Daniel Johnston (born Daniel Dale Johnston in Sacramento, CA, on 22 January… Read Full Bio ↴Daniel Johnston (born Daniel Dale Johnston in Sacramento, CA, on 22 January 1961; died in Waller, TX, on 10 September 2019) was an American singer-songwriter and visual artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities. His music has been acclaimed by many artists including David Bowie, Sonic Youth, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana fame praised Johnston's work, and often wore a t-shirt with a Johnston illustration and a caption reading, "Hi How Are You?"

Johnston spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He gathered a local following in the 1980s by passing out tapes of his music while working at a McDonald's in Austin, Texas. His cult status was propelled when Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a T-shirt that featured artwork from Johnston's 1983 album Hi, How Are You. In 2005, Johnston was the subject of the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

His songs were typically painfully direct, and often display a disturbing blend of childlike naïvete with darker, "spooky" themes. Johnston's singing voice is rather high-pitched, and his performances often seem faltering or uncertain; pitchfork writes that Johnston's recordings range from "spotty to brilliant". He also draws and paints; he is a cult comic book artist and his illustrations have been featured with most of his albums.

Johnston was born in Sacramento, California and grew up in West Virginia, United States, but then moved to Waller, Texas. Johnston suffers from manic depression, and has had varying luck with different treatments. He has been institutionalized for periods.

In the late 1970s, Johnston began recording his songs on a $59 Sony Boombox, singing and playing either guitar, piano or harmonica. He gave tapes of his music to anyone who would take them. Johnston created the comic book inspired art that usually accompanied his own recordings. His debut recording Songs of Pain was released in 1981.

His early songs established a number of themes that would persist through Johnston's career: Unrequited love, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and comic book superheroes, especially Captain America and Jack Kirby's other works. "Joe"—a partly autobiographical character—has been featured in a number of songs. Johnston has cited The Beatles as a prime influence.

A sizable proportion of Johnston's songs throughout the years have dealt with his unrequited love for "Laurie," a girl he became friends with in college, who was the first to encourage him to record his music. The Laurie character quickly assumed the role of the idealized female muse. The real life Laurie Allen married an undertaker, prompting Johnston to write lyrics in which the Laurie figure becomes strongly associated with the imagery of death in addition to her original role as a muse. For example, the song Funeral Home in which Johnston sings that he's "going to a funeral home" represents both the foreknowledge of death and Johnston's desire to be reunited with Laurie, who at the time worked at a funeral home. Laurie Allen has since divorced and filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig arranged a meeting between Allen and Johnston.

Johnston gained a cult following in Austin, Texas. Some regarded Johnston as little more than a quaint curiosity, but others recognized a genuine talent: Johnston has a knack for creating great, catchy melodies, while his lyrics are evocative and often use clever wordplay. His songs have been covered by a number of admirers.

A 1985 MTV special on Austin brought Johnston wider attention, and a number of record stores outside Texas began selling his cassettes.

His music has been acclaimed by David Bowie, Sonic Youth, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana fame praised Johnston's work, and often wore a t-shirt with a Johnston illustration and a caption reading, "Hi How Are You?"

1994 saw the release of Fun on Atlantic Records. The record was produced by Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers, a group who had long supported Johnston, even inviting him to open a number of concerts for them.

In 1993, Johnston painted a mural of the "Hi, How Are You?" frog, also known as Jeremiah after the Three Dog Night song, on the side of the Austin Sound Exchange music store. The site was converted into a Baja Fresh franchise in 2004. Although initial plans called for the mural to be torn down, public outcry caused restaurant owner John Oudt to let the mural stay, at a price of $50,000 in additional costs and lost revenue.

Fun was Johnston's only major-label release, but he has continued writing and recording songs, as well as drawing pictures.

In September 2004, a 2-disc release compilation entitled The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered. Disc one featured covers of Johnston's songs by such prominent artists as Eels, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Waits, The Flaming Lips, Bright Eyes, and TV on the Radio, among others. Disc 2 featured Johnston's original tracks.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) is a documentary by Jeff Feuerzeig about Johnston's life and music, and won the Director's Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

In August 2005, it was reported that Johnston had been experiencing mood swings requiring medical attention. This led to cancellation of his touring schedule. On November 25th, 2005, Johnston was hospitalized for what appeared to be Lithium poisioning (Johnston takes lithium to control his manic depression). His father had found him in an incoherent state and unable to walk. Johnston is recovering and is thought to be out of any immediate danger.

On December 8th, 2005, it was reported that his condition remained "very serious", but on December 23rd, Johnston was released from the hospital. Johnston's family had been told that "Daniel would require long-term medical care and permanent dialysis for kidney failure," however his health dramatically and unexpectedly improved. Johnston died on September 10, 2019.

Desperate Man Blues
Daniel Johnston Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There ain't no colors in the sky
Anymore
And I don't feel much like singing
Can't see what for

And there ain't no comfort in this life
Anymore
All that I can see that's ahead of me seems like

Such a chore

Maybe something will happen to make it all better
Better
Maybe something will come along and make me happy
Happy

There ain't no fun in living anymore
And I don't feel much like living
Can't see what for
There ain't no life left in me

I feel a bit funny
Like a ghost
With nowhere to go
My hope has gone and left me

A desperate man
There's no spunk left in me
I feel so hollow in me
So empty, so empty
So empty, so empty

A big chunk of what I was has gone
And left me a desperate man
Now I'm a desperate man
I'm lonely, scared

Sad, sorry man
And I just can't see no colors in the sky
Anymore
There's color there I'm sure, but it ain't mine

And it's made me blind
A desperate man

Desperate
I'm a desperate man

Overall Meaning

Daniel Johnston's song "Desperate Man Blues" portrays the emotional struggles of a person who feels trapped in their own despair. The opening lines serve to set the mood of the song as the singer laments the absence of color in the sky and how they don't see the point of singing anymore. The singer then goes on to reflect on how they feel there is no longer any comfort or happiness in life. They're unable to see anything beyond their current state of pain and everything ahead of them appears like a task that needs to be completed, rather than a cause for excitement.

The chorus then provides a glimmer of hope with the singer acknowledging the possibility that maybe something will happen to change their life for the better. Despite this, the singer seems to be stuck in their state of despair, describing themselves as feeling like a ghost with nowhere to go. The song ends with the singer repeating the phrase "a desperate man" to emphasize the feelings of loneliness, fear, and emptiness that they are experiencing.

Line by Line Meaning

There ain't no colors in the sky Anymore
Everything seems bleak and colorless, devoid of any hope or happiness.

And I don't feel much like singing Can't see what for
I'm losing the ability to find joy in things that used to bring me happiness.

And there ain't no comfort in this life Anymore All that I can see that's ahead of me seems like Such a chore
There's nothing to look forward to, only endless drudgery.

Maybe something will happen to make it all better Better Maybe something will come along and make me happy Happy
I'm clinging to hope that something will change and relieve my suffering.

There ain't no fun in living anymore And I don't feel much like living Can't see what for There ain't no life left in me
Life has lost its meaning and purpose, and I'm just going through the motions of existence.

I feel a bit funny Like a ghost With nowhere to go My hope has gone and left me
I feel disconnected from reality and lost, with no direction or purpose.

A desperate man There's no spunk left in me I feel so hollow in me So empty, so empty So empty, so empty
I'm completely drained of energy and life, and feel like there's nothing left inside me.

A big chunk of what I was has gone And left me a desperate man Now I'm a desperate man I'm lonely, scared Sad, sorry man
I mourn the person I used to be, and the loss has made me feel even more alone, scared, and hopeless.

And I just can't see no colors in the sky Anymore There's color there I'm sure, but it ain't mine And it's made me blind A desperate man Desperate I'm a desperate man
Even though there may be beauty in the world, I'm too caught up in my own despair to see it, and it's all-consuming.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: DANIEL JOHNSTON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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