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.
Impossible Love
Daniel Johnston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You were the best friend I ever had
Now I'm crawling in my shoes
Trying to get back to you
Impossible love,
I just can't get to you
Impossible love,
You left me so long
I can remember the times
How we really cared
All the dreams that we shared
Impossible love,
I just can't get to you
Impossible love,
I'm tangled up in you
My life just goes on
And what have I become?
You were the only one
You were my shining sun
Impossible love,
I just can't get to you
Impossible love,
I'm tangled up in you
I just can't believe that it's all over
I just want a chance to see you again
To see you again
You were my one true love
The lyrics to Daniel Johnston's song "Impossible Love" explore the pain and longing of a lost relationship that was once full of love and promises. The first two lines of the song - "You hurt me so bad / You were the best friend I ever had" - reveal the depth of the singer's hurt and disappointment in the person who used to be their closest companion. The singer is struggling to move past the hurt, and the line "Now I'm crawling in my shoes / Trying to get back to you" implies that they are willing to do anything to repair what had been lost.
The chorus of the song - "Impossible love, I just can't get to you / Impossible love, I'm tangled up in you" - reveals the singer's struggle to reconnect with the person who they love but who is now unreachable. The use of the word "impossible" suggests that the singer has come to accept that they may never be able to reconcile with their former friend and lover. The second verse paints a picture of a relationship that was once healthy and full of promise, but that has since been destroyed by distance and time. The line "You left me so long / I can remember the times / how we really cared / all the dreams that we shared" suggests that the singer is nostalgic for what they once had, but is also mourning its loss.
The final verse explores the aftermath of the relationship's demise. The line "My life just goes on / And what have I become?" suggests that the singer is struggling to find meaning in their life now that their relationship has ended. The line "You were the only one / You were my shining sun" reveals just how important this person was to the singer, and the use of past tense implies that they may never find someone who means as much to them again. The final iteration of the chorus emphasizes just how impossible it feels for the singer to move on from this relationship, despite their best efforts.
Overall, "Impossible Love" is a heart-wrenching exploration of lost love and the pain that comes with trying to move on from it. The song's melancholy lyrics and simple melody make it a haunting and emotional tribute to the difficult journey of healing from heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
You hurt me so bad
Your actions caused me immense pain and suffering
You were the best friend I ever had
Out of all my friends, you were the closest one to me
Now I'm crawling in my shoes
I feel so defeated and powerless that I can't even stand straight
Trying to get back to you
I'm attempting to reconcile with you
Impossible love,
Our love has become an unattainable goal
I just can't get to you
No matter how hard I try, I can't reach you
I'm tangled up in you
You have such a hold on me that I can't escape it
You left me so long
You abandoned me for such a long period of time
I can remember the times
I still have memories of our time together
How we really cared
We genuinely cared for each other
All the dreams that we shared
We had aspirations and hopes that we discussed together
My life just goes on
Despite everything, my life hasn't stopped
And what have I become?
I question who I am now because of our separation
You were the only one
Out of all the people I've known, you were the most important one
You were my shining sun
You brought light and joy into my life
I just can't believe that it's all over
The idea that we're done is still unbelievable to me
I just want a chance to see you again
All I desire is to have another opportunity to be in your presence
To see you again
Just the act of seeing you would bring me great happiness
You were my one true love
I loved you more deeply than anyone else
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DANIEL DALE JOHNSTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind