A Life Less Ordinary

Daniel Johnston "Tears, Stupid Tears"

Daniel Johnston "Ain't No Woman Gonna Make A George Jones Out Of Me"

Daniel Johnston "Some Things Last A Long Time"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

I recently watched Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary "The Devil & Daniel Johnston". I will admit i've heard of Johnston before but had never heard his music, even though he's one of those artist who always comes up on places like Last.fm in those "since you like BLANK you'll love BLANK" lists. I just never got around to him.

After hearing his story in this wonderfully made documentary, of course I immediately became curious. I ended up buying something called 'Discovered Covered', a collection of Daniel's "hits" that features both his version and cover versions by artists like TV On The Radio, Teenage Fanclub and Tom Waits. At first I liked the cover versions better, as Johnston's voice is something that takes getting used to. But not long after that (and I'm talking a couple DAYS) i started to appreciate Johnston's version much better. His songwriting skills are god-given, and the raw emotion of his performances can't ever be duplicated.

"The Devil & Daniel Johnston" tells a sad story that has its bright points. But music like this could only come from a life like Daniel Johnston's.

The Devil & Daniel Johnston