The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006)

I had a vague understanding of who Daniel Johnston was before watching this documentary. I knew that he drew the little "Hi How Are You" frog on the shirt Kurt Cobain wore, and I knew that he was mentally ill. His voice automatically sent me to one of the only Christmas albums I've ever owned, Just Say Noel. The way he sings speaks sounds similar to the vocals on the Sonic Youth number, Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope. I'm not a huge Sonic Youth fan, but I found it interesting that he knew Steve Shelly and that they took him to New York once and had to sort of wrangle him there. Sonic Youth actually felt liable for his safety.

The most important thing to know is that Daniel Johnston is a genius. He has spent most of his adult life in and out of mental hospitals, but has also has his artwork displayed all over the world, appeared on MTV, and had his songs covered by a wide list of artists.

He grew up in West Virginia in a very religious home and when his mental illness started to progress the devil was often the protagonist of his delusions. My favorite part of the film is when Kurt Cobain had worn his shirt on the 1992 MTV music awards. After that he is photographed wearing it in numerous photos. Daniel at the time is in a Mental hospital and has no idea who Nirvana is. But people want to know who he is. He ends up getting what is described as one of the most one sided contracts ever produced, with such clauses to protect him as that the label must provide medical for him, he never has to tour and he can never be dropped. After this is being drawn up, in a mental hospital no less, Daniel learns that Elekra, the label that wants to sign him, has Metallica on their roster. And he is convinced that they are the devil an they will kill him.  ( As someone raised with heavy metal and 666 number of the beast, I  had a good belly laugh over this.)  He was later signed to Atlantic in 1994 and dropped in 1996 due to poor record sales.

All Daniel ever wanted was to be famous, and he is. He is fairly low functioning, has to live at home with his elderly parents. But what does produce has a lasting impression on people. His art sells, his albums sell. He has a charming voice and whit filled lyrics. He now reminds me of the late Sid Barrett, a dumpy old man, and a shadow of greatness.

Update: I watched this film twice and thought about it before I went to bed last night. Infact I kept getting Daniel's voice in my head as I laid there.