Daniel Johnston
Welcome to My World
Label:  High Wire Music 
Date:  4/18/2006
Length:  0:00
Format:  CD
Genre:  Rock; Indie
  Category:  rock
    Track Listing:
      1.  
      Peek a Boo    
      2.  
      Casper the Friendly Ghost    
      3.  
      Some Things Last a Long Time    
      4.  
      Walking the Cow    
      5.  
      I'm Nervous    
      6.  
      Man Obsessed    
      7.  
      Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances    
      8.  
      Never Before Never Again    
      9.  
      Sun Shines Down on Me    
      10.  
      Chord Organ Blues    
      11.  
      Living Life [Full Repaired Version]    
      12.  
      Speeding Motorcycle    
      13.  
      True Love Will Find You in the End    
      14.  
      Never Relaxed    
      15.  
      Sorry Entertainer    
      16.  
      Ain't No Womman Gonna Make a George Jones Outta Me    
      17.  
      Lennon Song    
      18.  
      Devil Town    
      19.  
      Laurie    
      20.  
      Story of an Artist    
      21.  
      Funeral Home    
    Additional info: | top

      He is erratic, moody, adolescent, and unsettling, just as he is strikingly brilliant, and all depictions entwine on this collection that plucks from Daniel Johnston's most memorable work throughout a quarter-century of bare-bones recording. While his helium-pitched voice can often border on acquired taste territory, Johnston, who suffers from bipolar disorder, writes both gripping melodies and cutting, cunning lyrics--often about failed love, life's ambiguity and his passion for the Beatles and comic book heroes. Any Johnston follower might choose 21 different selections to represent such a catalog, but this package--culled mostly from his '80s songbook--is both symbolic and inclusive, including a pair of chord organ grinders that are among his most familiar: the childlike "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and the wistful "Speeding Motorcycle." Johnston's raw vulnerability shines most on "Never Before Never Again," on which he howls about a former girlfriend, and the fragmented and demented "Funeral Home," where he contemplates his last car ride (to the tune of Bruce Springsteen's "Cadillac Ranch"). Welcome to My World is ideal for any newcomers to Johnston's music, provided they are willing to peel away his torment and contemplate his true genius. --Scott Holter