beginning of his illness.” Although he seemed like a happy go lucky kid there was something definitely going on with him at an even an early age.
He developed a fondness for illustration and would be a prolific figure within his high school’s art department. His early illustrations were just a single eyeball incorporated in many forms of visual art. He would even put the eyeball of different album covers, famous artworks, and not to mention him drawing them all over the school. Needless to say Daniel was quite an interesting figure at the high school, and all the other aspiring artists were both intrigued and inspired by him. Despite the constant obsession with art Daniel found a new medium of creativity and that was music. He was infatuated by the piano and made a makeshift art and music studio in his garage.
This concentration on art and music like anything, is Daniel trying to display his emotions. He had this childlike simplicity to his personality which almost seems developmentally stunted. I have an idea of a lot of Daniel’s art specifically, in that he is definitely trying to display his personality via his art. The man who had lost his brain, who is featured on the album cover for “Don’t Be Scared,” “Retired Boxer,” and “Continued Story” are definitely an early example of Daniel reflecting on his mental illness through his art. The absence of a brain in this character is definitely Daniel trying to explain something through his art that he couldn’t exactly vocalize because of the illness he had. As far later designs that he had created, they have often been very much powerful comic book superheros. On top him being strongly influenced by some of the cartoons and comics of his youth I believe ultimately it is a way to live vicariously through that hero that he created the universe for. Being plagued with such a significant mental illness can cause an individual, whose reality is often skewed, to try to live an alternative reality in order to compensate for their general sadness for being the way that he is. Both of these examples are definitely important and are an important platform in understanding Daniel’s mentality when it comes to his art. With art, he had created a way in understanding himself through this universe of illustrations that maybe, he would not be able to have the opportunity to tap into if he had not discovered this way of expression.
The first legitimate disconnect within Daniel’s personality that was sincerely noticed was when he first went off to college. His parents pegged it as “home sickness” but it was only the beginning of the manic depression that would plague himself for the rest of his career. They took him out of school and he eventually went on and transferred to Kent State in East Liverpool. There he met like minded, creative people as well as inspiring professors. Also at this school he met the girl who would be the love of his life. This person was Laurie Allen. Let me rephrase this so you can get a realistic portrait. He was utterly obsessed with her, however this love was completely unattainable because she had a boyfriend at the time. Laurie was a massive inspiration for Daniel and the number of songs that were written about her was quite remarkable. The highlight of his career was when he asked her if he could record her voice saying “I love you Danny.” She agreed and it sent him over the roof with joy. Although they digressed from their relationship into being just friends, this sense of heartbreak inspired much of his early music. As his childhood friend, David Thornberry once said “He needed a love that he couldn’t necessarily connect up with, he needed something to chase, not something he could have.”
Clinical depression has always been a factor within Daniel’s music. Though his manic episodes definitely had been what has plagued his whole career, sadness, like in most musicians' case, has played a big role in the themes that he displays in his music. The love loss that came from Laurie Allen had fueled many heartbreaking ballads that Johnston was known for. This issue of depression fueled most of his early work such as the early record “Songs of Pain” where heartbreak is constantly referenced. Although he was quite upset this was very much important for his development as a songwriter. This is the harsh truth of the matter that most musicians thrive on completely hitting rock bottom when it comes to their mental health. Although he would develop more severe mental health issues later, this was the tip of the iceberg if you will, in the sense that this specific heartbreak would ultimately send him over the edge with depression which inspired him to write several songs about Allen, as well as writing about the general negative place he was in mentally at the time.
Following this love loss he became very depressed and wasn’t able to graduate at the rate he was going, so his parents sent him to Houston to go live with his brother. Little did they know he was about to make some of the most prolific music ever to be created. Because he couldn’t have access to his piano, Daniel bought a cheap $59 dollar organ and this cheap minimalistic sound would be a recurring aesthetic that would continue in Johnston’s music for a year. Daniel prior to this moved to Austin to become more involved in the music scene that would be accepting and extremely receptive to his musical stylings. The more notoriety he got, the more his mental state started to deteriorate based on his surroundings and drug use. Gibby Haynes from the band “Butthole Surfers” recalled that there was one specific moment where Johnston took a tab of acid and started rambling about the devil being around him and many believe this was a turning point in his mental development and he would start regressing seriously into a complete manic episode. The devil would be a constant concept within Johnston’s music and in his personal life. He got very spiritual because of this and because of that he got more and more far gone into a mental breakdown. There was a final snapping point where he got into a physical altercation with his manager because he was all consumed in the paranoia that his mental health was causing. Because of this he was rightfully committed to a mental hospital. This would be a reoccurring procedure within Daniel’s life.
He eventually teamed up with Steve Shelly, the drummer of Sonic Youth in hopes of recording and opening up for Sonic Youth in New York City. Although only around Sonic Youth for a brief period of time, he started to act strange, and the members could only figure that he wasn’t up on his medication. They were able to tell that by the overly long set of him constantly rambling about the devil and how the lord Jesus Christ would save everyone in the audience. This eventually led to Daniel thinking Steve Shelly was the devil trying to stop him from being in New York. The members of Sonic Youth couldn’t find Daniel for a long time and eventually found him in Hoboken, New Jersey at a motel parking lot. The members forced Daniel to go back home to be around his parents.
This would be a back and forth process of him being off his medication and on it again. Being institualized for his schizophrenia and manic episodes is what would plague Johnston’s life until almost the end. This stress on the concept of the devil reflected a lot in his music within the prime of his career. He really in his mind thought the devil was inside those around him making it very much difficult for people to collaborate or keep him in line. He was constantly going in and out of metal health treatment and many believe this extreme mental illness is what made his music beyond prolific because of the content that was displayed. Other bands sometimes will mention this concept of the devil in order to keep this dark warlock persona, that is completely manufactured by the industry in order to sell records and memorabilia for consumers who like the idea of dark arts. With Daniel however, it is a different case. Daniel was so mentally out of whack that he literally believed that the devil was in the presence of the public and he was the only true servant of god. This level of authenticity is completely fueled by legitimate mental illness and is what made his music stick out like a sore thumb. 90% of his album “1990” references this idea of the devil and that is considered to be one of his most influential albums to date because of it’s authentic type of song writing. A lot of people also think this is one of his more polarizing records because his concept and a lot of consumers are intrigued by the idea of listening to the record which are the ramblings of someone having a mentally breakdown. I think both ideas are completely valid because part of what make Daniel’s music so intriguing is the mysticism behind his personality and as well as his completely authentic method of songwriting.
Problematic figures presented in media are almost fetishiszed by projecting this persona of the “tortured artist” that the record companies are now trying to replicate and manufacture this kind of artist. With Daniel I think this is a different case. He was an actual tortured soul. His mental illness was far too severe to lump him in with the likes of some other artists who were given the title of “a tortured artist.” Johnston was extremely tortured within his own mental state, not being able to balance reality and what type of delusion he was facing within his brain. So the real question I challenge the consumer to ask themselves is, could Daniel have made the same impact with his music if he wasn’t plagued with the severe schizophrenia and manic depression that completely consumed him until he passed? My opinion of the matter is no. Daniel didn’t have the same sense of reality as the regular person and his music and art was an outlet to vent, while also serving as a purpose to communicate with the listener. The amount of emotional pain that Daniel felt throughout his life, that he projected through his music, can not be replicated. It’s a shame to say that because ultimately Daniel, if he was a well adjusted person, might not have needed to use music as an outlet like he did, and if even he could be a gifted songwriter his music might not have had the same impact. One’s experience and perception of society will ultimately shape someone into the person that they are destined to be and Daniel, through this, allowed his deteriorating mental health to share his perception through his music.