It can be incredibly challenging for people with serious mental health issues to live in society.
Even though they all have their own aspirations and dreams, they face more challenges than so many people. Still, some people manage to overcome the difficulties and produce great art and inspiring stories in the process. Daniel Johnston is one example, and he left a mark in the world with his music.
Daniel Johnston was an American singer-songwriter who was known to have suffered several mental health conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Despite all that, he pursued his passion for music in his own way. He idolized the Beatles and in fact, he wished to be one.
Since he was young, he started writing and recording his songs in his parent’s cellar.
Several years later, his songs were already getting him attention from millions of people. People encouraged and supported him and he was able to write and release over 21 studio albums!
Towards the end of his career, NPR Music took notice of the lad and invited him to share his music with everyone.
In 2012, Johnston got the chance to show off his music at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk studios.
The small surroundings of the set might have fit him, since he was used to writing his music in the cellar.
On the set, Johnston stood with Shai Halperin, the recording artist also known as Sweet Lights, who accompanied Johnston for his mini-concert.
Johnston started with his song called “Mean Girls Give Pleasure.”
Johnston brought NPR Music three of his songs from his 2012 album, Space Ducks.
His first song ran just for two minutes before he transitioned into another one of his singles, “Sense of Humor.”
He sang his song while Halperin mixed in some soft vocals and strummed the guitar.
After the song, they took a little break and Johnston drank a little water. Before going through the rest of the concert, Johnston even introduced a comic book that he wrote.
As they took a breather at the concert, they took the intermission time to introduce Johnston’s new comic book called Space Ducks–An Infinite Comic Book of Musical Genres.
He introduced it as the first volume and promised his audience with a second one.
Aside from singing, Johnston also aspired to be a cartoonist. He was the one who sketched most of his album cover art.
After that brief interlude, he resumed with his last song of three from his album.
After the intermission, Johnston and Halperin proceeded to sing “The American Dream.”
Still, when it was over, they gave the audience one more bonus song.
The song was “True Love Will Find A Way,” one of his classics from his 1990 album of the same name.
Johnston sang its endearing and encouraging lyrics, ending the show on a perfectly uplifting note.
His words are pure and the music is made even more hard-hitting for the personal stories behind it.
Without a doubt, Johnston is a poet who played with his words to paint scenarios in the most lucid manner.
He writes most of his songs following themes like the “redemptive power of love” and “unrequited love.” Unlike today’s musicians who write with figures of speeches and idioms, Johnston tells his story in an honest and direct approach, which is unique in its own way. Some music critics may see his lyrics as “childlike,” but to those who were inspired by him, all of them were so elegant.
Watch the entire beautiful performance by clicking on the link below:
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