People have their bucket lists. Daniel Johnston was on mine.
I have desired to see Daniel perform for years and it was worth the wait.
On a stage that was built for orchestras Mr. Johnston arrived with his friend (the guitar player) and began with Jealous Guy. And frankly, John would have loved it. The crispness of a straightforward guitar coupled with Daniels' heart vocalizing perfection. A song brought to a level of beauty not heard since John's voice graced our presence.
I've always felt that musicians have an incredible appreciation for each other and that can certainly be found on the number of people who have covered Daniel Johnston's songs - Guster, M. Ward, Tom Waits, Oasis, Bright Eyes,Wilco, Karen O and the kids and Pearl Jam ( to name a few).
Daniel played for just under an hour in a perfect acoustical setting -
Jealous Guy (John Lennon cover)
Walking the Cow
Grievances
Life in Vain
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances
Hey Joe
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Beatles cover)
The Sun Goes Down on Me
Living Life
True Love Will Find You in the End
With lyrics like "And where are you going to? Flip on your TV and try to make sense out of that" is genius. Daniel Johnston is an artist of ginormous talent. His music reeks of simplicity and yet has stature and depth.
Countless musicians and like folk have discovered Daniel Johnston and yet the masses may never know him. In many cases like this I may prefer to keep his hallowed music to myself, but I cannot help but surmise what a better world we would have should the world grasp Daniel Johnston's lyrics and embrace them.
