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Hello. Hello.
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Hello, I am the ghost of Daniel Johnston.
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Many years ago I lived in Austin, Texas,
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and I worked at McDonald's.
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It is an honor and a privilege
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to speak to you today,
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to tell you about my condition,
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and the other world.
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(PIANO PLAYING)
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(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
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MALE ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen.
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The best singer/songwriter alive today,
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Daniel Johnston.
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(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
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MAN: We love you, Daniel!
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(SINGING) I've come this far
and I know I can make it
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I've got a broken heart
and you can't break a broken heart
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I come knocking at your door
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You don't love me anymore
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But I just can't give up
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'Cause I don't know what to do about it
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You must be wrong
if you think you don't love me
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You could smile down
and put a happy ending to my song
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I come knocking at your door
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You don't live there anymore
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Is it just a memory?
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Or am I a little crazy for you?
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MABEL JOHNSTON: He was different.
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I noticed that from the start
that Dan was different.
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I had him on a crib in our little bedroom
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and I would go in and talk to him,
change his diaper,
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and I would squeal at him
and he would squeal back at me.
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That's a small baby communicating,
I thought
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Being, uh, six years younger
than his four brothers and sisters,
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he was pampered by them.
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And, uh, they nursed him along.
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But we didn't notice at that time
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that there was any special talents involved
or anything.
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MABEL: When he went to school,
they tested the kids,
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and Dan was put in the highest group
of the highest class.
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His teacher was really mad at him
and it's understandable
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because Dan doesn't follow directions.
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You know, when he was in junior high,
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he suddenly lost
all his wonderful confidence,
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and I guess it was the beginning
of his illness.
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BILL: He and his brother
decided to make their own movie.
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And it was a collaborative effort
between the two brothers working together.
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And Dan had to change clothes
and pretend to be his mother.
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Because his mother and I
weren't in the movie actually.
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Tell about it, Mabel.
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-(RINGING)
- MABEL: Dan is the director and the actor
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portraying himself in parts
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and his horrible mother in other parts.
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I think he was having fun teasing me.
What do you think, Bill?
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BILL: Yeah, he... He was doing it for humor.
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DANIEL: You are real lazy. Wake up.
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MABEL". Dan's hard to deal with sometimes.
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He thought, "I'm artistic.
I shouldn't have to do those things."
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(SCATTING)
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Time to get up and get ready for school.
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DANIEL: Get up in there, breakfast is ready.
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MABEL: He wanted to be comic all the time.
He just couldn't get over it.
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DANIEL: Okay.
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MABEL: They were having too good a time.
(CHUCKLING)
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-(VOCALIZING)
-(YELLS)
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I don't think his relationship with me
was typical.
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Do you suppose he really pictured me
that way?
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This is ridiculous, what they're showing.
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I think it's popcorn and green Kool-Aid.
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He was a trial.
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I was sort of the star art guy
at the high school.
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- Oak Glen High School.
-(BELL RINGING)
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And I started hearing rumors
of this new art guy, the new art star.
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You know, the new kid in town,
I had to find out who this was.
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A friend of mine told me,
"There's this kid, Dan Johnston,
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"he can really draw,
he's a musician or something."
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So he kind of had one up on me,
he was a musician.
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The guy is a natural, an absolute natural.
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He never even had to learn to draw.
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He just got better from great.
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You know, I had to hang outwith this guy.
I had to be around this art.
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So we just started hanging out
and doing art together, actually.
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(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)
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The eyeball thing was sort of like his
intro calling card.
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DANIEL: Did it touch you emotionally?
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DAVID: It was his mysterious entry.
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- GIRL: It's definitely different.
-(BOY CHUCKLES)
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GIRL 2: I'm speechless.
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DAVID: Everybody was,
"Who's the eyeball guy?"
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You know, he was painting
these eyeballs everywhere.
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He would actually draw on walls
all over the high school.
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GIRL 3: I thought Dan's was very imaginative.
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DAVID: Daniel, he just exudes an'.
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He can't stop making art.
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He never sits and thinks,
"What am I gonna do?"
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He just grabs something.
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(INAUDIBLE)
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(INAUDIBLE)
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(DANIEL SINGING)
Listen up and I'll tell a story
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About an artist growing old
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Some would try for fame and glory
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Others aren't so bold
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Everyone, and friends and family
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saying, "Hey! Get a job!"
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"Why do you only do that only?
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"Why are you so odd?
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"We don't really like what you do
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"We don't think anyone ever will
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"It's a problem that you have
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"And this problem's made you ill"
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The artist walks alone
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Someone says behind his back
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"He's got his gall to call himself that!
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"He doesn't even know where he's at!"
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BILL: He wasn't buying them
for comic books,
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he was buying them for the artwork
that was involved on the comics.
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And some of the artists were his incentive
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to try to be an artist himself.
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They were an inspiration to him.
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DAVID: Now talk about the cinema
of Daniel Johnston, then.
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He doesn't have influences.
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He doesn't sit down
and consciously watch Chaplin
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and then learn, or this is my Keaton period.
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It's not like that.
He doesn't even know who these guys are.
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(CHUCKLING) You know, he gets a Super 8
and he makes a movie.
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Dan took himself seriously.
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He, for some reason,
thought he was going to be
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an artist because probably
of the attention he got.
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The family room would sometimes
be almost full of kids
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and one of them told me
that he's going to be famous someday.
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And I thought, "That silly stuff," you know?
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DAVID: He lived in the basement
of his parents' house.
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They got this perfectly normal ranch house
out in the country behind New Cumberland.
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He's got this amazing lab,
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like this amazing factory downstairs.
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He's turned a garage
and two sort of utility rooms
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into a bedroom and an art factory,
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and he's just got everywhere,
magazines, tapes.
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In fact, he's recreated it in Waller,
where he lives today.
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It's a duplicate of the same room.
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(SINGING) I was guilt stricken
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to go away
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She turned without saying
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I could not stay
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And all the while
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she was smiling at me
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Like I was a show on her TV
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They're sort of like this
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Christian fundamentalist Glass Family.
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They're creative, they're intellectual,
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but there's this, like, West Virginia,
kind of right-wing Christian thing.
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Daniel wasn't having any of it.
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Spiritually he was separated from them,
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socially, every other way
he was gone from them.
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But at the same time he was of them,
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in the sense that he had
certain material to draw from.
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Bill and I both thought he was
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doing too much concentrating on the art
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and the music and he wasn't
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having a well-rounded life.
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(PEOPLE SINGING HYMN)
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DAVID: She would constantly try
to get him, "Go to church and save yourself,"
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and he just would have none of it.
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He'd go to church, even,
but he wouldn't participate.
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He'd go to church
so he could stare at the girls,
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try to find a girlfriend.
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Literally, all he cared about was making art
and being John Lennon,
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and his parents' rules
were in the way of that.
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All he wanted them to do was just
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keep the lights on,
keep the power on so he could draw.
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MABEL: Dan was getting to be a problem.
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And he wanted to do everything
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but he didn't want to do any of his chores,
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like help mow the lawn, or wash the car,
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or any of those things
that I thought he was lacking in training,
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and I had to settle that.
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(MABEL SPEAKING ON TAPE)
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(DANIEL SPEAKING ON TAPE)
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(MABEL SPEAKING)
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(DANIEL SPEAKING)
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00:11:04,373 --> 00:11:06,292
(MABEL SPEAKING)
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00:11:06,375 --> 00:11:07,418
(DANIEL LAUGHING)
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00:11:07,918 --> 00:11:11,213
(MABEL SPEAKING)
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(CLICKING)
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Every bit of the supposed persecution
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that Daniel portrays in early music
was there,
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but I'm not saying
it was without provocation.
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He did it. He brought it on himself.
He would cause it
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to tape record, to film.
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Many, many times, Mabel would
open the basement stairs door
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00:11:50,795 --> 00:11:52,963
and she used to call him
an unprofitable servant.
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00:11:53,047 --> 00:11:55,174
"You're an unprofitable servant of the Lord.
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"You need to leave the house and get a job."
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He turned it, he used to call himself
an unserviceable prophet.
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(MABEL SPEAKING)
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00:12:31,961 --> 00:12:34,046
I really didn't like it when he put...
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He taped me giving him what for.
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00:12:37,883 --> 00:12:39,760
I didn't think he would do that.
199
00:12:39,844 --> 00:12:43,597
She would really harangue him and, uh...
And he... He, um...
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It was hard on him. It was.
201
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But he's this sort of like,
202
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coal burning in the basement, you know,
203
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and it's heating up the whole house,
204
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and they're just going insane from it.
205
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So the whole place is just going wild
206
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because he's just such a problem.
207
00:12:58,070 --> 00:12:59,196
(PIANO PLAYING)
208
00:13:00,322 --> 00:13:02,658
BILL: When the problem became apparent
209
00:13:02,741 --> 00:13:05,536
was when he first went to college,
210
00:13:05,619 --> 00:13:07,788
at Abilene Christian College.
211
00:13:07,872 --> 00:13:11,625
And he wasn't getting to his classes.
212
00:13:11,709 --> 00:13:16,130
He was totally confused and we thought,
"Well, this is home sickness," you know,
213
00:13:16,213 --> 00:13:18,591
and they sent him to the local doctor
214
00:13:18,674 --> 00:13:21,468
to see if he was complaining
about pains in his arms,
215
00:13:21,552 --> 00:13:24,013
which are symptoms of manic depression.
216
00:13:24,096 --> 00:13:25,598
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
217
00:13:36,734 --> 00:13:37,776
(CLICKING)
218
00:13:37,860 --> 00:13:41,322
He's going around in a daze, we said,
"Well, we'd better bring him home."
219
00:13:41,405 --> 00:13:43,449
And immediately he snapped out of it.
220
00:13:43,532 --> 00:13:46,327
And then back to being
a normal person again.
221
00:13:46,410 --> 00:13:50,164
And we thought, "Well, everything's
all right." So we sent him to a local college.
222
00:13:50,247 --> 00:13:51,665
DAVID: He goes to an' school at
223
00:13:51,749 --> 00:13:54,835
Kent State University branch
in East Liverpool, Ohio.
224
00:13:54,919 --> 00:13:57,504
And I am attending the same school.
225
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We found all these kind of
lethargic professors
226
00:14:00,424 --> 00:14:02,635
and sort of half-talented students.
227
00:14:02,718 --> 00:14:04,970
And, Daniel, of course,
he just scoops them up...
228
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(LAUGHING)
...and he just mixes them into his an' form.
229
00:14:08,641 --> 00:14:12,394
Like everybody's his subject, you know,
all of a sudden he's interviewing people
230
00:14:12,478 --> 00:14:16,440
with his little tape recorder
and then taking little phrases from them
231
00:14:16,565 --> 00:14:18,943
and cutting them into his songs.
232
00:14:20,110 --> 00:14:23,280
And he meets the love of his life.
He meets Laurie Allen.
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00:14:23,364 --> 00:14:25,783
DANIEL: I was alone in my life
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00:14:26,867 --> 00:14:28,827
with little to live for...
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00:14:28,911 --> 00:14:30,788
(PIANO PLAYING)
236
00:14:31,622 --> 00:14:33,624
...trying my hand at art,
237
00:14:34,959 --> 00:14:38,337
thinking that maybe I could save myself,
238
00:14:39,380 --> 00:14:41,632
but in my desperation
239
00:14:42,424 --> 00:14:44,593
all my hope would fly away
240
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until there was nothing left of me,
241
00:14:50,307 --> 00:14:52,059
nothing left to say.
242
00:14:54,895 --> 00:14:58,482
And in this nightmare there was a dream
243
00:14:59,024 --> 00:15:00,317
of a girl
244
00:15:01,568 --> 00:15:04,655
so beautiful beyond compare.
245
00:15:04,738 --> 00:15:05,864
(INAUDIBLE)
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00:15:07,157 --> 00:15:09,451
The girl of my dreams.
247
00:15:12,746 --> 00:15:16,500
So wonderful. So beautiful.
248
00:15:19,962 --> 00:15:21,755
And I had her boots.
249
00:15:26,010 --> 00:15:29,305
This was so long ago in my idealistic dream
250
00:15:29,722 --> 00:15:31,348
of so many songs.
251
00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:33,267
(INAUDIBLE)
252
00:15:33,350 --> 00:15:34,560
Laurie.
253
00:15:41,608 --> 00:15:42,651
Yes.
254
00:15:42,735 --> 00:15:44,737
(PIANO CONTINUES PLAYING)
255
00:15:50,117 --> 00:15:53,704
She inspired a thousand songs
256
00:15:54,913 --> 00:15:59,043
and then I knew I was an artist.
257
00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:06,091
He wrote a lot of sweet songs about Laurie.
258
00:16:06,675 --> 00:16:10,929
And I remember something from
listening... He wanted to play one for me.
259
00:16:11,555 --> 00:16:14,141
I remember it and he doesn't have it.
260
00:16:14,224 --> 00:16:15,559
It goes...
261
00:16:15,976 --> 00:16:19,605
(SINGING)
Walking down the road I'm feeling lonely
262
00:16:19,730 --> 00:16:21,106
But don't be sad
263
00:16:21,607 --> 00:16:25,652
Be glad you're just one step closer
to the girl you're going to meet
264
00:16:26,111 --> 00:16:28,947
DAVID: He starts following her
around with a tape recorder
265
00:16:29,031 --> 00:16:30,532
and his little Super 8,
266
00:16:30,616 --> 00:16:33,619
following her around, making movies
and tape recording her
267
00:16:33,702 --> 00:16:35,120
and begging her,
268
00:16:35,204 --> 00:16:37,956
begging Laurie to say, "I love you, Dan,"
269
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,501
into the tape, which she eventually does.
270
00:16:40,751 --> 00:16:42,503
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
271
00:16:45,005 --> 00:16:46,048
(LAURIE SPEAKING)
272
00:16:46,131 --> 00:16:47,174
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
273
00:16:47,257 --> 00:16:48,258
(LAURIE SPEAKING)
274
00:16:48,384 --> 00:16:49,426
(LAURIE LAUGHS)
275
00:16:49,676 --> 00:16:50,844
She has no idea.
276
00:16:50,928 --> 00:16:54,139
He's massively
277
00:16:54,848 --> 00:16:56,016
obsessed with her.
278
00:16:57,476 --> 00:16:59,311
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
279
00:17:38,308 --> 00:17:40,018
DAVID: This is the kind of love
he needed to have.
280
00:17:40,102 --> 00:17:43,188
He needed to have a love
that he couldn't really successfully
281
00:17:43,272 --> 00:17:44,231
connect up with.
282
00:17:44,314 --> 00:17:46,191
He had to have the thing to chase.
283
00:17:46,275 --> 00:17:48,318
He could never have a thing he could catch.
284
00:17:48,402 --> 00:17:50,988
So, when she married someone else,
285
00:17:51,655 --> 00:17:54,950
it was even better
because then he could really pine.
286
00:17:55,033 --> 00:17:56,910
You know, she was gone.
287
00:17:58,328 --> 00:18:02,082
And it's just God's little joke
that it happens to be an undertaker.
288
00:18:02,166 --> 00:18:04,918
So he really liked that event
289
00:18:05,002 --> 00:18:07,671
even though it causes him great pain.
290
00:18:08,714 --> 00:18:11,425
Well, when Dan got depressed,
291
00:18:11,884 --> 00:18:16,138
he took to playing the piano,
but I didn't understand the depression.
292
00:18:20,225 --> 00:18:24,021
(DANIEL SINGING) l had lost my mind
293
00:18:24,980 --> 00:18:29,693
I lost my head for a while
Was off my rocker, out of line, out of whack
294
00:18:30,110 --> 00:18:33,989
You see I had this tiny crack in my head
295
00:18:34,531 --> 00:18:37,701
That slowly split open
and my brains oozed out
296
00:18:37,784 --> 00:18:40,579
It's lying on the sidewalk
and I didn't even know it
297
00:18:40,662 --> 00:18:44,124
I had lost my mind
298
00:18:45,083 --> 00:18:49,421
Why, I was sitting in the basement
when I first realized it was gone
299
00:18:49,713 --> 00:18:53,467
Got in my car
Rushed right over to the lost and found
300
00:18:53,842 --> 00:18:57,763
I said, "Pardon me
but I seem to have lost my mind"
301
00:18:57,846 --> 00:19:01,225
She said, "Well, can you identify it please?"
302
00:19:03,227 --> 00:19:06,021
I said, "Why sure, it's a cute little bugger
303
00:19:07,189 --> 00:19:10,234
"About yea big
a little warped from the rain"
304
00:19:11,443 --> 00:19:15,656
She said, "Well then, sir,
this must be your brain"
305
00:19:15,906 --> 00:19:19,785
I said, "Thank you, ma'am,
I'm always losing that dang thing"
306
00:19:20,619 --> 00:19:24,915
I had lost my mind
307
00:19:28,085 --> 00:19:30,545
We felt that it was, uh, wasting time
308
00:19:30,629 --> 00:19:32,464
to keep him in college
309
00:19:32,631 --> 00:19:35,217
because he was never gonna graduate
the way he was going.
310
00:19:35,300 --> 00:19:38,345
So we took him out of college
and sent him to
311
00:19:38,845 --> 00:19:41,515
Houston to live with his brother.
312
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,685
Mom and Dad were trying to get him
on the right track.
313
00:19:44,768 --> 00:19:47,187
In all of our minds,
that meant a productive life.
314
00:19:47,271 --> 00:19:48,939
A well-rounded life.
315
00:19:49,106 --> 00:19:52,401
Not a self-absorbed life. A job is part of that.
316
00:19:52,484 --> 00:19:54,695
And in an effort to help,
317
00:19:55,153 --> 00:19:58,365
I said, "Let Dan come down for the summer,
work at Astroworld.
318
00:19:58,448 --> 00:20:02,953
"And maybe this will get him on his feet
or something."
319
00:20:04,246 --> 00:20:05,580
(DANIEL WHISPERING)
320
00:20:25,350 --> 00:20:27,352
DICK: When he found out
that he had to go to Texas
321
00:20:27,436 --> 00:20:29,229
and he would be without his piano,
322
00:20:29,313 --> 00:20:31,523
that put a wrench in his plans.
323
00:20:31,606 --> 00:20:33,358
So he got ahold of this organ
324
00:20:33,442 --> 00:20:35,027
and he takes it into my garage
325
00:20:35,110 --> 00:20:38,030
and he turned my weight bench
into a recording studio.
326
00:20:38,113 --> 00:20:40,657
DANIEL: How are you doing, Dave?
How's it going?
327
00:20:40,741 --> 00:20:42,951
I'm working on the album now.
328
00:20:43,201 --> 00:20:47,289
On the new release, Yip/Jump Music.
329
00:20:47,664 --> 00:20:50,709
I sound like some kind of MTV person,
don't I?
330
00:20:51,251 --> 00:20:53,587
I brought out the chord organ.
I just set it up.
331
00:20:53,670 --> 00:20:57,382
I thought I'd play you one of the songs
I played on the album.
332
00:20:57,466 --> 00:21:00,177
So, I'll turn on the chord organ here.
333
00:21:01,053 --> 00:21:04,264
DICK: I knew he was recording.
I could hear him singing.
334
00:21:04,514 --> 00:21:07,225
But I had no perception that he was,
335
00:21:07,601 --> 00:21:11,355
you know, in his mind,
making this masterpiece.
336
00:21:15,192 --> 00:21:17,361
(DANIEL SINGING)
337
00:21:35,712 --> 00:21:39,633
DICK: I wanted to help Dan and I thought
I was giving great prophetic advice.
338
00:21:39,716 --> 00:21:42,094
I said, "Dan, you know, someday
you're going to be really good
339
00:21:42,177 --> 00:21:43,804
"at something and very successful.
340
00:21:43,887 --> 00:21:47,557
"But it's not gonna be your art
and it's not gonna be your music."
341
00:21:47,641 --> 00:21:50,977
We had to say, "Look, Dan,
you can't stay up all night.
342
00:21:51,061 --> 00:21:53,814
"You're gonna have to go to bed
at some kind of decent hour.
343
00:21:53,897 --> 00:21:55,982
"And kind Of live life With the rest of us."
344
00:21:56,066 --> 00:21:57,859
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
345
00:22:11,957 --> 00:22:14,835
DICK: Margie kind of stepped in
and said that she could, uh,
346
00:22:15,168 --> 00:22:17,129
you know, see what she could do
to help him.
347
00:22:17,212 --> 00:22:20,382
And we packed him up
and off he went into the distance.
348
00:22:20,465 --> 00:22:22,843
I thought, "Well...
349
00:22:22,926 --> 00:22:26,471
"He needs a place to go and I'm his sister,
and, well, he can come and stay here."
350
00:22:26,555 --> 00:22:28,890
So he came to live with me in my duplex.
351
00:22:28,974 --> 00:22:31,184
Now, I didn't have extra furniture for him.
352
00:22:31,268 --> 00:22:33,270
We got him a mattress
that was just on the floor.
353
00:22:33,353 --> 00:22:36,148
But he seemed to thrive in this atmosphere
354
00:22:36,231 --> 00:22:37,858
because he was allowed to make a mess.
355
00:22:38,567 --> 00:22:39,818
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
356
00:22:53,290 --> 00:22:56,460
I thought everything was fine.
Then one day I came home
357
00:22:56,543 --> 00:22:57,878
and he wasn't there, which...
358
00:22:57,961 --> 00:23:01,214
I wasn't too worried 'cause we didn't
tell each other everywhere we were going.
359
00:23:01,298 --> 00:23:04,509
But when he wasn't there in the morning
when I got up,
360
00:23:04,593 --> 00:23:07,137
and he hadn't come home all night,
that was not typical.
361
00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:09,848
MABEL: He made a decision to buy a moped.
362
00:23:10,348 --> 00:23:13,101
(ENGINE REVVING)
363
00:23:13,518 --> 00:23:16,479
And he disappeared on the moped,
right, Bill?
364
00:23:16,813 --> 00:23:17,814
Yes.
365
00:23:17,898 --> 00:23:21,568
And he joined the carnival
and went with them.
366
00:23:21,651 --> 00:23:23,737
We weren't able to contact him.
367
00:23:23,820 --> 00:23:25,780
It's the saddest time in my life,
368
00:23:25,864 --> 00:23:29,534
not to know where your son is
and he might be needing help.
369
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,329
(DANIEL SINGING)
370
00:23:58,813 --> 00:24:00,023
DANIEL: When I was with the carnival,
371
00:24:00,106 --> 00:24:02,317
this little girl at the carnival,
her name was Tricia.
372
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,070
She's a carnival girl.
She's grown up with the carnival
373
00:24:05,153 --> 00:24:06,446
and she's about three years old.
374
00:24:06,529 --> 00:24:09,950
All the time she would come into
the corn-dog stand when we were open.
375
00:24:10,033 --> 00:24:13,495
And it was slow, you know, and we would
pretend it was a spaceship, you know.
376
00:24:13,578 --> 00:24:17,332
I would bang on this untuned guitar
and she started singing this little song,
377
00:24:17,415 --> 00:24:20,543
(SINGS)
"Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut, merry-go-round"
378
00:24:21,836 --> 00:24:25,840
Yeah, I do miss home.
I'm down here and I'm okay.
379
00:24:26,049 --> 00:24:29,052
Because wherever I am,
I got music in my heart.
380
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:35,433
MABEL: During that time,
I had a rock inside my chest.
381
00:24:35,850 --> 00:24:39,104
I thought he might be
in a shallow grave someplace.
382
00:24:39,604 --> 00:24:41,523
He left the first part of April
383
00:24:41,606 --> 00:24:46,569
and I think it was Father's Day when
he called and let us know where he was.
384
00:24:47,737 --> 00:24:50,240
DANIEL: Collect call
from Daniel Johnston, please.
385
00:24:53,868 --> 00:24:55,620
(DANIEL SINGING) Speeding motorcycle
386
00:24:57,289 --> 00:24:59,249
Of my heart
387
00:24:59,332 --> 00:25:02,585
Pretty girls have taken you for a ride
388
00:25:03,169 --> 00:25:05,046
Hurt you deep inside
389
00:25:05,130 --> 00:25:07,090
The road is ours
390
00:25:09,759 --> 00:25:11,261
(WHOOPS)
391
00:25:13,388 --> 00:25:16,266
The way Daniel ended up in Austin
is so incredible
392
00:25:16,349 --> 00:25:18,435
that it really sounds like an urban legend.
393
00:25:20,770 --> 00:25:23,189
When the carnival came to Austin,
394
00:25:23,273 --> 00:25:26,067
he was going to the bathroom
in the porta-potty
395
00:25:26,609 --> 00:25:28,611
and someone was upset
about how long he was taking
396
00:25:28,695 --> 00:25:29,904
and they were banging on the door.
397
00:25:29,988 --> 00:25:34,367
And so when he came out, it turned out
it was like a really big, tough carnie guy.
398
00:25:34,451 --> 00:25:37,704
- And he just hauled off and like, socked him.
-(PUNCHING)
399
00:25:37,787 --> 00:25:40,290
And really, really hurt him bad.
400
00:25:40,373 --> 00:25:42,792
And Daniel didn't know what to do.
401
00:25:43,293 --> 00:25:44,669
He just started looking
402
00:25:44,753 --> 00:25:45,879
-for a Church of Christ.
-(HYMN PLAYING)
403
00:25:45,962 --> 00:25:49,716
And he wandered until he saw
the University Church of Christ.
404
00:25:49,799 --> 00:25:51,593
And he went in
and he just asked them to help him.
405
00:25:51,676 --> 00:25:54,804
And they ended up taking him, you know,
to the doctor and everything
406
00:25:54,888 --> 00:25:56,473
and leasing him an apartment.
407
00:25:56,723 --> 00:25:58,308
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
408
00:25:58,433 --> 00:26:00,310
(TRAIN HORN BLOWING)
409
00:26:16,159 --> 00:26:17,911
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)
410
00:26:17,994 --> 00:26:20,747
KATHY: He had heard the band I was in,
which was Glass Eye.
411
00:26:20,830 --> 00:26:23,500
And we were just getting popular locally.
412
00:26:23,583 --> 00:26:26,503
And he saw a poster for our show.
413
00:26:26,586 --> 00:26:28,463
And he decided that this was
a really magical sign
414
00:26:28,546 --> 00:26:30,090
and he really needed to go to it.
415
00:26:30,173 --> 00:26:33,843
And he came to the show
and he gave me a copy of his cassette.
416
00:26:34,469 --> 00:26:37,764
So the next time we played,
he came over to me and he was so excited.
417
00:26:37,847 --> 00:26:40,225
You could tell he was like,
screwing up his nerve,
418
00:26:40,308 --> 00:26:42,102
like, getting ready to, like,
419
00:26:42,185 --> 00:26:44,229
ask me what I thought of his music.
420
00:26:44,312 --> 00:26:46,398
And he came over and he goes,
"What'd you think?"
421
00:26:46,481 --> 00:26:50,693
And I looked at him and I couldn't,
I just couldn't really let him know
422
00:26:50,777 --> 00:26:54,531
how much of an asshole I really was,
that I hadn't even listened to his music,
423
00:26:54,614 --> 00:26:58,618
his most important thing in his life.
And I said, "It was great.
424
00:26:58,701 --> 00:27:01,413
"I loved it. You can totally open for us."
425
00:27:01,496 --> 00:27:05,917
And so I went home and I listened to it and
I was blown away at its incredible genius.
426
00:27:06,209 --> 00:27:08,545
(DANIEL SINGING)
427
00:27:20,932 --> 00:27:24,185
I met Daniel Johnston,
in kind of the classic Daniel Johnston way.
428
00:27:24,436 --> 00:27:27,272
It was a Saturday.
I was working at the Austin Chronicle.
429
00:27:27,355 --> 00:27:29,858
I was alone in the office
and I was sitting there writing,
430
00:27:29,941 --> 00:27:32,026
and I heard something at the door.
Not a knock.
431
00:27:32,110 --> 00:27:33,736
But somebody like, shuffling at the door.
432
00:27:33,820 --> 00:27:36,739
Finally I went over and I opened the door,
and Daniel was standing there.
433
00:27:36,823 --> 00:27:40,034
And he was this skinny little kid
who looked fairly demented.
434
00:27:40,118 --> 00:27:42,996
And he had a tape. And he said,
"I just wanted to give you my tape."
435
00:27:43,079 --> 00:27:45,498
So I said, "Great.
You know, I'll give it to a music person.
436
00:27:45,582 --> 00:27:47,125
"If they like it, maybe we'll review it.
437
00:27:47,208 --> 00:27:48,501
"But I'm not promising you anything."
438
00:27:48,585 --> 00:27:51,754
And Daniel goes, "You know, I wasn't
really giving you that to review.
439
00:27:51,838 --> 00:27:55,133
"I just wanted you to listen to it.
I'm not trying to get a review or anything."
440
00:27:55,216 --> 00:27:56,342
So Daniel goes away.
441
00:27:56,426 --> 00:27:59,179
And I put it on the tape player
and it just blew my mind.
442
00:27:59,262 --> 00:28:01,639
I mean, it was one of those
where I got it right away.
443
00:28:02,140 --> 00:28:04,767
(DANIEL SINGING)
Get attached to a rolling stone
444
00:28:04,851 --> 00:28:08,396
And you're liable to get crushed
445
00:28:08,771 --> 00:28:12,192
You're better off to sit at home
446
00:28:12,275 --> 00:28:15,612
And watch the toilet flush
447
00:28:15,904 --> 00:28:18,531
And so then he gives you
Hi, How Are You and Yip/Jump Music.
448
00:28:18,615 --> 00:28:20,950
It's like, you know, imagine meeting,
449
00:28:21,034 --> 00:28:24,204
you know, Bob Dylan, and he gives you
his first six albums and saying,
450
00:28:24,287 --> 00:28:25,830
"Oh, here's some stuff I'm working on."
451
00:28:25,914 --> 00:28:28,875
So it's this body of music
where you're suddenly hearing
452
00:28:28,958 --> 00:28:30,960
20 amazing songs
453
00:28:31,127 --> 00:28:33,713
and they're out of nowhere
from this weird little guy.
454
00:28:33,796 --> 00:28:36,549
I played it for a lot of music writers
and some musicians
455
00:28:36,633 --> 00:28:40,303
and he was giving it to other musicians,
and gradually over like a period of weeks,
456
00:28:40,386 --> 00:28:43,431
people began to talk a lot
about who this crazy kid was.
457
00:28:43,515 --> 00:28:45,475
Daniel Johnston and this really weird music.
458
00:28:45,558 --> 00:28:48,228
(DANIEL SINGING)
The picture gets all blurred
459
00:28:48,311 --> 00:28:51,731
I see shadows dancing on my walls
460
00:28:51,814 --> 00:28:54,609
Thoughts scatter like birds
461
00:28:55,026 --> 00:28:58,112
Daniel, of course, loves The Beatles,
worships them.
462
00:28:58,530 --> 00:29:02,992
And I can see that Hi, How Are You
could be like Meet The Beatles!
463
00:29:03,201 --> 00:29:07,163
Come grab this and start the new
Daniel Johnston mania!
464
00:29:07,497 --> 00:29:11,292
And in his head, of course, it was there.
He was The Beatles.
465
00:29:11,501 --> 00:29:14,629
And it was from deep inside here.
466
00:29:14,963 --> 00:29:16,923
Hi, How Are You? I'm Daniel Johnston,
467
00:29:17,006 --> 00:29:19,717
and this is what scares me
and this is what I love,
468
00:29:19,801 --> 00:29:21,844
and this is what terrifies me.
469
00:29:22,011 --> 00:29:26,140
You just hear that
and your mind will turn around to his.
470
00:29:26,224 --> 00:29:30,186
You start off hearing this noise,
then eventually you hear The Beatles.
471
00:29:30,270 --> 00:29:32,188
You hear the whole symphony.
472
00:29:32,272 --> 00:29:35,358
He actually didn't just record a tape
and mass produce it.
473
00:29:35,441 --> 00:29:39,279
He sometimes couldn't duplicate,
so he had to sing the entire tape
474
00:29:39,362 --> 00:29:42,365
from beginning to end to hand you a copy.
475
00:29:43,116 --> 00:29:46,786
Go back home. Start again. Song by song.
Fill up the tape.
476
00:29:46,869 --> 00:29:51,374
Hand another person a copy. Fill it up. Go.
And finally write another album.
477
00:29:51,582 --> 00:29:53,543
Start the whole process over again.
478
00:29:53,876 --> 00:29:57,005
KATHY: As far as I know his very first,
like, public show that he did
479
00:29:57,088 --> 00:29:59,340
was done opening for Glass Eye.
480
00:29:59,424 --> 00:30:01,259
And he was so nervous.
481
00:30:01,342 --> 00:30:02,969
He literally was vibrating.
482
00:30:03,052 --> 00:30:06,514
And he also had recently decided,
since coming to Austin,
483
00:30:06,597 --> 00:30:09,600
that he wasn't going to play piano anymore,
something he does rather well.
484
00:30:09,684 --> 00:30:12,812
He decided that he was gonna play guitar
like all the Austin guitar slingers.
485
00:30:12,895 --> 00:30:14,147
And he really couldn't play.
486
00:30:14,230 --> 00:30:16,065
That was scary for him, too.
487
00:30:16,149 --> 00:30:19,485
All of a sudden it quieted down
like it was church or something.
488
00:30:19,569 --> 00:30:21,070
Daniel comes on stage. It was very unusual
489
00:30:21,154 --> 00:30:23,323
because anyone playing their first show,
it's like you're lucky
490
00:30:23,406 --> 00:30:24,657
to get anyone to pay attention.
491
00:30:24,741 --> 00:30:27,577
But everyone was absolutely silent
and he looked so nervous,
492
00:30:27,660 --> 00:30:29,746
he looked like he was gonna vomit
the whole time.
493
00:30:29,829 --> 00:30:32,373
(DANIEL SINGING) Time is a matter of fact
494
00:30:32,457 --> 00:30:35,585
And it's gone and it'll never come back
495
00:30:35,918 --> 00:30:37,503
And mine
496
00:30:38,296 --> 00:30:40,965
It's wasted all the time
497
00:30:43,259 --> 00:30:46,512
Tears, stupid tears
498
00:30:46,596 --> 00:30:47,847
Bring me down
499
00:30:47,930 --> 00:30:49,432
LOUIS: So when you saw him perform,
500
00:30:49,515 --> 00:30:53,019
I mean, especially in the early days,
when he did the two or three song sets,
501
00:30:53,102 --> 00:30:54,479
sometimes they were God-awful,
502
00:30:54,562 --> 00:30:56,272
and sometimes they were
unbelievably brilliant.
503
00:30:56,356 --> 00:31:00,193
I mean, sometimes he just nailed it.
I mean, sometimes it was so abstract.
504
00:31:00,276 --> 00:31:02,195
I mean, some of it was what wasn't there.
505
00:31:02,278 --> 00:31:03,696
Sometimes there was too much not there.
506
00:31:03,780 --> 00:31:05,782
(DANIEL SINGING) Tie my brain
507
00:31:06,657 --> 00:31:08,868
Into a knot
508
00:31:10,953 --> 00:31:14,957
Those tears, stupid tears
509
00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:18,920
Bring me down
510
00:31:19,128 --> 00:31:20,880
People in the audience tended to be like,
511
00:31:20,963 --> 00:31:24,842
"What? Is this is a joke?
Is this guy supposed to be cool?"
512
00:31:24,926 --> 00:31:28,388
And they would be looking around at each
other like, "How am I supposed to react?"
513
00:31:28,471 --> 00:31:32,350
Because he was so raw and so real
in a lot of ways, that people couldn't take it.
514
00:31:37,939 --> 00:31:39,023
(INTERVIEWER SPEAKING)
515
00:31:42,318 --> 00:31:43,319
(INTERVIEWER SPEAKS)
516
00:31:46,197 --> 00:31:47,281
(INTERVIEWER SPEAKS)
517
00:31:49,325 --> 00:31:51,911
LOWS: He's got a full shift at McDonald's.
518
00:31:51,994 --> 00:31:54,038
And as close as I can tell,
he can't do anything.
519
00:31:54,122 --> 00:31:57,250
He can't cook. He doesn't clean very well.
520
00:31:58,167 --> 00:32:01,254
DICK: As in a lot of places, you know,
they'll give him work,
521
00:32:01,337 --> 00:32:06,175
but then he migrates to the job with
the least skill, which was cleaning tables.
522
00:32:06,300 --> 00:32:07,969
KEN: It was amazing
that he could keep his job
523
00:32:08,052 --> 00:32:10,096
because everybody was always
coming in there wanting to,
524
00:32:10,179 --> 00:32:11,931
"Hey, Daniel. Hi, Daniel!"
525
00:32:12,014 --> 00:32:15,476
And, well, they don't take well to that at,
you know, fast food joints.
526
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:17,937
But he was employed there for a long time.
527
00:32:18,062 --> 00:32:19,939
And you knew you could find him there,
528
00:32:20,022 --> 00:32:23,025
just in his little hat and his little shirt there,
529
00:32:23,484 --> 00:32:24,902
cleaning up,
530
00:32:24,986 --> 00:32:27,780
cleaning up other people's spills and stuff.
531
00:32:27,864 --> 00:32:29,949
DICK: When I went to visit him
at McDonald's,
532
00:32:30,032 --> 00:32:33,286
I think it was probably the first time
I recognized that
533
00:32:33,369 --> 00:32:35,371
he was spacing out, you know.
534
00:32:35,455 --> 00:32:39,333
That there was a disconnection
from reality or something going on.
535
00:32:39,417 --> 00:32:40,543
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
536
00:32:43,629 --> 00:32:45,214
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
537
00:33:46,275 --> 00:33:48,027
(CHUCKLING)
538
00:33:56,202 --> 00:34:00,081
1985 was just an enormous year
for Austin music.
539
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,042
It was like everything was about to break,
540
00:34:03,125 --> 00:34:05,795
and again, Daniel just came in
right at that time.
541
00:34:06,170 --> 00:34:09,715
MTV started sniffing around.
And they brought in Peter Zaremba
542
00:34:09,799 --> 00:34:11,342
and the show they had, The Cutting Edge.
543
00:34:12,718 --> 00:34:14,512
They lined up all these bands
544
00:34:14,595 --> 00:34:17,598
and they had a big old barbeque
and Daniel showed up there with his tapes.
545
00:34:17,682 --> 00:34:20,977
This is Daniel Johnston.
Local man about town. Musician.
546
00:34:21,060 --> 00:34:23,271
Everyone knows who he is but...
Say hi to everyone.
547
00:34:23,354 --> 00:34:25,022
My name is Daniel Johnston
548
00:34:25,106 --> 00:34:27,108
and this is the name of my tape and it's,
Hi, How Are You.
549
00:34:27,191 --> 00:34:29,860
And I was having a nervous breakdown
when I recorded it.
550
00:34:29,944 --> 00:34:33,030
He wasn't scheduled to be on the show.
They had already listened to tapes
551
00:34:33,114 --> 00:34:35,283
and talked to people at the Chronicle
and the music critics
552
00:34:35,366 --> 00:34:37,910
and they decided who was gonna be
on this special and everything.
553
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,413
But Daniel was unstoppable at that point.
554
00:34:40,496 --> 00:34:42,540
He was so full of confidence.
555
00:34:42,623 --> 00:34:44,417
He always presented himself like,
556
00:34:44,500 --> 00:34:46,669
"I am a very incredible, extraordinary
human being
557
00:34:46,752 --> 00:34:49,255
"and you're gonna be really happy
you listened to this."
558
00:34:49,672 --> 00:34:53,676
How you doing? We are having
a casual conversation on national TV.
559
00:34:53,801 --> 00:34:55,761
Daniel is on MTV.
560
00:34:56,762 --> 00:34:59,890
You know, out of nowhere,
from my point of view. (CHUCKLES)
561
00:35:00,182 --> 00:35:03,561
And he's on MTV
and I actually do get to see it.
562
00:35:03,853 --> 00:35:07,148
And, uh, he says to me...
563
00:35:07,356 --> 00:35:10,401
This is to David Thornberry
from Daniel Johnston.
564
00:35:10,484 --> 00:35:14,613
And, Dave, here I am on MTV,
holding up my tape, Hi, How Are You.
565
00:35:14,697 --> 00:35:17,116
And they're recording me tonight.
I'm on MTV.
566
00:35:17,199 --> 00:35:19,577
Remember when we used to watch MTV
back home?
567
00:35:19,660 --> 00:35:21,454
Look, I'm on MTV, David.
568
00:35:21,537 --> 00:35:23,706
And that was his dream. I mean,
literally, that's what he wanted to do,
569
00:35:23,789 --> 00:35:24,874
is be on MTV.
570
00:35:25,291 --> 00:35:27,209
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
571
00:35:30,546 --> 00:35:32,173
(PLAYING GUITAR)
572
00:35:34,133 --> 00:35:35,760
(PEOPLE WHISTLING)
573
00:35:44,810 --> 00:35:47,563
(SINGING) When I was out in San Marcos
574
00:35:47,897 --> 00:35:50,358
A year ago today
575
00:35:50,941 --> 00:35:54,570
They probably would've put me in a home
576
00:35:55,946 --> 00:36:01,369
But I threw all my belongings
into a garbage bag
577
00:36:01,869 --> 00:36:06,082
And out into the worldness I did roam
578
00:36:06,999 --> 00:36:11,921
My hopes lay shattered
like a mirror on the floor
579
00:36:12,254 --> 00:36:17,093
I see myself and I looked really scattered
580
00:36:18,094 --> 00:36:23,891
But I lived my broken dreams
581
00:36:24,809 --> 00:36:27,853
BRIAN: He always knew where to be
at any given moment
582
00:36:27,937 --> 00:36:30,856
and while this was being filmed
it was, like, MTV...
583
00:36:30,940 --> 00:36:32,775
He knew MTV is here in town.
584
00:36:32,858 --> 00:36:35,444
And by far he became one of the
most memorable things from the show
585
00:36:35,528 --> 00:36:38,447
and he basically
just scammed his way into it.
586
00:36:39,448 --> 00:36:41,909
(SINGING) The wildest summer
587
00:36:42,493 --> 00:36:44,578
that I ever knew
588
00:36:44,662 --> 00:36:49,125
I had a flat tire down memory lane
589
00:36:50,292 --> 00:36:52,628
But I came back
590
00:36:52,711 --> 00:36:55,464
after five months and a half
591
00:36:55,881 --> 00:37:00,177
And now I'm just trying to explain
592
00:37:01,262 --> 00:37:03,764
And now I'm here
593
00:37:03,848 --> 00:37:06,559
And here I stand
594
00:37:07,059 --> 00:37:09,270
With a sweet angel
595
00:37:09,770 --> 00:37:11,981
holding my hand
596
00:37:13,816 --> 00:37:18,612
I lived my broken dreams
597
00:37:19,155 --> 00:37:21,115
(PEOPLE WHOOPING)
598
00:37:26,036 --> 00:37:28,330
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
599
00:37:31,750 --> 00:37:33,586
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
600
00:37:42,303 --> 00:37:44,805
LOUIS: Instantly McDonald's
expands his hours to, like,
601
00:37:44,889 --> 00:37:47,141
20 or 30 hours a week.
They give him more shifts.
602
00:37:47,224 --> 00:37:49,852
Not because he's doing anything,
but because he's become a star.
603
00:37:49,935 --> 00:37:52,021
And whoever the manager is,
thinks this is entertaining.
604
00:37:52,104 --> 00:37:54,106
And then the other weird thing
that begins happening is,
605
00:37:54,190 --> 00:37:55,399
there's all this interest in Daniel.
606
00:37:55,483 --> 00:37:58,569
So you hear record companies are calling
McDonald's 'cause that's the only way
607
00:37:58,652 --> 00:38:00,279
you can call Daniel.
Daniel doesn't have a phone.
608
00:38:00,362 --> 00:38:03,282
So SPIN is calling McDonald's
and music magazines...
609
00:38:03,365 --> 00:38:04,658
So you get all these calls...
610
00:38:04,742 --> 00:38:06,577
And in the beginning I think
the McDonald's people
611
00:38:06,660 --> 00:38:08,204
were really kind of entertained by this.
612
00:38:08,287 --> 00:38:11,248
But after a while, when you'd call
to talk to Daniel, they were not happy.
613
00:38:11,332 --> 00:38:12,833
They had hamburgers to make.
614
00:38:13,334 --> 00:38:16,795
And then in 1986, he wins a bunch
of awards in the Austin Music Awards.
615
00:38:16,879 --> 00:38:20,090
He wins Songwriter of the Year and
Best Folk Act, which is very controversial
616
00:38:20,174 --> 00:38:22,760
and, of course, it goes to Daniel's head
in new and different ways.
617
00:38:22,843 --> 00:38:26,305
In a town with a lot of singer/songwriters
and a lot of folkies,
618
00:38:26,388 --> 00:38:28,224
who can play guitar... (LAUGHS)
619
00:38:28,307 --> 00:38:30,684
...that might've not gone over too well
with some people.
620
00:38:30,768 --> 00:38:34,396
(DANIEL SINGING) He was smiling through
his own personal hell
621
00:38:34,939 --> 00:38:37,816
Dropped his last dime in a wishing well
622
00:38:37,900 --> 00:38:41,695
But he was hoping to close and then he fell
623
00:38:41,779 --> 00:38:46,408
Now he's Casper the friendly ghost
624
00:38:47,076 --> 00:38:50,829
In the spring of 1986
I started helping Daniel.
625
00:38:50,913 --> 00:38:53,999
The first thing I did was set up
his publishing company with Bug Music.
626
00:38:54,083 --> 00:38:57,336
I knew his music was great, but I felt
like for him to actually make a living,
627
00:38:57,419 --> 00:38:59,672
he would be better off if other,
more well-known artists
628
00:38:59,755 --> 00:39:01,173
were to cover his material.
629
00:39:01,257 --> 00:39:04,969
(SINGING) He was always polite
to the people who'd tell him
630
00:39:05,177 --> 00:39:08,180
That he was nothing but a lazy bum
631
00:39:08,264 --> 00:39:11,684
But goodbye to them he had to go
632
00:39:11,767 --> 00:39:14,520
Now he's Casper
633
00:39:15,020 --> 00:39:17,523
The friendly ghost
634
00:39:18,774 --> 00:39:21,110
I thought that he was almost angelic.
635
00:39:21,694 --> 00:39:24,071
And then I got to know him better.
636
00:39:24,238 --> 00:39:26,073
And we started being really close friends.
637
00:39:26,156 --> 00:39:28,701
And for a little while I was his "girlfriend."
638
00:39:28,784 --> 00:39:31,412
And because he was very religious,
639
00:39:31,495 --> 00:39:33,706
this was a very chaste relationship.
640
00:39:33,789 --> 00:39:36,375
But even within the context of that,
641
00:39:37,459 --> 00:39:40,713
it was undeniable
after maybe one or two weeks
642
00:39:40,796 --> 00:39:44,300
that something was dreadfully wrong
with him.
643
00:39:45,050 --> 00:39:49,930
Something that wasn't angelic and pure
and naive and innocent and beautiful.
644
00:39:50,431 --> 00:39:54,560
So I realized I can't let him
keep on thinking that I'm his girlfriend
645
00:39:54,643 --> 00:39:59,148
because his parents came to visit him
and he introduced me as his fiancée.
646
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:01,942
I realized that I was going to have to say,
647
00:40:02,026 --> 00:40:05,946
"Daniel, we're not going out anymore,
you know.
648
00:40:06,030 --> 00:40:07,698
"We're just friends."
649
00:40:07,781 --> 00:40:12,411
And I essentially spent,
oh, the entire summer reminding him.
650
00:40:13,287 --> 00:40:14,705
We broke up.
651
00:40:15,956 --> 00:40:17,166
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
652
00:40:33,766 --> 00:40:36,018
DANIEL: Now you're filming?
RANDY KEMPER: Dan, this is so wild.
653
00:40:36,101 --> 00:40:39,021
JEFF: Daniel began hanging out
with his manager, Randy Kemper.
654
00:40:39,104 --> 00:40:40,814
And was smoking a lot of marijuana.
655
00:40:40,898 --> 00:40:42,941
And he would not perform live.
656
00:40:43,025 --> 00:40:45,861
Everybody was bugging him to play live,
but he just didn't want to.
657
00:40:45,944 --> 00:40:47,613
There were some changes in his behavior
658
00:40:47,696 --> 00:40:49,948
and we didn't really quite know
what was going on with him.
659
00:40:50,032 --> 00:40:53,452
RANDY: You know, when you do stuff
like that, you throw me off, Daniel.
660
00:40:53,535 --> 00:40:56,705
KATHY: I always kind of imagined
Daniel performing like Elton John
661
00:40:56,789 --> 00:40:58,916
with costume changes and Rockettes
662
00:40:58,999 --> 00:41:02,336
and a big grand piano.
Just the kind of show that's just ridiculous.
663
00:41:02,419 --> 00:41:05,089
Almost like Andy Kaufman-esque
kind of thing.
664
00:41:05,172 --> 00:41:07,508
But unfortunately,
he had his mental breakdown.
665
00:41:07,966 --> 00:41:10,135
(METAL MUSIC PLAYING)
666
00:41:17,309 --> 00:41:18,852
LOUIS: So he goes to
a Butthole Surfers show
667
00:41:18,936 --> 00:41:20,729
and somebody there gives him a hit of acid.
668
00:41:20,813 --> 00:41:22,898
And the trip really begins
to change everything.
669
00:41:22,981 --> 00:41:25,984
Again, one of the classic scenarios
of Daniel's life
670
00:41:26,068 --> 00:41:28,570
is whenever anything
starts getting really good,
671
00:41:28,654 --> 00:41:30,572
you know something really ugly
is gonna happen.
672
00:41:30,906 --> 00:41:32,449
(MECHANICAL WHIRRING)
673
00:41:32,825 --> 00:41:33,951
(GROANS)
674
00:41:35,911 --> 00:41:40,290
GIBBY HAYNES: The night in question
is September 11, 1986
675
00:41:40,874 --> 00:41:46,713
on which Daniel had a bad experience, uh,
676
00:41:47,673 --> 00:41:50,759
and I guess he was under the influence
677
00:41:50,843 --> 00:41:53,595
of some sort of psychoactive substance.
678
00:42:00,269 --> 00:42:02,104
(WHIRRING)
679
00:42:03,772 --> 00:42:07,359
You know, I remember a little bit
about seeing Daniel that night.
680
00:42:07,443 --> 00:42:10,737
I remember him being
sort of difficult to deal with.
681
00:42:11,071 --> 00:42:12,448
And then
682
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:15,951
we had our thing going on and
683
00:42:18,454 --> 00:42:20,747
everybody started saying,
"Daniel's freaked out.
684
00:42:20,831 --> 00:42:22,583
"Daniel's freaked out. Daniel's freaked out."
685
00:42:22,958 --> 00:42:25,752
(LAUGHING)
I'm coming back to tell you, man.
686
00:42:26,128 --> 00:42:29,715
I'm serious like Billy Graham.
Nothing like Billy Graham.
687
00:42:29,798 --> 00:42:33,177
Or nothing like that. Or nothing like nobody
you ever heard tell about nothing.
688
00:42:33,260 --> 00:42:36,680
But I'm coming back and I'm telling you
there's a supernatural world.
689
00:42:36,763 --> 00:42:39,391
There's a supernatural world and
690
00:42:39,475 --> 00:42:42,728
Gibby, Gibby knows about it.
691
00:42:42,895 --> 00:42:44,354
(JEFF FEUERZEIG SPEAKING)
692
00:42:45,147 --> 00:42:47,691
(CHUCKLING) No. I didn't give him any LSD.
693
00:42:49,151 --> 00:42:52,779
I think at that point it was pretty much
known that he was not necessarily
694
00:42:52,863 --> 00:42:57,409
"an" unstable character,
but slightly unstable "of" character.
695
00:42:58,076 --> 00:43:02,456
So that's the kind of person you really
wouldn't want to engage in the, uh...
696
00:43:03,540 --> 00:43:05,209
In the LSD experience.
697
00:43:10,130 --> 00:43:12,132
RANDY: Are you Daniel Johnston?
698
00:43:12,424 --> 00:43:14,635
I used to be Daniel Johnston.
699
00:43:15,135 --> 00:43:16,595
(LAUGHING)
700
00:43:16,678 --> 00:43:18,180
RANDY: And who are you now?
701
00:43:20,474 --> 00:43:23,101
You know, I don't know. I don't know.
702
00:43:23,310 --> 00:43:24,853
(LAUGHING)
703
00:43:25,145 --> 00:43:26,772
JEFF: In December of 1986,
704
00:43:26,855 --> 00:43:31,151
Daniel was taking a lot of acid
and was just not himself.
705
00:43:31,235 --> 00:43:33,153
Was very, very delusional.
706
00:43:33,237 --> 00:43:37,783
And there was one violent incident
with his manager in which he attacked him
707
00:43:37,866 --> 00:43:40,744
and put him in the hospital
with a concussion.
708
00:43:40,827 --> 00:43:42,496
-(SIRENS BLARING)
-(INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER)
709
00:43:42,663 --> 00:43:44,373
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
710
00:43:49,211 --> 00:43:52,339
Dan was imagining all kinds of things
711
00:43:52,422 --> 00:43:54,925
and he thought of himself as God's man
712
00:43:55,008 --> 00:43:58,637
to straighten things up
and so caused a lot of trouble.
713
00:43:58,971 --> 00:44:01,014
All the family met together for Christmas.
714
00:44:01,098 --> 00:44:03,976
Mom and Dad couldn't come that year
and so we had decided
715
00:44:04,059 --> 00:44:07,813
since all of the siblings were in Texas, that
we would get together and have Christmas.
716
00:44:07,896 --> 00:44:10,941
So we're all making these Christmas
ornaments and his Christmas ornament
717
00:44:11,024 --> 00:44:12,859
is this black number nine.
718
00:44:12,943 --> 00:44:15,570
We asked and said, "Dan, that's not
an appropriate Christmas symbol.
719
00:44:15,654 --> 00:44:18,156
"What does that mean?
And why are you doing black?
720
00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:19,992
"That's not gonna look good
hanging on the tree."
721
00:44:20,075 --> 00:44:22,703
DICK: I remember staring at him
while we were talking and saying,
722
00:44:22,786 --> 00:44:25,330
"That doesn't even look like Dan."
723
00:44:25,414 --> 00:44:28,166
His face doesn't look like Dan to me.
724
00:44:28,250 --> 00:44:30,877
He was in some kind of manic state.
725
00:44:30,961 --> 00:44:35,257
We get up for a family portrait and he would
hang a Beatles album on a Christmas tree.
726
00:44:35,340 --> 00:44:38,218
Well, I went to take it down off the tree
and he came for me.
727
00:44:38,302 --> 00:44:40,012
And he had super strength.
728
00:44:40,095 --> 00:44:43,640
And in just a very brief struggle,
he broke my rib.
729
00:44:44,141 --> 00:44:46,518
So they were rolling around on the floor
730
00:44:46,601 --> 00:44:48,103
and it was just
731
00:44:48,603 --> 00:44:51,189
not the way our Christmas gatherings
usually are.
732
00:44:51,273 --> 00:44:53,692
He was talking in different voices
733
00:44:53,775 --> 00:44:57,738
and was accusing us of
teaching the children Satanist practice.
734
00:44:57,821 --> 00:45:00,741
And that whole night we didn't want
to go to sleep because if he believed
735
00:45:00,824 --> 00:45:03,368
we were Satanists,
he might try to do something to harm us
736
00:45:03,452 --> 00:45:06,038
if he's the "Hero of Good" or something.
737
00:45:06,121 --> 00:45:10,459
DICK: He decided to make a dash to go up to
the attic space where the kids were playing.
738
00:45:10,542 --> 00:45:13,545
And at that point, Sally went to the phone
and called the police.
739
00:45:13,628 --> 00:45:16,548
SALLY: We had to call
for some assistance and
740
00:45:17,591 --> 00:45:20,886
remove him from the house.
And my husband took him to the bus station
741
00:45:20,969 --> 00:45:23,138
and then stayed and watched
to make sure he got on it,
742
00:45:23,221 --> 00:45:24,681
so that we would all feel safe.
743
00:45:24,765 --> 00:45:27,351
DICK: I remember going upstairs with Margie
744
00:45:28,143 --> 00:45:31,730
and laying down on the bed
and we just both wept
745
00:45:31,813 --> 00:45:34,900
like he was dead, you know.
Because we didn't know who he was.
746
00:45:34,983 --> 00:45:38,153
(DANIEL SINGING)
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
747
00:45:38,528 --> 00:45:42,491
You'll go down in history
748
00:45:42,574 --> 00:45:43,950
Yeah!
749
00:45:44,993 --> 00:45:47,287
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
750
00:46:03,303 --> 00:46:05,722
I'm lying in bed. I have pneumonia.
751
00:46:05,806 --> 00:46:09,267
And the phone rings and I have like a
103 temperature and the phone rings
752
00:46:09,351 --> 00:46:12,521
and somebody says,
"Do you know a Daniel Johnston?"
753
00:46:12,604 --> 00:46:14,106
I go, "Yeah, Daniel and I are friends."
754
00:46:14,189 --> 00:46:16,108
He goes,
"Well, I think maybe you should come here."
755
00:46:16,191 --> 00:46:18,110
I go,
"Well, I really don't think I should. I'm sick."
756
00:46:18,193 --> 00:46:19,986
"No. I really, really think
you should come here."
757
00:46:21,363 --> 00:46:24,366
I get to campus.
I have a 103 degrees temperature.
758
00:46:24,449 --> 00:46:27,035
It's 1986 and it's Christmas,
so there's nothing there.
759
00:46:27,119 --> 00:46:28,954
There's no cars. There's no people.
760
00:46:29,037 --> 00:46:32,874
This campus is completely empty.
It's weird. It's eerie. It's quiet.
761
00:46:32,958 --> 00:46:36,419
These people I don't know are
leading me down and we start walking down
762
00:46:36,503 --> 00:46:39,631
to go towards the river.
And we look over and there's the water.
763
00:46:39,714 --> 00:46:41,800
And there standing
in the middle of the water is Daniel.
764
00:46:41,883 --> 00:46:43,885
And he's standing in the water,
he's about knee-deep,
765
00:46:43,969 --> 00:46:47,430
splashing the water, and he's looking at us,
his eyes are like white.
766
00:46:47,514 --> 00:46:48,974
At one point he looks up and starts singing,
767
00:46:49,057 --> 00:46:51,476
(SINGING) Running water, running water
768
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:54,146
And then he's preaching.
And he's talking about baptism.
769
00:46:54,229 --> 00:46:56,565
And he's talking about evil.
He's really whacked.
770
00:46:56,648 --> 00:46:59,276
We're trying to talk him
into coming onto the shore.
771
00:46:59,359 --> 00:47:01,736
It's going on and on and on
and it's getting real weird.
772
00:47:01,820 --> 00:47:03,572
- All of a sudden, we look over there.
-(SIREN WAILING)
773
00:47:03,655 --> 00:47:05,240
A couple of police cars have pulled up.
774
00:47:05,365 --> 00:47:07,033
They forced me out, they came...
775
00:47:07,117 --> 00:47:08,910
People were... People were afraid.
776
00:47:08,994 --> 00:47:10,662
They were afraid to come up to me.
777
00:47:10,745 --> 00:47:13,373
They didn't want me
to splash them with water.
778
00:47:13,498 --> 00:47:16,334
What was I doing down there?
(CHUCKLING) What was going on?
779
00:47:16,418 --> 00:47:18,420
I knew exactly what was going on.
780
00:47:18,503 --> 00:47:21,381
I wanted to take my life
only a few nights before.
781
00:47:21,464 --> 00:47:24,759
I hit my best friend over the head
with a lead pipe.
782
00:47:24,968 --> 00:47:26,887
I thought there was nowhere to go.
783
00:47:26,970 --> 00:47:30,265
I thought the military takeover
was going to happen over Christmas time.
784
00:47:30,348 --> 00:47:32,684
But it didn't. You know what I mean?
785
00:47:33,643 --> 00:47:36,479
I thought, I knew, I saw. I knew, I saw.
786
00:47:36,563 --> 00:47:38,857
I went inside the building of U.T.
787
00:47:38,940 --> 00:47:41,443
I saw... I saw the things, the programming,
788
00:47:41,526 --> 00:47:45,322
the confusion, the Coke, Coca-Cola,
789
00:47:45,405 --> 00:47:48,575
the Snickers, all the candy,
790
00:47:48,658 --> 00:47:53,205
and everything being used as a drug,
the confusion, the mind control,
791
00:47:53,288 --> 00:47:56,625
spiritualism, the cultural upheaval, flip.
792
00:47:56,875 --> 00:47:59,544
Man, yes, it's really happening.
They were really doing it, man.
793
00:47:59,628 --> 00:48:03,298
I'm talking, if you don't know about it.
I'm talking like Nazi Germany.
794
00:48:03,506 --> 00:48:04,883
All great artists are crazy,
795
00:48:04,966 --> 00:48:08,094
but there's a difference between
the abstract great artist being crazy
796
00:48:08,178 --> 00:48:11,097
and this person doing damage to you
or to himself,
797
00:48:11,181 --> 00:48:13,183
and how involved do you want to be?
798
00:48:14,184 --> 00:48:15,894
We'd spent our whole lives,
we're those kind of people
799
00:48:15,977 --> 00:48:17,562
who love the notion of the crazy artist.
800
00:48:17,646 --> 00:48:18,980
You know, Van Gogh cutting off his ear.
801
00:48:19,064 --> 00:48:21,524
And we've read those books
and we've, you know, collected the art
802
00:48:21,608 --> 00:48:23,985
and we've seen the movies
and we really loved the crazy people
803
00:48:24,069 --> 00:48:25,278
because they were the pure people.
804
00:48:25,362 --> 00:48:27,572
You know, they didn't have
any commercial sense.
805
00:48:27,656 --> 00:48:29,616
And yet, he was a real sick person.
806
00:48:29,699 --> 00:48:32,535
And it was really, "What are we gonna do?"
807
00:48:32,911 --> 00:48:35,038
And so, I mean, we do
the most pedestrian thing possible.
808
00:48:35,121 --> 00:48:36,081
We commit him.
809
00:48:36,164 --> 00:48:38,625
And you actually felt, I mean,
a certain amount of guilt.
810
00:48:38,708 --> 00:48:41,294
I mean, it was like,
if I was around Van Gogh...
811
00:48:41,378 --> 00:48:43,255
You know, I've always had contempt
for those people
812
00:48:43,338 --> 00:48:44,673
who didn't understand genius,
813
00:48:44,756 --> 00:48:46,758
and here I am given my shot
and what I'm saying is,
814
00:48:46,841 --> 00:48:49,886
please put him in the hospital 'cause
we don't want to have to deal with him.
815
00:48:49,970 --> 00:48:51,054
We don't know what to do.
816
00:48:51,137 --> 00:48:53,223
When I went to see him in the hospital,
they wanted to know
817
00:48:53,306 --> 00:48:54,891
what my relationship with Daniel was.
818
00:48:54,975 --> 00:48:57,310
And I had been working informally
as his publicist.
819
00:48:57,394 --> 00:49:00,772
But I needed to tell them something
a little better than that.
820
00:49:00,855 --> 00:49:02,440
And I assumed that Randy Kemper,
821
00:49:02,524 --> 00:49:05,277
after having been beat over the head
with a lead pipe
822
00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:07,445
did not want to continue managing Daniel.
823
00:49:07,529 --> 00:49:09,531
So I said I was his manager.
824
00:49:10,657 --> 00:49:12,325
I helped get Daniel out of the hospital
825
00:49:12,409 --> 00:49:14,953
because I didn't fully understand
why he was there.
826
00:49:15,036 --> 00:49:17,080
All I knew was he needed to get out of there.
827
00:49:17,163 --> 00:49:20,458
And as soon as I did get him out, I began
hearing from other people asking me,
828
00:49:20,542 --> 00:49:22,293
Why did I do that.
829
00:49:22,377 --> 00:49:24,295
But it seemed like he was doing
well enough.
830
00:49:24,379 --> 00:49:25,797
He was back in his home.
831
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:29,676
And it seemed like everything was okay,
although it was very borderline.
832
00:49:30,093 --> 00:49:32,512
It's like true in science fiction and
833
00:49:32,595 --> 00:49:35,265
it's the new supernatural age,
834
00:49:35,598 --> 00:49:37,434
you know, they spoke of 'm Revelations.
835
00:49:37,517 --> 00:49:40,353
And Number nine, number nine,
The Beatles' song, Number nine.
836
00:49:40,437 --> 00:49:43,189
JEFF: He was obsessed
with the Devil and Satan.
837
00:49:43,273 --> 00:49:45,817
DANIEL: Do not get that number, 6-6-6.
838
00:49:45,942 --> 00:49:49,571
Do not get 6-6-6 imprinted on your hand.
839
00:49:49,779 --> 00:49:52,282
JEFF: I had never really heard him
talk about the Devil before,
840
00:49:52,365 --> 00:49:55,326
and he became so obsessed
that it was all he could talk about.
841
00:49:55,410 --> 00:49:58,872
You must not give in to the Devil,
ladies and gentlemen.
842
00:49:59,164 --> 00:50:02,250
The world in confusion,
ladies and gentlemen.
843
00:50:02,876 --> 00:50:04,836
Somebody is manufacturing these.
844
00:50:04,919 --> 00:50:06,546
They're spreading those around.
845
00:50:06,629 --> 00:50:08,506
They might be mounting them up around.
846
00:50:08,590 --> 00:50:11,092
(CHUCKLING)
Evil, ladies and gentlemen, evil.
847
00:50:11,593 --> 00:50:13,970
JEFF: Over the next few days,
he began to throw
848
00:50:14,054 --> 00:50:15,847
literally everything he owned away.
849
00:50:15,930 --> 00:50:17,557
He threw all his drawings away.
850
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:19,225
He threw master tapes away.
851
00:50:19,309 --> 00:50:21,603
And he was down to just
three or four possessions
852
00:50:21,686 --> 00:50:23,188
the last time I went to his apartment.
853
00:50:23,271 --> 00:50:25,023
He still had his tape deck.
854
00:50:25,106 --> 00:50:28,193
He still had his guitar
and maybe one or two other things.
855
00:50:28,276 --> 00:50:30,070
And as soon as I saw this,
856
00:50:30,153 --> 00:50:33,073
my immediate fear was that
he's gonna kill himself.
857
00:50:33,156 --> 00:50:35,575
It's better to die, ladies and gentlemen.
858
00:50:35,658 --> 00:50:37,243
And live forever.
859
00:50:39,370 --> 00:50:40,955
And that is what I intend to do.
860
00:50:41,039 --> 00:50:44,000
JEFF: I went home that night,
not knowing what to do.
861
00:50:44,084 --> 00:50:46,711
DANIEL: The world is turning to hell.
862
00:50:46,795 --> 00:50:49,714
JEFF: I did not know very much
about his relationship with his family,
863
00:50:49,798 --> 00:50:51,466
but I figured they need to know this.
864
00:50:51,549 --> 00:50:53,510
And I called his father that night
865
00:50:53,593 --> 00:50:56,471
and he was in Austin within 24 hours.
866
00:50:57,972 --> 00:51:00,934
He was thin as a rail and losing weight
867
00:51:01,017 --> 00:51:03,311
and, uh, all kinds of things.
868
00:51:03,561 --> 00:51:05,438
His depression finally caught up with him.
869
00:51:06,189 --> 00:51:07,315
Evil!
870
00:51:09,859 --> 00:51:12,112
BILL: Because he... He was losing it.
871
00:51:12,403 --> 00:51:13,822
Number nine.
872
00:51:14,447 --> 00:51:16,783
JEFF: When Daniel's father
took him back to West Virginia,
873
00:51:16,866 --> 00:51:18,326
Daniel announced his retirement.
874
00:51:18,409 --> 00:51:21,454
And instantly became a living legend
in Austin.
875
00:51:21,663 --> 00:51:25,333
He pretty much spent the entire year of 1987
on medication.
876
00:51:25,583 --> 00:51:27,001
(FEMALE INTERVIEWER SPEAKING)
877
00:51:28,670 --> 00:51:30,213
(FEMALE INTERVIEWER SPEAKING)
878
00:51:32,132 --> 00:51:33,174
(FEMALE INTERVIEWER SPEAKING)
879
00:51:33,258 --> 00:51:34,509
A little tired.
880
00:51:40,223 --> 00:51:43,685
BILL: Haldol is a control drug,
and at times he was a vegetable.
881
00:51:43,893 --> 00:51:47,063
MABEL: And we finally talked
to the psychiatrist
882
00:51:47,147 --> 00:51:49,440
and she said she would have
883
00:51:49,524 --> 00:51:51,943
a psychiatrist examine him.
884
00:51:52,026 --> 00:51:55,280
BILL: They wire your brain up and make sure
you got what your brain activity is,
885
00:51:55,363 --> 00:51:57,365
and check if there is any brain damage
or anything.
886
00:51:57,448 --> 00:51:58,741
And he checked out okay.
887
00:51:58,825 --> 00:52:02,453
But we took him
to the University of Pittsburgh...
888
00:52:02,537 --> 00:52:03,621
MABEL: Psychiatric Institute.
889
00:52:03,705 --> 00:52:07,041
BILL: They had seven people interview him
for a whole day.
890
00:52:09,127 --> 00:52:11,588
The reason, um...
891
00:52:12,380 --> 00:52:15,675
- They said he's on the wrong medicine.
- Yeah.
892
00:52:16,050 --> 00:52:18,469
BILL: Every medicine he reacted different to.
893
00:52:18,553 --> 00:52:21,890
And we kept trying, and we tried,
and tried different ones.
894
00:52:24,601 --> 00:52:26,227
(FEMALE INTERVIEWER SPEAKING)
895
00:52:31,399 --> 00:52:33,318
(SINGING)
896
00:52:45,830 --> 00:52:48,333
JEFF: He literally spent
the entire year in bed.
897
00:52:48,416 --> 00:52:50,543
He calls it his "lost year."
898
00:52:51,085 --> 00:52:54,505
During this period, I was continuing
to work on building his relationships
899
00:52:54,589 --> 00:52:57,926
with bands like Sonic Youth
and Jad Fair of Half Japanese.
900
00:52:58,009 --> 00:53:00,470
I had become friends
with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth.
901
00:53:00,553 --> 00:53:03,181
Steve turned a lot of people on
to Daniel's music.
902
00:53:03,264 --> 00:53:06,184
And as Daniel finally started
to show some improvement,
903
00:53:06,267 --> 00:53:08,311
Steve invited him to New York City
904
00:53:08,394 --> 00:53:11,940
to check out a recording studio,
just basically to hang out a little bit,
905
00:53:12,023 --> 00:53:13,483
get to know each other and have some fun.
906
00:53:13,566 --> 00:53:15,652
DANIEL: We're on our way to the studio.
907
00:53:15,777 --> 00:53:18,738
JEFF: One day he's scheduled to do
some recording at Noise New York,
908
00:53:18,821 --> 00:53:20,823
with Steve and Lee from Sonic Youth.
909
00:53:20,907 --> 00:53:23,201
And he's just as happy as can be,
joking around,
910
00:53:23,284 --> 00:53:26,120
talking about making movies.
He says he's gonna make a movie someday
911
00:53:26,204 --> 00:53:27,747
and all he has to do is act naturally.
912
00:53:28,039 --> 00:53:29,582
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
913
00:53:40,593 --> 00:53:44,180
JEFF: He's there to become famous.
That is his one and only goal in his mind.
914
00:53:44,263 --> 00:53:46,140
How has New York been
for the last two days?
915
00:53:46,224 --> 00:53:47,558
It's the greatest city on the Earth.
916
00:53:47,642 --> 00:53:51,312
- This is day number three for you here.
- Yeah, it's happening for sure.
917
00:53:51,646 --> 00:53:54,607
If I can make it here,
I can make it anywhere, right?
918
00:53:54,691 --> 00:53:55,900
STEVE SHELLEY: That's what they say.
919
00:53:55,984 --> 00:53:57,819
JEFF: There were two
primary goals of this trip.
920
00:53:57,902 --> 00:54:00,488
One was to meet Kramer and check out
921
00:54:00,571 --> 00:54:02,490
the Noise New York recording studio,
922
00:54:02,573 --> 00:54:04,701
with the possibility of recording
for Shimmy Disc.
923
00:54:04,784 --> 00:54:07,704
And the other was to do some recording
with Moe Tucker,
924
00:54:07,787 --> 00:54:09,205
the drummer for The Velvet Underground.
925
00:54:09,288 --> 00:54:11,916
This session was put together by Jad Fair.
926
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:15,586
And this would allow Daniel to meet Jad
for the first time.
927
00:54:15,670 --> 00:54:17,588
(MUSIC PLAYING)
928
00:54:26,764 --> 00:54:30,226
As Daniel's manager, I'm in touch
with Steve Shelley on a nightly basis.
929
00:54:30,309 --> 00:54:34,272
And all of a sudden, one night I get a call
that Daniel has been arrested that clay.
930
00:54:34,355 --> 00:54:37,650
It seems that they decided to take him
to the Statue of Liberty.
931
00:54:37,734 --> 00:54:39,986
And while Daniel was touring
the Statue of Liberty,
932
00:54:40,069 --> 00:54:41,779
like any tourist would want to,
933
00:54:41,863 --> 00:54:45,033
he apparently was drawing graffiti
inside the stairwell.
934
00:54:45,116 --> 00:54:48,244
Christian fish.
Hundreds of them, from what I understand.
935
00:54:48,327 --> 00:54:51,122
I guess it's the anti-Satan symbol. Um...
936
00:54:53,249 --> 00:54:54,375
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
937
00:54:54,459 --> 00:54:55,460
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
938
00:54:55,543 --> 00:54:56,836
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
939
00:55:03,342 --> 00:55:04,302
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
940
00:55:04,385 --> 00:55:06,095
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
941
00:55:07,263 --> 00:55:08,264
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
942
00:55:08,347 --> 00:55:09,891
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
943
00:55:10,558 --> 00:55:14,145
JEFF: A couple days after that,
there's a bizarre gig at Pier Platters.
944
00:55:14,228 --> 00:55:16,981
I say bizarre because
he's proselytizing the audience.
945
00:55:17,065 --> 00:55:19,734
Trying to force his religious beliefs
on the audience, basically.
946
00:55:19,817 --> 00:55:22,028
Jesus Christ is number seven.
947
00:55:22,361 --> 00:55:24,280
Satan is number six.
948
00:55:24,739 --> 00:55:26,908
Number eight is eternal death.
949
00:55:27,033 --> 00:55:30,203
And number nine, number nine,
number nine,
950
00:55:30,995 --> 00:55:32,747
is the human number.
951
00:55:34,457 --> 00:55:37,710
Remember these things and don't listen
to the lies that people will tell you.
952
00:55:37,794 --> 00:55:39,837
Number seven is Jesus Christ.
953
00:55:39,921 --> 00:55:41,923
JEFF: When Daniel performed
at Pier Platters,
954
00:55:42,006 --> 00:55:45,968
it was like the cream of the crop
of the New York underground music scene.
955
00:55:46,052 --> 00:55:50,014
During the song Funeral Home, he actually
gets the audience to sing along with him.
956
00:55:50,098 --> 00:55:53,851
So you've got everybody singing along
about going to the funeral home and dying.
957
00:55:53,935 --> 00:55:57,230
(SINGING) I'm going to the funeral
and I'm never coming back
958
00:55:57,313 --> 00:55:59,565
Sing along with us, won't you?
959
00:56:01,109 --> 00:56:03,528
Funeral home
960
00:56:04,112 --> 00:56:05,571
(ALL SINGING) Funeral home
961
00:56:05,655 --> 00:56:06,656
Louder
962
00:56:07,198 --> 00:56:12,203
Going to that funeral home
963
00:56:13,329 --> 00:56:16,040
Got me a coffin
964
00:56:16,124 --> 00:56:19,127
shiny and black
965
00:56:19,377 --> 00:56:22,213
I'm going to the funeral
966
00:56:22,296 --> 00:56:26,801
and I'm never coming back
967
00:56:27,426 --> 00:56:30,096
Got me a coffin
968
00:56:30,179 --> 00:56:32,640
shiny and black
969
00:56:33,641 --> 00:56:36,394
I'm going to the funeral
970
00:56:36,477 --> 00:56:40,398
and I'm never coming back
971
00:56:40,481 --> 00:56:41,566
(AUDIENCE CLAPPING)
972
00:56:41,649 --> 00:56:43,442
Funeral home
973
00:56:44,485 --> 00:56:46,654
Funeral home
974
00:56:47,446 --> 00:56:49,782
Funeral home
975
00:56:50,992 --> 00:56:53,452
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
976
00:56:54,162 --> 00:56:58,374
JEFF: It became more and more
fanatically religious as the show went on.
977
00:56:58,749 --> 00:57:02,086
He has a bit of a breakdown,
starts crying at one point,
978
00:57:02,170 --> 00:57:04,589
and is just obviously right on the edge.
979
00:57:04,672 --> 00:57:07,466
And it was my belief
and the belief of others around him
980
00:57:07,550 --> 00:57:10,261
that things were getting
a little bit out of control.
981
00:57:10,344 --> 00:57:15,349
(SINGING) You'll be called to meet your God
982
00:57:16,893 --> 00:57:19,353
Careless Soul
983
00:57:20,396 --> 00:57:23,316
Oh, heed the warning
984
00:57:24,192 --> 00:57:29,739
For your life will soon be gone
985
00:57:30,156 --> 00:57:33,159
JEFF: The concert made everyone
feel very awkward.
986
00:57:33,242 --> 00:57:36,162
And after the show,
walking back to Steve's place,
987
00:57:36,245 --> 00:57:38,414
Daniel and Steve had a bit of a falling out.
988
00:57:38,539 --> 00:57:40,333
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
989
00:57:41,709 --> 00:57:42,877
(STEVE SPEAKING)
990
00:57:44,420 --> 00:57:45,546
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
991
00:57:46,881 --> 00:57:47,882
(STEVE SPEAKING)
992
00:57:48,007 --> 00:57:49,258
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
993
00:57:49,425 --> 00:57:51,010
(STEVE SPEAKING)
994
00:57:51,969 --> 00:57:54,472
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
995
00:58:01,562 --> 00:58:06,067
He told Kramer that if he can't get anywhere,
he was gonna sleep in my hallway.
996
00:58:06,150 --> 00:58:07,652
LEE RANALDO:
Yeah, but that's just an idle threat.
997
00:58:07,735 --> 00:58:09,070
THURSTON MOORE:
When's the next train to...
998
00:58:09,153 --> 00:58:11,155
LEE: I mean, I can't imagine him
staying in the bus station,
999
00:58:11,239 --> 00:58:14,450
and actually getting on the bus
all by himself.
1000
00:58:14,742 --> 00:58:17,828
JEFF: I know the members of
Sonic Youth were looking all over for Daniel.
1001
00:58:17,912 --> 00:58:19,914
He had been spotted in various places,
1002
00:58:19,997 --> 00:58:23,834
and they just felt this responsibility
to his parents to get him home.
1003
00:58:23,918 --> 00:58:26,671
LEE: Keep an eye peeled for Daniel.
He might just be a...
1004
00:58:26,754 --> 00:58:29,006
If you see a wandering guy in white.
1005
00:58:29,090 --> 00:58:30,675
JEFF: Steve didn't really
want to deal with it.
1006
00:58:30,758 --> 00:58:33,386
So Lee and Thurston were driving around,
driving around.
1007
00:58:33,469 --> 00:58:37,265
They finally spotted him in a hotel
parking lot, I believe in Jersey.
1008
00:58:38,474 --> 00:58:39,725
THURSTON: There he is.
LEE: Really?
1009
00:58:39,809 --> 00:58:43,437
THURSTON: Yeah. He's walking over here.
LEE: Let's go get him.
1010
00:58:43,604 --> 00:58:45,564
THURSTON: Steve is totally,
totally pissed off.
1011
00:58:45,648 --> 00:58:46,691
DANIEL: He's freaked out.
1012
00:58:46,774 --> 00:58:48,609
THURSTON: Yeah, he's freaked out
and he's not gonna...
1013
00:58:48,693 --> 00:58:51,862
DANIEL: He was gonna call my parents and
my parents will put me in a mental home.
1014
00:58:51,946 --> 00:58:54,573
LEE: The best thing to do at this point,
you have a bus ticket,
1015
00:58:54,657 --> 00:58:56,492
- I think you should use it.
- DANIEL: I'm not going home.
1016
00:58:56,575 --> 00:59:00,037
I'm on a mission from God and I have
two more weeks to spend in this town.
1017
00:59:00,121 --> 00:59:03,624
LEE: The situation here for you now
is not the best that it could be.
1018
00:59:03,874 --> 00:59:07,753
And we really don't know what to do,
I mean, you're a long way from home,
1019
00:59:07,837 --> 00:59:08,838
and we don't...
1020
00:59:08,921 --> 00:59:10,214
DANIEL: Listen, I called my manager
1021
00:59:10,298 --> 00:59:12,383
and I started to talk to him
about it and was I going to...
1022
00:59:12,466 --> 00:59:13,759
LEE: Jeff?
DANIEL: Yeah, I was going to warn him
1023
00:59:13,843 --> 00:59:15,803
not to say anything to my parents.
1024
00:59:15,886 --> 00:59:18,139
I was going to say,
"if you say anything to my parents,
1025
00:59:18,222 --> 00:59:19,598
"I'm gonna fire you."
1026
00:59:19,682 --> 00:59:22,018
And I was saying,
"This is a warning and this is a threat."
1027
00:59:22,101 --> 00:59:24,103
And he says, "I don't wanna hear
any of your damn threats."
1028
00:59:24,186 --> 00:59:25,396
And he hung up on me. My manager.
1029
00:59:25,479 --> 00:59:28,357
Now, don't you see the Devil?
The Devil Satan
1030
00:59:28,566 --> 00:59:31,193
is trying to stop me
from staying in this town?
1031
00:59:31,277 --> 00:59:33,446
Don't you see how clear that is?
1032
00:59:33,529 --> 00:59:38,117
JEFF: He just would not go home
and was determined to stay in New York.
1033
00:59:38,993 --> 00:59:40,786
He ended up on the Bowery,
in a men's shelter,
1034
00:59:40,870 --> 00:59:44,081
where he was assaulted once or twice,
lost some possessions.
1035
00:59:44,332 --> 00:59:45,958
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1036
00:59:47,043 --> 00:59:49,670
JEFF: At this point,
Daniel is homeless and hungry
1037
00:59:49,754 --> 00:59:51,255
and having the time of his life
1038
00:59:51,339 --> 00:59:53,632
while everybody else
is completely freaked out.
1039
00:59:53,716 --> 00:59:55,259
His parents, myself, his hosts.
1040
00:59:55,343 --> 00:59:58,554
We don't know what to do, whereas Daniel
doesn't even realize there's a problem.
1041
01:00:00,014 --> 01:00:03,559
Finally, a couple of friends made
arrangements to take him to the bus station,
1042
01:00:03,642 --> 01:00:04,935
to buy him a ticket to go back home.
1043
01:00:05,019 --> 01:00:07,521
They thought they saw him
getting on the bus.
1044
01:00:07,605 --> 01:00:11,525
The next thing they know, two days later,
Daniel is spotted back in New York City.
1045
01:00:11,609 --> 01:00:13,944
He'd spent some time in Bellevue,
a day or two,
1046
01:00:14,028 --> 01:00:17,114
was released due to a clerical error
and actually opened for Fire-hose
1047
01:00:17,198 --> 01:00:18,824
at CBGB's that night.
1048
01:00:19,367 --> 01:00:21,202
(DANIEL SINGING)
1049
01:00:31,504 --> 01:00:34,632
JEFF: After the CBGB's gig,
he did his two songs and left.
1050
01:00:34,715 --> 01:00:35,883
All anybody could think of
1051
01:00:35,966 --> 01:00:39,553
was, "We've got to get him home before
he either kills somebody or gets killed."
1052
01:00:39,637 --> 01:00:41,597
His goal in New York
was to become famous.
1053
01:00:41,680 --> 01:00:45,226
And I think he accomplished his goal
by the time he left.
1054
01:00:46,602 --> 01:00:49,397
(PEOPLE SINGING) At The Cross
At The Cross
1055
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:51,315
JEFF: When Daniel returned home
from New York,
1056
01:00:51,399 --> 01:00:55,778
he was hospitalized almost immediately
and let out way too soon in my opinion.
1057
01:00:56,362 --> 01:00:58,239
(MABEL SPEAKING)
1058
01:01:01,325 --> 01:01:02,952
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1059
01:01:05,413 --> 01:01:06,455
(MABEL SPEAKING)
1060
01:01:07,123 --> 01:01:08,666
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1061
01:01:08,749 --> 01:01:09,750
(MABEL SPEAKING)
1062
01:01:18,634 --> 01:01:20,594
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1063
01:01:28,602 --> 01:01:31,647
JEFF: Just a few weeks later
he traveled to Maryland
1064
01:01:31,730 --> 01:01:33,190
to record with Jad Fair.
1065
01:01:33,274 --> 01:01:35,860
DAVID FAIR: Putting Jad
and Daniel together was. ..
1066
01:01:35,943 --> 01:01:38,028
I mean, I think they're both geniuses.
1067
01:01:38,112 --> 01:01:41,448
So if you put them together, you know,
I don't see how that could miss.
1068
01:01:41,574 --> 01:01:43,450
I think you get like two,
1069
01:01:44,660 --> 01:01:49,456
you know, two giants together
and it's gigantic.
1070
01:01:49,957 --> 01:01:54,253
(SINGING) If I'd only known
I could have said something sooner
1071
01:01:55,045 --> 01:01:57,965
But I didn't, so I didn't and now it's done
1072
01:01:58,716 --> 01:02:02,761
The last thing I'd do
was the first thing you did
1073
01:02:03,762 --> 01:02:06,140
What we once had is all gone
1074
01:02:12,897 --> 01:02:16,942
FAIR: He had a white T-shin' on or white
painter pants maybe or something, he has...
1075
01:02:17,026 --> 01:02:19,403
- Actually he was dressed all in white.
- All white.
1076
01:02:19,486 --> 01:02:21,322
During that time period.
1077
01:02:22,156 --> 01:02:26,035
He thought it would be the Christian thing
to do, to dress in white.
1078
01:02:26,118 --> 01:02:27,077
Yeah.
1079
01:02:27,161 --> 01:02:31,498
JAD: David invited Daniel and me
to his home to have dinner.
1080
01:02:31,916 --> 01:02:36,629
Back then, the movie,
My Dinner with Andre was very popular.
1081
01:02:37,213 --> 01:02:41,175
And we decided, well, let's have
My Dinner With Daniel,
1082
01:02:41,300 --> 01:02:42,760
and film that.
1083
01:02:42,843 --> 01:02:45,471
And we'll just be talking during dinnertime.
1084
01:02:45,554 --> 01:02:50,017
DANIEL: So I went to college right across
the river from where the funeral home is.
1085
01:02:50,100 --> 01:02:54,396
There was this girl there,
and as soon as I saw her, you know,
1086
01:02:55,272 --> 01:02:58,108
I swear to God, it looked like
she was glowing, you know.
1087
01:02:58,192 --> 01:03:00,361
JAD: Daniel wanted to direct.
1088
01:03:00,444 --> 01:03:03,781
Stand right there, the cameraman,
and you sit in the chair.
1089
01:03:03,864 --> 01:03:07,576
JAD: He had very specific ideas
for everything.
1090
01:03:07,701 --> 01:03:10,412
FAIR: You know, he would figure out shots,
he'd change angles.
1091
01:03:10,496 --> 01:03:13,999
I mean, at the beginning of the evening
it was a film I had in mind.
1092
01:03:14,083 --> 01:03:17,211
Very soon it became, you know,
somebody else's film.
1093
01:03:17,294 --> 01:03:19,088
Film the chair, okay?
1094
01:03:19,171 --> 01:03:22,299
FAIR: The highlight probably, though,
was when Daniel started playing the songs.
1095
01:03:22,383 --> 01:03:25,678
I mean, at one point when
he started weeping, you know, this is...
1096
01:03:25,761 --> 01:03:28,264
You know, where are you gonna see
a performance like that?
1097
01:03:28,347 --> 01:03:32,142
(SINGING) I saw my own heart laying
1098
01:03:34,728 --> 01:03:37,731
Black With blood
1099
01:03:45,030 --> 01:03:48,534
Don't play cards with Satan
1100
01:03:49,201 --> 01:03:51,203
He'll deal you
1101
01:03:52,496 --> 01:03:54,456
An awful hand
1102
01:03:54,707 --> 01:03:56,834
FAIR: When we dropped him off
at the bus station,
1103
01:03:56,917 --> 01:03:58,627
I don't think anything really seemed strange.
1104
01:03:58,711 --> 01:04:03,132
I don't think he seemed different
from how he had been all week long.
1105
01:04:03,549 --> 01:04:06,885
JAD: He had a ticket
to go to his parents' home,
1106
01:04:06,969 --> 01:04:09,471
in Chester, West Virginia,
1107
01:04:10,055 --> 01:04:14,601
which is only about a five-hour bus ride.
1108
01:04:15,060 --> 01:04:17,229
And we thought he'd be fine.
1109
01:04:17,855 --> 01:04:21,275
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
1110
01:04:30,951 --> 01:04:33,495
JEFF: Just some great, great music
and art came out of this week.
1111
01:04:33,579 --> 01:04:37,833
But unfortunately, he went off his meds
again and had problems when he left.
1112
01:04:38,125 --> 01:04:39,877
He took a bus back to West Virginia,
1113
01:04:39,960 --> 01:04:44,173
got off a little too soon
and was completely delusional,
1114
01:04:44,256 --> 01:04:46,925
thought that everybody
was possessed by Satan.
1115
01:04:47,009 --> 01:04:50,637
It was very early in the morning,
maybe 6:00, 7:00 in the morning.
1116
01:05:08,155 --> 01:05:10,032
He was making noise in the street.
1117
01:05:10,115 --> 01:05:13,410
An elderly woman came to her window,
asked him to be quiet,
1118
01:05:13,494 --> 01:05:16,497
and that set off another major incident.
1119
01:05:16,830 --> 01:05:18,165
DICK: And the next thing she knew,
1120
01:05:18,248 --> 01:05:20,250
he was coming up the stairs
in the apartment building
1121
01:05:20,334 --> 01:05:22,336
and pounding on the door.
1122
01:05:22,586 --> 01:05:26,090
And whatever he was saying
and whatever his demeanor was,
1123
01:05:26,215 --> 01:05:27,841
was enough to terrify her such that
1124
01:05:27,925 --> 01:05:31,345
she felt like the only thing she could do
was jump out of the second story window.
1125
01:05:31,428 --> 01:05:33,597
And, of course, she broke both her ankles.
1126
01:05:33,680 --> 01:05:35,349
(DOG BARKING)
1127
01:05:37,643 --> 01:05:40,437
And she was an elderly woman,
from church.
1128
01:05:41,105 --> 01:05:43,941
(FOOTSTEPS PATTERING)
1129
01:05:56,412 --> 01:05:59,206
The law pretty well takes over
when he gets into trouble.
1130
01:06:00,082 --> 01:06:03,377
The law stepped in
and took Dan away from us.
1131
01:06:15,139 --> 01:06:17,391
(DANIEL SPEAKING ON PHONE)
1132
01:06:21,228 --> 01:06:22,646
(LOUIS SPEAKING ON PHONE)
1133
01:07:05,856 --> 01:07:08,859
JEFF: He was quite busy
during this time writing me audio letters
1134
01:07:08,942 --> 01:07:10,944
with all sorts of instructions.
1135
01:07:11,195 --> 01:07:14,865
DANIEL: Earth to Jeff Tartakov,
ten four come three.
1136
01:07:14,948 --> 01:07:17,493
This is a message from
Daniel Dale Johnston.
1137
01:07:17,743 --> 01:07:20,037
Here with a few ideas I'd like to do.
1138
01:07:20,245 --> 01:07:23,123
First of all I wish
that The Beatles would reunite
1139
01:07:23,248 --> 01:07:25,042
and back me up as a band.
1140
01:07:25,792 --> 01:07:29,379
JEFF: He continued to want me
to get in touch with people like Yoko Ono.
1141
01:07:29,463 --> 01:07:31,340
But he also had some additional ideas.
1142
01:07:31,423 --> 01:07:34,259
He wanted to be a spokesperson
for Mountain Dew.
1143
01:07:34,343 --> 01:07:38,013
DANIEL: This is Daniel Johnston
speaking from a mental hospital.
1144
01:07:38,096 --> 01:07:39,890
They tell me I'm crazy here,
1145
01:07:39,973 --> 01:07:43,894
because I love the Mountain Dew so much.
I can't get enough of the Mountain Dew.
1146
01:07:43,977 --> 01:07:47,272
(SINGING) I was sinking deep in sin
1147
01:07:47,356 --> 01:07:49,858
Far from Mountain Dew
1148
01:07:50,192 --> 01:07:54,655
I had problems out within
Nothing that I could do
1149
01:07:55,280 --> 01:07:59,826
But the Mountain Dew came to me
and I drank it all up
1150
01:08:00,160 --> 01:08:04,414
Now I'm happy as can be, oh Mountain Dew
1151
01:08:04,790 --> 01:08:09,002
We drink Mountain Dew
We drink Mountain Dew
1152
01:08:09,253 --> 01:08:13,382
We have nothing better to do
but drink Mountain Dew
1153
01:08:13,840 --> 01:08:18,178
We drink Mountain Dew
We drink Mountain Dew
1154
01:08:18,512 --> 01:08:24,184
No thing better to do
than to drink Mountain Dew
1155
01:08:24,476 --> 01:08:26,520
Yahoo! Mountain Dew.
1156
01:08:26,645 --> 01:08:28,897
It's the new sensation.
1157
01:08:28,981 --> 01:08:31,733
The best, the greatest, the most fantastic.
1158
01:08:31,817 --> 01:08:36,446
The most sensational soda pop
in the cosmic universe.
1159
01:08:36,822 --> 01:08:39,366
Mountain Dew!
1160
01:08:40,867 --> 01:08:42,995
(WIND WHOOSHING)
1161
01:08:45,038 --> 01:08:46,623
(WHOOPING)
1162
01:08:47,291 --> 01:08:49,042
Out come the demons.
1163
01:08:49,126 --> 01:08:50,460
(VOCALIZING)
1164
01:08:50,544 --> 01:08:54,131
Demons, demons, demons,
drink the Mountain Dew.
1165
01:08:54,673 --> 01:08:59,011
I sent that off to the Pepsi Corporation,
but unfortunately never got a response.
1166
01:08:59,219 --> 01:09:01,930
So it's 1990, we hear Daniel's better.
1167
01:09:02,014 --> 01:09:03,765
We hear he's gotten... Put on a lot of weight.
1168
01:09:03,849 --> 01:09:06,435
But we hear, you know,
he's doing his meds, he's under control.
1169
01:09:06,518 --> 01:09:09,062
So we invite him to play
the Austin Music Awards show.
1170
01:09:09,187 --> 01:09:11,064
And to come and play South by Southwest.
1171
01:09:11,148 --> 01:09:13,025
And everybody's very excited about this.
1172
01:09:13,108 --> 01:09:15,319
Now his rep has really, really grown.
1173
01:09:15,402 --> 01:09:19,156
Tartakov has really been getting those tapes
out there. Tartakov's really working it.
1174
01:09:19,239 --> 01:09:21,074
Daniel sends me a comic,
1175
01:09:21,408 --> 01:09:24,494
about how Daniel's coming back to Austin
to play the Music Awards.
1176
01:09:24,578 --> 01:09:27,331
How he's gonna get laid.
How all the girls should be ready for him.
1177
01:09:27,414 --> 01:09:30,792
And the last page
is this whole thing about the Devil
1178
01:09:31,043 --> 01:09:34,004
being really excited
that Daniel's coming back to Austin,
1179
01:09:34,087 --> 01:09:36,089
'cause of all the mayhem he can cause.
1180
01:09:37,382 --> 01:09:41,345
Whenever Daniel was gonna perform,
starting around now, he went off his meds,
1181
01:09:41,428 --> 01:09:43,180
for a couple of weeks
before the performance.
1182
01:09:43,263 --> 01:09:46,099
Because he knew the performance
would be better the crazier he was.
1183
01:09:46,183 --> 01:09:48,560
The more real he was,
the better the performance would be.
1184
01:09:48,644 --> 01:09:50,020
But nobody really knew this at the time.
1185
01:09:53,607 --> 01:09:56,818
(SINGING SHAKILY)
I took my lucky break and broke it
1186
01:09:57,069 --> 01:09:58,278
Try it again.
1187
01:09:59,529 --> 01:10:01,948
As a professional, you know, performer,
1188
01:10:02,032 --> 01:10:05,786
I haven't performed,
you know, for two years. So...
1189
01:10:05,994 --> 01:10:07,579
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
1190
01:10:09,456 --> 01:10:11,416
I'm barely doing it now.
1191
01:10:11,792 --> 01:10:13,669
JEFF: He flew to town with his dad.
1192
01:10:13,752 --> 01:10:16,546
Did two in-store appearances
at record stores.
1193
01:10:16,797 --> 01:10:19,591
Hundreds and hundreds of people
turned out.
1194
01:10:19,758 --> 01:10:21,301
People were coming up for autographs
1195
01:10:21,385 --> 01:10:23,553
and he would give them so much more
than just an autograph.
1196
01:10:23,637 --> 01:10:26,973
He would take a full sheet of paper
and draw a frog, an entire scene.
1197
01:10:29,434 --> 01:10:33,355
This was really the highlight of my career,
up until that point.
1198
01:10:33,438 --> 01:10:37,567
Because I was able to see an audience,
a large audience, respond to Daniel.
1199
01:10:37,651 --> 01:10:40,987
Palmer Auditorium had 3,000 people there
that night.
1200
01:10:41,822 --> 01:10:44,282
(SINGING) Never knowing where you go
1201
01:10:44,366 --> 01:10:45,575
Always running
1202
01:10:45,659 --> 01:10:48,203
Never stopping to see where you're at
1203
01:10:48,286 --> 01:10:50,163
Never looking back
1204
01:10:50,372 --> 01:10:54,167
Nothing seems to slow you down
1205
01:10:54,376 --> 01:10:55,961
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1206
01:10:56,294 --> 01:10:58,380
Running water
1207
01:10:58,880 --> 01:11:00,924
Running water
1208
01:11:01,174 --> 01:11:04,261
What are you running from?
1209
01:11:06,054 --> 01:11:11,476
You always seem to be on the run
1210
01:11:13,353 --> 01:11:19,317
You always seem to be on the run
1211
01:11:22,946 --> 01:11:25,031
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1212
01:11:25,532 --> 01:11:28,785
JEFF: Daniel was scheduled to play
about a 15-minute set,
1213
01:11:28,869 --> 01:11:30,787
but he's not a very good judge of time.
1214
01:11:30,871 --> 01:11:33,081
So he walked off the stage after three songs.
1215
01:11:33,165 --> 01:11:34,624
GIRL: Oh, my God...
1216
01:11:34,791 --> 01:11:36,001
WOMAN: Daniel.
1217
01:11:38,462 --> 01:11:40,464
- Dad?
- BILL: Yeah?
1218
01:11:41,089 --> 01:11:43,759
- MAN: You wanna do another, Dan?
- They want me to do another song?
1219
01:11:43,842 --> 01:11:45,635
- BILL: You wanna go back?
- Okay.
1220
01:11:45,719 --> 01:11:47,763
JEFF: When he finally came out,
it was as if
1221
01:11:47,846 --> 01:11:50,056
The Rolling Stones had come back on stage.
1222
01:11:50,891 --> 01:11:52,017
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1223
01:11:55,020 --> 01:11:59,065
(SINGING) But if this really is love
1224
01:11:59,858 --> 01:12:03,487
then let's get it on, on
1225
01:12:03,695 --> 01:12:04,946
Ooh
1226
01:12:05,030 --> 01:12:06,531
JEFF: During the song
Do You Love Me?
1227
01:12:06,615 --> 01:12:08,450
the chorus goes, Do you love me now?
1228
01:12:08,533 --> 01:12:11,661
And you could hear girls
in the audience screaming, "Yes!"
1229
01:12:11,745 --> 01:12:12,996
It was Daniel mania.
1230
01:12:13,079 --> 01:12:14,372
(SINGING) Tell me now
1231
01:12:14,456 --> 01:12:15,874
Oh
1232
01:12:15,957 --> 01:12:18,293
Do you really love me?
1233
01:12:20,003 --> 01:12:22,047
Do you really love me?
1234
01:12:23,965 --> 01:12:26,593
Do you really love me?
1235
01:12:26,927 --> 01:12:28,595
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1236
01:12:30,222 --> 01:12:32,933
JEFF: The audience was stomping
and screaming.
1237
01:12:33,016 --> 01:12:35,811
You could feel the entire floor shaking.
1238
01:12:36,978 --> 01:12:39,481
(SINGING) When they said that love was dead
1239
01:12:39,648 --> 01:12:42,359
They were just playing with your head
1240
01:12:44,361 --> 01:12:45,612
Love is real
1241
01:12:45,695 --> 01:12:47,447
That's the way that I feel
1242
01:12:50,700 --> 01:12:52,118
I love you
1243
01:12:53,995 --> 01:12:56,832
Do you really love me?
1244
01:12:58,667 --> 01:13:01,211
Do you really love me?
1245
01:13:03,380 --> 01:13:05,882
Do you really love me?
1246
01:13:08,927 --> 01:13:10,554
Tell me now
1247
01:13:14,307 --> 01:13:16,309
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1248
01:13:16,852 --> 01:13:18,311
Thanks a lot.
1249
01:13:19,437 --> 01:13:21,565
BILL: He was the hit of that show.
1250
01:13:23,316 --> 01:13:26,736
(CHUCKLING) He got standing ovations.
Nobody else did.
1251
01:13:27,362 --> 01:13:29,656
But then, he was feeling funny.
1252
01:13:29,823 --> 01:13:32,325
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
1253
01:13:32,450 --> 01:13:35,370
BILL: And right after
his last performance we left.
1254
01:13:36,121 --> 01:13:39,457
We passed up interviews and we left.
1255
01:13:42,210 --> 01:13:44,504
(PLANE WHIRRING)
1256
01:13:48,008 --> 01:13:49,676
(SOBBING)
1257
01:13:59,060 --> 01:14:00,896
(FEUERZEIG SPEAKING)
1258
01:14:04,024 --> 01:14:05,233
Well...
1259
01:14:06,568 --> 01:14:10,572
It shouldn't have happened,
but Dan was secretly ducking his medicine.
1260
01:14:11,364 --> 01:14:14,367
I was giving it to him,
but he was chucking it.
1261
01:14:20,916 --> 01:14:22,375
(FEUERZEIG SPEAKING)
1262
01:14:34,554 --> 01:14:36,139
Captain America?
1263
01:14:36,431 --> 01:14:37,474
(FEUERZEIG SPEAKING)
1264
01:14:38,099 --> 01:14:39,142
(CLEARS THROAT)
1265
01:14:39,225 --> 01:14:43,271
No, he thought he was Casper.
He was reading a Casper comic book.
1266
01:14:44,064 --> 01:14:46,483
There's a picture on the front of the book,
1267
01:14:46,566 --> 01:14:48,818
of Casper and a parachute.
1268
01:14:49,611 --> 01:14:53,531
And Dan decided, "Let's bail out.
1269
01:14:53,782 --> 01:14:56,284
"Let's jump out."
I said, "No. We can't do that.
1270
01:14:56,368 --> 01:14:59,746
"We don't have any parachutes."
So his mind was gone.
1271
01:14:59,955 --> 01:15:03,249
Eventually, he took the key out,
1272
01:15:03,333 --> 01:15:06,461
turned the engine off,
and threw the key out the window.
1273
01:15:06,753 --> 01:15:08,338
FEUERZEIG: How did you recover the flight?
1274
01:15:08,421 --> 01:15:11,925
Well, he grabbed the controls,
took the plane away from me.
1275
01:15:12,008 --> 01:15:14,177
He's stronger than me.
1276
01:15:14,928 --> 01:15:18,473
We were kind of going straight up
and then straight down.
1277
01:15:19,599 --> 01:15:23,520
But he kind of let go in time
for me to get it out of the spin.
1278
01:15:26,439 --> 01:15:28,608
Nothing down there but trees.
1279
01:15:31,903 --> 01:15:34,781
(CLEARS THROAT)
But I'd had training on ditching in trees,
1280
01:15:36,324 --> 01:15:40,912
so I didn't stall it in, I flew it into the trees,
between two big ones.
1281
01:15:42,956 --> 01:15:44,708
And we got out safe.
1282
01:15:45,583 --> 01:15:47,877
But the plane was a total loss.
1283
01:15:48,586 --> 01:15:51,715
The family came and got us, got me.
1284
01:15:51,798 --> 01:15:54,968
We put him in a hospital
and left him there for five months.
1285
01:15:55,051 --> 01:15:57,470
There's Dan. He's had a good time,
1286
01:15:57,554 --> 01:16:01,266
because he thought that was great,
coming down in a spin.
1287
01:16:01,725 --> 01:16:03,518
He was all mixed-up.
1288
01:16:03,601 --> 01:16:07,939
He felt like he did something good
and he wanted us to be proud of him.
1289
01:16:08,148 --> 01:16:12,736
There's Dan being rolled into
the emergency room.
1290
01:16:13,028 --> 01:16:15,363
They passed a Church of Christ,
1291
01:16:15,655 --> 01:16:18,742
and to Bill and Dick's amazement,
1292
01:16:18,950 --> 01:16:23,455
this sign was on the Church of Christ
bulletin board out front.
1293
01:16:23,705 --> 01:16:29,669
"God promises a safe landing
but not a calm voyage."
1294
01:16:36,426 --> 01:16:40,346
(DANIEL SINGING) In the sky
1295
01:16:42,807 --> 01:16:46,394
The number seven
1296
01:16:48,354 --> 01:16:53,401
The Devil defeated
1297
01:16:57,572 --> 01:17:02,368
The new Jerusalem
1298
01:17:06,623 --> 01:17:08,374
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1299
01:17:22,097 --> 01:17:23,139
(PEOPLE SINGING HYMN)
1300
01:17:23,223 --> 01:17:25,809
JEFF: The Johnstons moved
to Waller, Texas in late 1991
1301
01:17:25,892 --> 01:17:29,479
and I believe Daniel began
having some problems fairly immediately
1302
01:17:29,562 --> 01:17:32,857
and ended up back
in the Austin State Hospital.
1303
01:17:33,066 --> 01:17:37,529
During this time his career continued
to reach for the stars.
1304
01:17:38,530 --> 01:17:40,532
Bands were covering his songs
left and right.
1305
01:17:40,615 --> 01:17:43,868
Kurt Cobain of the band Nirvana
wore his T-shirt on MTV
1306
01:17:43,952 --> 01:17:45,662
at the MTV Music Awards Show
1307
01:17:45,745 --> 01:17:47,747
which was seen by millions of people.
1308
01:17:47,831 --> 01:17:49,290
He had had the shirt for a few months.
1309
01:17:49,374 --> 01:17:51,543
Apparently, a writer
that I had given the shirt to,
1310
01:17:51,626 --> 01:17:53,878
a guy named Everett True,
had given it to Kurt.
1311
01:17:53,962 --> 01:17:56,673
And the next thing you know,
he's wearing it not only on national TV
1312
01:17:56,756 --> 01:17:57,757
but everywhere he goes.
1313
01:17:57,841 --> 01:18:01,052
And over the next several months,
every single photo shot he did,
1314
01:18:01,136 --> 01:18:02,345
he was wearing this shirt.
1315
01:18:02,428 --> 01:18:05,765
And just a tremendous amount of publicity
came Daniel's way due to this.
1316
01:18:05,849 --> 01:18:08,226
Suddenly everybody knew who Daniel was.
1317
01:18:08,434 --> 01:18:12,897
It was just incredible that a T-shirt
could fuel this kind of a frenzy. Um...
1318
01:18:13,189 --> 01:18:15,775
The T-shirt had many, many
thousands of fans
1319
01:18:15,859 --> 01:18:17,861
that wanted to know more about the T-shirt.
1320
01:18:17,944 --> 01:18:20,196
And wanted to hear the T-shirt,
and see the T-shirt
1321
01:18:20,280 --> 01:18:21,656
and get to know the T-shirt.
1322
01:18:21,781 --> 01:18:25,618
Meanwhile, Daniel's in a hospital
and has no idea who Nirvana even is.
1323
01:18:25,702 --> 01:18:29,998
And within a matter of days, I get a
call from a guy named Terry Tolkin,
1324
01:18:30,081 --> 01:18:32,625
who's an A&R executive for Elektra Records.
1325
01:18:32,792 --> 01:18:36,129
And we got into a long conversation
that ended with him saying,
1326
01:18:36,212 --> 01:18:37,797
"Well, I'd really like to sign Daniel."
1327
01:18:37,881 --> 01:18:40,800
Terry and I met for a couple of days,
hung out and discussed everything
1328
01:18:40,884 --> 01:18:42,135
that needed to be discussed.
1329
01:18:42,218 --> 01:18:45,221
And then it was time to take him over
to the hospital and meet with Daniel.
1330
01:18:45,305 --> 01:18:46,514
And we sat in the waiting room,
1331
01:18:46,598 --> 01:18:50,101
Daniel came out, and we had a business
meeting for about 30, 45 minutes,
1332
01:18:50,185 --> 01:18:53,688
and it went as well as a meeting can
possibly go in a mental institution
1333
01:18:53,771 --> 01:18:57,317
between a vice president of a record label
and a patient.
1334
01:18:57,567 --> 01:18:59,277
We were trying to structure a contract
1335
01:18:59,360 --> 01:19:02,655
that took his delicate situation
into consideration.
1336
01:19:02,739 --> 01:19:07,202
It's not every day that a major label signs
somebody who's in a mental institution.
1337
01:19:07,493 --> 01:19:09,704
They were looking out
for Daniel's best interests.
1338
01:19:09,787 --> 01:19:13,541
There was a clause in there about his
mental health, about providing a doctor,
1339
01:19:13,625 --> 01:19:15,710
about how he would never have to tour,
1340
01:19:15,793 --> 01:19:19,422
about how he could never be dropped
for failure to promote a record.
1341
01:19:19,505 --> 01:19:21,591
And they looked at it as a long-term project.
1342
01:19:21,674 --> 01:19:24,677
It wouldn't be just one record,
it would be a career.
1343
01:19:25,178 --> 01:19:29,224
It was probably the most one-sided contract
in the favor of artists' rights
1344
01:19:29,307 --> 01:19:31,559
that had ever been drawn up,
up until that time.
1345
01:19:32,685 --> 01:19:35,772
We obviously had to get Daniel well,
get him out of the hospital.
1346
01:19:35,855 --> 01:19:38,816
And over the next few months,
Daniel continued to improve,
1347
01:19:38,900 --> 01:19:40,652
but it was very slow.
1348
01:19:40,735 --> 01:19:43,446
We bided our time,
did what we could for him
1349
01:19:43,529 --> 01:19:47,242
and just kept waiting for the day
when he would be released.
1350
01:19:47,325 --> 01:19:51,287
Yves Beauvais of Atlantic Records
contacted me around that time,
1351
01:19:51,371 --> 01:19:53,539
wanting to know
what was Daniel's situation.
1352
01:19:53,623 --> 01:19:56,918
And I told him, "Well, we're fairly close
to signing with Elektra."
1353
01:19:57,001 --> 01:20:00,713
His boss, Danny Goldberg,
who was the head of Atlantic Records,
1354
01:20:00,797 --> 01:20:03,132
formerly worked with Kurt Cobain
as their manager.
1355
01:20:03,216 --> 01:20:05,969
And he wasn't familiar with Daniel's music,
1356
01:20:06,052 --> 01:20:09,180
but he certainly knew
who the guy in the T-shirt was.
1357
01:20:09,264 --> 01:20:12,642
And the next thing you know,
I've got a bidding war on my hands.
1358
01:20:12,725 --> 01:20:14,185
Daniel's in a mental hospital
1359
01:20:14,269 --> 01:20:17,480
and I've got two major labels
trying to outbid each other.
1360
01:20:17,563 --> 01:20:21,234
Suddenly, we're looking at
a $100,000 possibility.
1361
01:20:21,818 --> 01:20:25,571
Once Daniel was released from the hospital,
I was trying to get help for him.
1362
01:20:25,655 --> 01:20:29,117
I was working with his parents, trying
to make doctor's appointments for him.
1363
01:20:29,200 --> 01:20:32,328
And Daniel thought he was fine.
He did not want to see the doctor.
1364
01:20:32,412 --> 01:20:34,497
And Elektra wanted him to sign this contract
1365
01:20:34,580 --> 01:20:37,083
and Daniel was paranoid about that.
1366
01:20:37,250 --> 01:20:39,877
He was afraid that Elektra was Satanic.
1367
01:20:40,003 --> 01:20:42,672
Um, they had a band on their roster
called Metallica.
1368
01:20:42,755 --> 01:20:45,341
He was concerned that they were going
to beat him and kill him.
1369
01:20:45,425 --> 01:20:48,553
And he could not be convinced
that he was safe.
1370
01:20:49,012 --> 01:20:51,264
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1371
01:20:57,770 --> 01:20:59,814
His delusions would just not go away.
1372
01:20:59,897 --> 01:21:03,901
He was convinced that Elektra was evil
and that I was evil.
1373
01:21:03,985 --> 01:21:07,071
Elektra had to be evil
because they were tied to me.
1374
01:21:07,155 --> 01:21:09,198
And so the deal died.
1375
01:21:09,282 --> 01:21:12,201
And this was the deal I had been working
for seven years for.
1376
01:21:12,285 --> 01:21:15,663
This is the deal I had been working
for 30 something years for.
1377
01:21:15,747 --> 01:21:18,624
It was what I had been building
towards my whole life.
1378
01:21:19,834 --> 01:21:22,545
Jeffrey Tartakov is really a lot like
Broadway Danny Rose.
1379
01:21:22,628 --> 01:21:23,838
Have you ever seen that movie?
1380
01:21:23,921 --> 01:21:26,007
This guy loves his acts.
1381
01:21:26,090 --> 01:21:27,258
Never took a lesson.
1382
01:21:27,342 --> 01:21:30,011
KATHY". He lives to make them successful.
1383
01:21:30,386 --> 01:21:33,848
And that's the way Jeff always was
with Daniel.
1384
01:21:33,931 --> 01:21:36,559
Jeff literally was like that
old time kind of manager
1385
01:21:36,642 --> 01:21:39,645
you hear about, and you read about,
and people make movies about.
1386
01:21:39,729 --> 01:21:42,398
This sort of person
who lived for the good of his client.
1387
01:21:42,482 --> 01:21:44,400
The man would be perfect for your room.
1388
01:21:44,484 --> 01:21:48,988
KATHY: He literally devoted his life 100%
to Daniel Johnston,
1389
01:21:49,322 --> 01:21:51,657
for all the years
where nothing was happening.
1390
01:21:51,741 --> 01:21:54,827
And then right when Daniel was poised
1391
01:21:54,911 --> 01:21:58,373
to get an international bidding war
on his career,
1392
01:21:58,456 --> 01:22:02,668
he just completely dropped him
like a hot potato for absolutely no reason.
1393
01:22:02,752 --> 01:22:05,296
- I gotta make a few changes.
- What kind of changes?
1394
01:22:05,380 --> 01:22:06,756
Like management.
1395
01:22:08,424 --> 01:22:12,595
What do you mean "management"?
Like, what do you mean "management"?
1396
01:22:12,929 --> 01:22:15,848
I was fired so many times over the years,
1397
01:22:15,932 --> 01:22:17,392
and over these months specifically,
1398
01:22:17,475 --> 01:22:20,103
that it's hard to tell
which one actually counted.
1399
01:22:20,186 --> 01:22:24,774
But I continued trying to work things out,
until I received a call one day
1400
01:22:24,857 --> 01:22:26,359
from a guy named Tom Gimbel,
1401
01:22:26,442 --> 01:22:29,237
who informed me
that he was Daniel's new manager.
1402
01:22:29,737 --> 01:22:31,406
I felt like a failure at that time.
1403
01:22:31,489 --> 01:22:35,284
I felt like I was the biggest failure
and loser in the world.
1404
01:22:42,291 --> 01:22:44,836
(DANIEL SINGING) I love that girl so much
1405
01:22:45,711 --> 01:22:48,714
I can't get enough of her love
1406
01:22:48,798 --> 01:22:50,842
Crazy love
1407
01:22:51,217 --> 01:22:54,637
(TAPE CHEWING)
She walks on down the street
1408
01:23:06,232 --> 01:23:07,692
(PIANO PLAYING)
1409
01:23:19,454 --> 01:23:23,958
BILL: Living with Dan in the same house
is something that is not easy
1410
01:23:24,041 --> 01:23:25,835
to get along with at times.
1411
01:23:26,335 --> 01:23:29,797
We have kind of worked out a system
that works a little bit for us.
1412
01:23:29,881 --> 01:23:34,051
It's past noon and Dan has been asleep
since we got up this morning.
1413
01:23:34,260 --> 01:23:36,804
We get up about 7:00 and he's still sleeping.
1414
01:23:36,888 --> 01:23:40,308
That gives us that half of the day
without Dan.
1415
01:23:40,850 --> 01:23:44,812
And we appreciate that as a relief
because the minute he gets up,
1416
01:23:45,188 --> 01:23:48,983
he'll want us to make him some tea,
he'll want something to eat,
1417
01:23:49,108 --> 01:23:52,153
he'll want to go...
"Are we going shopping today?"
1418
01:23:52,236 --> 01:23:54,864
Every other day he wants to go shopping.
1419
01:23:54,947 --> 01:23:57,700
We try to take him somewhere every week.
1420
01:23:58,201 --> 01:24:01,621
And we take him to church with us
at least once a week.
1421
01:24:01,746 --> 01:24:05,917
And we take him to the mall
or to a local Wal-Mart once a week.
1422
01:24:06,167 --> 01:24:10,171
And then his friends come to see him,
and take him to practice.
1423
01:24:10,254 --> 01:24:14,091
The band that he's working with now
will practice once a week.
1424
01:24:14,300 --> 01:24:17,053
DANIEL: Yeah, I think...
You wanna do it one more time?
1425
01:24:17,136 --> 01:24:19,138
Turn the, uh... Okay, that's good.
1426
01:24:20,181 --> 01:24:21,849
Testing! Okay-
1427
01:24:24,352 --> 01:24:26,145
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)
1428
01:24:26,896 --> 01:24:31,692
(SINGING) Imagine a world
without rock 'n' roll
1429
01:24:31,776 --> 01:24:32,902
There'd be no
1430
01:24:32,985 --> 01:24:35,988
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I can't hear my vocal.
1431
01:24:36,072 --> 01:24:38,533
JASON NIGHTMARE: We moved here from
Ohio about two and a half years ago
1432
01:24:38,616 --> 01:24:41,786
and then we were
driving down the road one day,
1433
01:24:41,869 --> 01:24:43,579
toward my grandma's house, who lives here,
1434
01:24:43,663 --> 01:24:46,749
and we saw this guy
being attacked by dogs.
1435
01:24:46,832 --> 01:24:50,086
And I told Bridget,
"Man, this looks like Daniel Johnston.
1436
01:24:50,169 --> 01:24:52,129
"I think this is Daniel Johnston."
1437
01:24:52,213 --> 01:24:55,508
And she's like,
"Oh, no. That's not Daniel Johnston."
1438
01:24:55,591 --> 01:24:59,929
So we... What we did was, we stopped
anyway, you know, to help the guy out.
1439
01:25:00,012 --> 01:25:03,558
And Bridget got out of the car
and she kicked the dog right in the face
1440
01:25:03,641 --> 01:25:04,934
and it ran off.
1441
01:25:05,017 --> 01:25:09,355
And then Daniel was like,
"Hey, do you guys play guitar?"
1442
01:25:13,401 --> 01:25:17,280
(SINGING) He's a man obsessed
1443
01:25:17,363 --> 01:25:18,781
He couldn't be a lover
1444
01:25:18,864 --> 01:25:20,283
So now he's a pest
1445
01:25:20,366 --> 01:25:21,617
He played the game
1446
01:25:21,701 --> 01:25:23,077
But he failed the test
1447
01:25:23,160 --> 01:25:25,371
And now he's a pest
He's a pest
1448
01:25:27,540 --> 01:25:28,666
He's a pest
1449
01:25:28,749 --> 01:25:32,712
He said, "Well, how about, um...
How about I come over some time?"
1450
01:25:32,795 --> 01:25:35,673
And I said,
"Yeah, yeah. Are you Daniel Johnston?"
1451
01:25:35,756 --> 01:25:37,925
He's like, "Yeah. I'm Daniel Johnston.
You know who I am?"
1452
01:25:38,009 --> 01:25:41,345
And I thought, well, this is amazing, man.
1453
01:25:41,429 --> 01:25:44,390
Daniel Johnston in Waller.
I had no idea that he even lived here.
1454
01:25:45,766 --> 01:25:49,729
(SINGING) The only way you could get her
to look at you is to die
1455
01:25:49,812 --> 01:25:51,022
Why don't you die?
1456
01:25:51,105 --> 01:25:53,107
JASON: We got his number
and we called him up the next week
1457
01:25:53,190 --> 01:25:56,819
and he came over to the house
and we recorded four songs with him
1458
01:25:56,902 --> 01:25:58,487
in, like, one hour.
1459
01:25:58,571 --> 01:26:00,197
(SINGING) He's a man obsessed
1460
01:26:00,281 --> 01:26:01,657
He couldn't be a lover
1461
01:26:01,741 --> 01:26:03,534
So now he's a pest
1462
01:26:03,618 --> 01:26:07,079
We were wondering why we moved
to Waller to begin with, you know, we...
1463
01:26:07,163 --> 01:26:08,831
Now we know why we moved to Waller.
1464
01:26:08,914 --> 01:26:11,125
You know...
Because, you know, it was heaven sent.
1465
01:26:11,751 --> 01:26:13,085
(VOCALIZING)
1466
01:26:13,711 --> 01:26:15,129
He's a pest
1467
01:26:16,756 --> 01:26:18,090
He's a pest
1468
01:26:19,258 --> 01:26:21,010
Man obsessed
1469
01:26:21,636 --> 01:26:26,265
Daniel started listening to The Beach Boys,
like, after we played Pet Sounds for him.
1470
01:26:26,349 --> 01:26:27,433
I think.
1471
01:26:27,558 --> 01:26:30,728
He said he never heard Pet Sounds before,
but we played it for him one night
1472
01:26:30,811 --> 01:26:31,854
and he was floored by it.
1473
01:26:31,937 --> 01:26:35,107
And so he went out and bought like
every Beach Boys record
1474
01:26:35,191 --> 01:26:36,525
you could possibly imagine.
1475
01:26:44,742 --> 01:26:48,954
I don't know if Brian Wilson and Daniel
are very much alike.
1476
01:26:52,166 --> 01:26:55,252
Every time I read something about Daniel
in a magazine or something,
1477
01:26:55,336 --> 01:26:57,421
it mentions Brian Wilson.
1478
01:26:57,797 --> 01:27:01,926
I honestly think Daniel is far more brilliant
than Brian Wilson is.
1479
01:27:02,301 --> 01:27:04,637
Of course the Beach Boys' music
is really far-out,
1480
01:27:04,720 --> 01:27:07,431
but, um, it's not quite Daniel Johnston.
1481
01:27:11,727 --> 01:27:15,981
I read the story of Brian Wilson
that he wrote himself.
1482
01:27:19,860 --> 01:27:24,323
And he tells that his father
was not a fair manager.
1483
01:27:25,157 --> 01:27:27,410
Bill is a fair manager
1484
01:27:27,493 --> 01:27:30,746
and is not after the money for himself.
1485
01:27:31,455 --> 01:27:33,332
He's after it for Dan.
1486
01:27:33,874 --> 01:27:37,420
BILL: Brian Wilson
had a lot of the similar characteristics
1487
01:27:37,503 --> 01:27:39,463
and infirmities that Dan has.
1488
01:27:39,547 --> 01:27:43,718
And he went through the same stages
of development that Dan has gone through.
1489
01:27:43,801 --> 01:27:48,597
And reading his history, it smacks a whole
lot of exactly what's happening to Dan.
1490
01:27:48,681 --> 01:27:51,684
We're learning from it.
We don't want to make the same mistakes.
1491
01:27:52,435 --> 01:27:54,603
He did well actually in the end.
1492
01:27:54,687 --> 01:27:57,440
And we'd like Dan to do well, too,
1493
01:27:59,275 --> 01:28:00,776
because he needs to.
1494
01:28:01,861 --> 01:28:03,195
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1495
01:28:30,347 --> 01:28:32,183
His new songs for the movie?
1496
01:28:32,767 --> 01:28:34,518
(FEUERZEIG SPEAKING)
1497
01:28:35,519 --> 01:28:38,147
lt just depends on when he's in the mood,
he will. (CHUCKLING)
1498
01:28:38,230 --> 01:28:42,026
- Yeah, I don't even know my old songs.
- Now that's the thing.
1499
01:28:42,359 --> 01:28:46,739
He doesn't remember the tune
and he doesn't remember the words.
1500
01:28:47,948 --> 01:28:52,787
(SINGING) I had a dream about you
1501
01:28:54,330 --> 01:28:58,167
You were the queen of quite a few
1502
01:28:59,251 --> 01:29:02,505
And I was there but you didn't care
1503
01:29:02,588 --> 01:29:05,758
I didn't matter somehow
1504
01:29:05,966 --> 01:29:10,471
By the time Glass Eye broke up in 1993,
Daniel was still in the mental hospital.
1505
01:29:10,554 --> 01:29:13,974
And he'd been there for a long time
and I rather thought,
1506
01:29:14,266 --> 01:29:18,479
the possibility existed, sad as it was,
that he might never produce anything again.
1507
01:29:18,562 --> 01:29:21,190
And a lot of the music that he had recorded
1508
01:29:21,273 --> 01:29:24,235
was, to the general populous, unlistenable.
1509
01:29:24,443 --> 01:29:27,947
And I felt like people would maybe
never get him and he would just be
1510
01:29:28,030 --> 01:29:31,534
like a flower that bloomed in the desert,
you know, and was forgotten.
1511
01:29:31,617 --> 01:29:35,371
So I thought that I would do
some of his songs, some of my favorites.
1512
01:29:35,454 --> 01:29:38,666
And do them in such a way
that they kind of bloomed
1513
01:29:38,749 --> 01:29:43,045
and became from, like, say a ballpoint
and notepaper sketch,
1514
01:29:43,420 --> 01:29:46,257
they kind of came into
more of a full color painting.
1515
01:29:46,340 --> 01:29:48,217
So, I decided to make the record.
1516
01:29:48,300 --> 01:29:51,220
And it was so fun working with material
that was so good.
1517
01:29:51,303 --> 01:29:54,223
And it's probably the best thing
I've ever done.
1518
01:29:54,306 --> 01:29:58,519
And, if I'm remembered for anything ever,
it will be for that record.
1519
01:29:58,978 --> 01:30:01,063
JEFF: After the FUN
and Kathy McCarty release,
1520
01:30:01,146 --> 01:30:02,815
Daniel and I did not talk for four years.
1521
01:30:02,898 --> 01:30:04,400
I went into such a deep depression
1522
01:30:04,483 --> 01:30:06,652
that I just wanted to have nothing to do
with the guy.
1523
01:30:06,735 --> 01:30:09,029
I really could not even listen to his music.
1524
01:30:09,113 --> 01:30:11,740
But I still had this fascination
with his artwork.
1525
01:30:11,824 --> 01:30:15,744
I continued to compile my collection
purchasing drawings from other sources.
1526
01:30:15,828 --> 01:30:17,246
- How's it going?
- MAN: How you doing today?
1527
01:30:17,329 --> 01:30:18,414
Pretty good. Seen Daniel lately?
1528
01:30:18,497 --> 01:30:19,748
Actually, he came by a few months ago.
1529
01:30:19,832 --> 01:30:21,166
We're almost out of what he brought us.
1530
01:30:21,250 --> 01:30:23,586
- I'll take what I can get.
- The black and white ones.
1531
01:30:23,669 --> 01:30:24,753
JEFF: Oh, yeah, not bad at all.
1532
01:30:24,837 --> 01:30:27,506
I was occasionally contacted
by galleries around the world,
1533
01:30:27,590 --> 01:30:32,094
wanting to show his art, and if it sounded
like a good thing, I would help them out.
1534
01:30:32,177 --> 01:30:36,682
We had shows in Berlin, Eindhoven,
Paris, Barcelona,
1535
01:30:36,849 --> 01:30:39,602
London, Manchester, New York City,
1536
01:30:39,685 --> 01:30:42,104
Washington D.C., Los Angeles.
1537
01:30:42,187 --> 01:30:44,899
There were really more than I could count,
during these four years
1538
01:30:44,982 --> 01:30:47,359
that Daniel and I were not even talking.
1539
01:30:48,319 --> 01:30:51,155
He was beginning to get reviewed
in art magazines
1540
01:30:51,238 --> 01:30:54,325
and his art was becoming
as well-known as his music.
1541
01:30:54,533 --> 01:30:56,076
(PHONE RINGING)
1542
01:30:56,785 --> 01:30:58,037
JOHN POCHNA: Zero One.
1543
01:30:58,746 --> 01:31:02,750
Uh, do we know for sure what time
Daniel's actually gonna play?
1544
01:31:02,833 --> 01:31:05,628
I sort of said around 9:00.
Yeah, okay. Yeah, 9:00.
1545
01:31:05,711 --> 01:31:09,715
We're at the corner of Melrose and La Brea.
He's here right now.
1546
01:31:12,718 --> 01:31:16,096
You want to get some tape, Don,
and we can get started?
1547
01:31:17,222 --> 01:31:19,767
JOHN: The hardest thing to find in art
1548
01:31:19,850 --> 01:31:21,977
is somebody that comes up
with something new,
1549
01:31:22,061 --> 01:31:24,271
somebody completely original.
1550
01:31:24,480 --> 01:31:27,232
DON GOEDE: No, it's double stick,
so you can put it on the back.
1551
01:31:27,316 --> 01:31:28,317
DANIEL; Oh.
1552
01:31:29,735 --> 01:31:33,322
I'm not looking for people
that are part of movements that much.
1553
01:31:33,405 --> 01:31:35,574
I'm more interested in people
who are their own movement
1554
01:31:35,658 --> 01:31:37,326
or they're moving beyond any movement.
1555
01:31:37,409 --> 01:31:40,871
Or, you know, are doing things
that no movement has thought of.
1556
01:31:41,705 --> 01:31:44,917
I think Daniel Johnston
is his own movement.
1557
01:31:45,167 --> 01:31:50,005
He's doing things as original in his way
as Joseph Cornell did or Westerman
1558
01:31:50,089 --> 01:31:53,676
or even going back
to Marcel Duchamp or Man Ray
1559
01:31:53,759 --> 01:31:57,972
or somebody that just comes up with stuff
that, you know, who would've thought it?
1560
01:32:00,265 --> 01:32:03,227
Well, I think it's wrong
to put him in that outsider art thing.
1561
01:32:03,310 --> 01:32:06,230
He's as much as an inside
as any major artist.
1562
01:32:06,313 --> 01:32:10,109
He's just going in his own direction,
doing his own thing,
1563
01:32:10,401 --> 01:32:12,277
which more artists should do.
1564
01:32:12,403 --> 01:32:16,031
An unidentified collector has just bought
1565
01:32:16,115 --> 01:32:18,534
98% of the show.
1566
01:32:19,451 --> 01:32:21,787
And the show has not even started yet.
1567
01:32:21,870 --> 01:32:26,750
We've sold practically every drawing
that he brought, except for four.
1568
01:32:26,834 --> 01:32:28,168
That's what happened so far.
1569
01:32:28,252 --> 01:32:32,131
(STAMMERING) And the show has just, uh...
You know, we haven't...
1570
01:32:32,840 --> 01:32:34,049
Nobody's showed up yet.
1571
01:32:34,133 --> 01:32:36,593
(CHUCKLING) You know, we're gonna
have to start taking orders, I guess.
1572
01:32:36,677 --> 01:32:39,805
I mean, last year his stuff sold pretty fast
but not this fast.
1573
01:32:39,888 --> 01:32:42,433
DANIEL: Yeah, there are some themes.
You know, I mean, with the artwork.
1574
01:32:42,516 --> 01:32:45,686
I do some Captain Americas, you know,
some ducks.
1575
01:32:45,769 --> 01:32:48,439
I do a lot of ducks
and they're like my armies
1576
01:32:48,522 --> 01:32:52,401
and sometimes I use them
in my battles against Satan.
1577
01:33:01,452 --> 01:33:04,329
JEFF: Daniel's an' mirrors
his songwriting in many ways.
1578
01:33:04,413 --> 01:33:06,999
The same characters, the same themes.
1579
01:33:07,082 --> 01:33:10,753
There are plenty of drawings
that refer to unrequited love.
1580
01:33:10,836 --> 01:33:14,423
You'll find the same characters
such as Casper The Friendly Ghost,
1581
01:33:14,506 --> 01:33:17,676
Captain America.
Frankenstein appears quite often.
1582
01:33:18,093 --> 01:33:22,556
You have Joe The Boxer
and the Eternal Struggle, the Eternal Battle.
1583
01:33:23,098 --> 01:33:25,642
For two years,
all Daniel drew were fight scenes
1584
01:33:25,726 --> 01:33:28,020
of a boxer fighting a creature in the ring.
1585
01:33:28,103 --> 01:33:31,815
The boxer clearly represented Daniel
while the creature was evil.
1586
01:33:31,899 --> 01:33:34,610
This was Vile Corrupt from the
Hi, How Are You album.
1587
01:33:34,693 --> 01:33:35,778
(BELL RINGING)
1588
01:33:35,861 --> 01:33:37,738
(PEOPLE SCREAMING)
1589
01:33:40,407 --> 01:33:44,495
The piece titled Daniel Johnston's
Symbolical Visions is in many ways
1590
01:33:44,578 --> 01:33:46,455
the Rosetta stone of Daniel's art.
1591
01:33:46,538 --> 01:33:51,001
It has all the figures and symbols
that appear in so many of his drawings.
1592
01:33:51,085 --> 01:33:54,463
From Kathy McCarty's glasses,
to a baby block,
1593
01:33:54,546 --> 01:33:58,050
to the man with the sawed-off head,
to torsos.
1594
01:33:58,509 --> 01:34:03,222
All of the familiar figures are there,
666, eyes, the pyramid.
1595
01:34:04,056 --> 01:34:07,184
If you listen to all of Daniel's music
and know the songs
1596
01:34:07,267 --> 01:34:10,104
and then look at the drawings,
they have added meaning.
1597
01:34:11,438 --> 01:34:14,691
BILL: Sometimes it's very hard to fathom
what goes on his mind.
1598
01:34:14,858 --> 01:34:18,695
I can see what he's thinking just day by day
in his drawings.
1599
01:34:19,446 --> 01:34:22,116
He will put captions on his drawings
1600
01:34:22,199 --> 01:34:25,452
that are coming right from deep inside.
1601
01:34:25,661 --> 01:34:28,497
And by looking over his shoulder every day,
1602
01:34:28,580 --> 01:34:31,416
I can get a little bit
of what goes on in his mind.
1603
01:34:33,418 --> 01:34:37,673
A friend of mine that saw his art
that's in the mental health field said,
1604
01:34:40,300 --> 01:34:43,971
"I know Daniel's going to heaven,
he's already been to hell."
1605
01:34:44,763 --> 01:34:49,101
She was looking at the artwork
and she said, "This is hellacious.
1606
01:34:49,184 --> 01:34:53,021
"I mean, someone tortured..."
And I don't even see it that way.
1607
01:34:53,105 --> 01:34:55,858
A lot of his artwork I see as very happy
1608
01:34:55,941 --> 01:34:58,318
and he really believes in love.
1609
01:34:58,610 --> 01:35:01,071
I think he looks for that superhero idea
1610
01:35:01,155 --> 01:35:04,324
of someone's going to rescue or save
and be the good guy.
1611
01:35:05,617 --> 01:35:08,120
It's not really a coincidence but,
1612
01:35:08,662 --> 01:35:12,916
I did a tribute album of Daniel's songs and
later I went on to marry Daniel's best friend.
1613
01:35:13,000 --> 01:35:15,210
The very first time I went
to Daniel's apartment,
1614
01:35:15,294 --> 01:35:16,837
Daniel handed me a book of poetry and said,
1615
01:35:16,920 --> 01:35:17,921
"Oh, you might like this.
1616
01:35:18,005 --> 01:35:20,215
"These are my friend Dave's poems.
Why don't you read them?"
1617
01:35:20,299 --> 01:35:23,760
And I loved them.
He was instantly my favorite poet.
1618
01:35:23,844 --> 01:35:26,972
Two or three years after
Dead Dog's Eyeball came out,
1619
01:35:27,055 --> 01:35:29,683
Dave emailed me and said,
"Hi, this is Dave Thornberry.
1620
01:35:29,766 --> 01:35:30,767
"Do you remember me?"
1621
01:35:30,851 --> 01:35:32,561
And I wrote him back like,
"Do I remember you?
1622
01:35:32,644 --> 01:35:34,479
"I read your poems all the time, still."
1623
01:35:34,563 --> 01:35:38,233
And I went to visit him,
and as soon as we were together,
1624
01:35:38,317 --> 01:35:40,986
it was like, we have to get married.
And we did.
1625
01:35:41,069 --> 01:35:44,239
And it was very romantic. We got married
two days after we saw each other
1626
01:35:44,323 --> 01:35:46,617
for the first time in 13 years.
1627
01:35:49,161 --> 01:35:50,162
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1628
01:36:16,521 --> 01:36:20,275
KATHY: Daniel never really talked to me
directly about Laurie.
1629
01:36:20,359 --> 01:36:22,903
But, of course, I knew that all the songs
were about someone.
1630
01:36:22,986 --> 01:36:26,240
I mean, I knew that he had loved and lost,
you know, in his life.
1631
01:36:26,323 --> 01:36:28,992
And I don't think I even ever
really thought that all those songs
1632
01:36:29,076 --> 01:36:30,285
were about the same person.
1633
01:36:30,369 --> 01:36:33,330
But after we had broke up, so to speak,
1634
01:36:33,497 --> 01:36:36,667
I began to know more about Laurie.
He talked more about Laurie.
1635
01:36:36,750 --> 01:36:41,296
And I began to know like, how huge an
obsession, his obsession with Laurie was.
1636
01:36:41,421 --> 01:36:44,591
(SINGING) Love could save me somehow
1637
01:36:44,800 --> 01:36:47,010
But I just can't make it
1638
01:36:48,136 --> 01:36:50,138
DANIEL: Most of my songs are about her.
1639
01:36:50,347 --> 01:36:53,350
You know, because she does, did,
and hopefully will love me,
1640
01:36:53,433 --> 01:36:55,102
you know, it keeps me going.
1641
01:36:55,185 --> 01:36:59,147
I'm always thinking about another angle
about it when I'm writing a song.
1642
01:37:00,065 --> 01:37:03,277
I think art has always been inspired
by beauty.
1643
01:37:05,696 --> 01:37:09,324
I think there have been many artists,
uh, throughout history
1644
01:37:09,408 --> 01:37:11,660
who had a major inspiration,
1645
01:37:11,743 --> 01:37:14,913
whether it was a girl,
or even just a philosophy.
1646
01:37:17,916 --> 01:37:20,919
That's what I like about life and about art.
1647
01:37:21,295 --> 01:37:24,673
Is that when you write a song,
it's just the way that you saw it
1648
01:37:24,756 --> 01:37:26,591
or just the way that it was.
1649
01:37:26,758 --> 01:37:30,762
I think art is the greatest frame of mind
1650
01:37:31,430 --> 01:37:34,725
to express a certain feeling
and you'll always have that feeling.
1651
01:37:34,808 --> 01:37:35,851
It's always there.
1652
01:37:35,934 --> 01:37:38,020
(SINGING) So magical
1653
01:37:38,645 --> 01:37:42,816
DAVID: Laurie is his muse
but in a completely passive way.
1654
01:37:43,942 --> 01:37:46,903
Laurie is the 17 syllables of haiku
1655
01:37:46,987 --> 01:37:48,947
for him to hang his creativity on.
1656
01:37:49,031 --> 01:37:52,659
That's what she is.
She's a structure for him to build on.
1657
01:37:53,535 --> 01:37:56,788
She's not the love of his life.
I mean, but she is.
1658
01:37:56,955 --> 01:37:59,416
LOUIS: When I first met Daniel in '85,
he was burning with her.
1659
01:37:59,499 --> 01:38:01,543
I mean, she was in his eyes all the time.
1660
01:38:01,626 --> 01:38:03,837
I mean, when he talked about her
it was just intense.
1661
01:38:03,920 --> 01:38:06,256
And what's so weird about Daniel is
that went away
1662
01:38:06,340 --> 01:38:08,383
and it came back more intense later on
1663
01:38:08,467 --> 01:38:10,719
because he realized
it was a really good story.
1664
01:38:10,802 --> 01:38:15,098
(DANIEL SINGING)
True love will find you in the end
1665
01:38:19,686 --> 01:38:24,316
You'll find out just who was your friend
1666
01:38:28,070 --> 01:38:31,823
Don't be sad, I know you will
1667
01:38:35,911 --> 01:38:38,663
But don't give up until
1668
01:38:39,831 --> 01:38:44,002
True love will find you in the end
1669
01:38:48,173 --> 01:38:52,844
This is a promise with a catch
1670
01:38:56,765 --> 01:39:01,019
Only if you're looking can it find you
1671
01:39:04,856 --> 01:39:09,069
'Cause true love is searching too
1672
01:39:13,365 --> 01:39:15,992
But how can it recognize you
1673
01:39:16,076 --> 01:39:19,037
Unless you step out into the light?
1674
01:39:19,121 --> 01:39:20,956
The light
1675
01:39:22,040 --> 01:39:25,669
Don't be sad, I know you will
1676
01:39:29,756 --> 01:39:32,884
But don't give up until
1677
01:39:33,885 --> 01:39:38,056
True love will find you in the end
1678
01:39:42,394 --> 01:39:45,147
KATHY: For as much as Daniel
has expanded the myth of Laurie,
1679
01:39:45,230 --> 01:39:47,065
it really wasn't that big of a deal,
1680
01:39:47,149 --> 01:39:48,900
except in Daniel's mind.
1681
01:39:49,067 --> 01:39:50,986
But what happened with Jeff
really was a big deal.
1682
01:39:51,069 --> 01:39:53,488
And as far as, like a story
that breaks your heart,
1683
01:39:53,572 --> 01:39:56,700
that's the story that breaks my heart
about Daniel's life.
1684
01:39:56,783 --> 01:39:59,661
Daniel told me that he was sorry
about the way he had treated me
1685
01:39:59,744 --> 01:40:02,164
and he admitted that I had been
unjustly fired,
1686
01:40:02,247 --> 01:40:04,958
and he told me
that he was not right mentally at that time.
1687
01:40:05,041 --> 01:40:08,837
And he really said all the things
you would hope to hear from somebody
1688
01:40:08,920 --> 01:40:10,881
who had behaved the way he had behaved.
1689
01:40:10,964 --> 01:40:12,674
He was very sincere
1690
01:40:12,757 --> 01:40:14,759
and I believe he truly felt bad
1691
01:40:14,843 --> 01:40:17,137
about the way things went down
between the two of us.
1692
01:40:17,220 --> 01:40:20,098
Even though I wasn't his manager,
I still had the back catalog
1693
01:40:20,182 --> 01:40:24,060
and I couldn't just stop.
It just made no sense.
1694
01:40:24,186 --> 01:40:25,937
I didn't know what would happen
with this music.
1695
01:40:26,021 --> 01:40:29,941
It would have disappeared forever.
It wouldn't exist today if I stopped.
1696
01:40:30,275 --> 01:40:31,526
Stress Records is my baby.
1697
01:40:31,610 --> 01:40:35,530
It's a company I started about 23 years ago,
and today it exists for the sole purpose
1698
01:40:35,614 --> 01:40:38,533
of spreading the word of Daniel Johnston
to the masses.
1699
01:40:38,617 --> 01:40:42,370
I do that by dubbing his cassettes
and distributing them myself.
1700
01:40:42,454 --> 01:40:44,039
I advertise them over the internet.
1701
01:40:44,122 --> 01:40:46,666
I take mail orders daily.
I work the telephones.
1702
01:40:46,750 --> 01:40:49,878
I send them out to people I know.
I do everything I can.
1703
01:40:50,462 --> 01:40:52,172
(MUSIC PLAYING)
1704
01:40:52,964 --> 01:40:55,300
I do it because people need to hear
this music.
1705
01:40:55,383 --> 01:40:58,094
The music of Daniel Johnston
is something that I think
1706
01:40:58,178 --> 01:41:00,514
everybody needs to at least be exposed to.
1707
01:41:00,597 --> 01:41:02,807
There's really nothing
to even compare it to.
1708
01:41:02,891 --> 01:41:06,770
It goes way beyond Dylan's basement
recordings or early Robert Johnson
1709
01:41:06,853 --> 01:41:09,523
or any other body of work
that I can think of.
1710
01:41:11,066 --> 01:41:15,612
Daniel's been so much better
these last few years, it's a miracle.
1711
01:41:15,695 --> 01:41:17,447
It's even difficult for me to grasp the fact
1712
01:41:17,531 --> 01:41:20,408
that he's playing internationally and touring.
1713
01:41:20,617 --> 01:41:22,118
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1714
01:41:25,664 --> 01:41:26,831
(PEOPLE WHOOPING)
1715
01:41:27,457 --> 01:41:29,501
(ALL SINGING)
1716
01:41:46,268 --> 01:41:48,562
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1717
01:41:49,354 --> 01:41:52,023
(ALL CONTINUE SINGING)
1718
01:42:08,915 --> 01:42:10,166
(DANIEL SPEAKING)
1719
01:42:11,042 --> 01:42:13,003
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1720
01:42:19,426 --> 01:42:21,678
KATHY: In Daniel's life,
everywhere he's gone,
1721
01:42:21,761 --> 01:42:26,224
he leaves this incredible wake behind
of creation and destruction.
1722
01:42:26,600 --> 01:42:30,395
He's done all kinds of things,
both bad and good,
1723
01:42:30,812 --> 01:42:32,897
but they're all mythic.
1724
01:42:33,315 --> 01:42:37,527
And they're all barely believable,
yet they're all true.
1725
01:42:38,153 --> 01:42:40,238
And the kinds of things
that he's done in his career,
1726
01:42:40,322 --> 01:42:41,865
are the kinds of things
someone would only do
1727
01:42:41,948 --> 01:42:46,620
if they were so self-sabotaging
that it was completely mystifying.
1728
01:42:47,037 --> 01:42:49,164
But in terms of creating a legend,
1729
01:42:49,706 --> 01:42:52,334
he's done absolutely everything right.
1730
01:42:56,087 --> 01:43:00,216
(SINGING) He was smiling through
his own personal hell
1731
01:43:00,592 --> 01:43:04,304
Dropped his last dime down a wishing well
1732
01:43:04,387 --> 01:43:06,514
But he was hoping too close
1733
01:43:06,598 --> 01:43:08,391
And then he fell
1734
01:43:08,475 --> 01:43:13,271
Now he's Casper the Friendly Ghost
1735
01:43:16,524 --> 01:43:20,570
He was always polite
to the people who'd tell him
1736
01:43:20,654 --> 01:43:24,199
That he was nothing but a lazy bum
1737
01:43:24,282 --> 01:43:28,286
But goodbye to them he had to go
1738
01:43:28,453 --> 01:43:31,498
Now he's Casper
1739
01:43:31,665 --> 01:43:34,709
ls Matt Greening here tonight,
in the audience somewhere?
1740
01:43:34,793 --> 01:43:36,586
And somebody said,
"You gotta listen to this guy."
1741
01:43:36,670 --> 01:43:37,962
And I said, "Which tape should I get?"
1742
01:43:38,296 --> 01:43:40,340
And I was told, "All of them.
1743
01:43:40,423 --> 01:43:42,676
"And it's right. They are all fantastic."
1744
01:43:42,759 --> 01:43:44,886
There's more comics now
than there have ever been before
1745
01:43:44,969 --> 01:43:47,180
-and The Simpsons comic looks great.
- Thank you.
1746
01:43:47,263 --> 01:43:49,974
I love that. And the superhero,
the guy turns into a superhero.
1747
01:43:50,058 --> 01:43:51,726
There should be
a Daniel Johnston comic book.
1748
01:43:51,810 --> 01:43:55,021
- MAN: Yeah, there should.
- I want to do comics.
1749
01:43:55,105 --> 01:43:56,064
That's what I'm shooting for.
1750
01:43:56,147 --> 01:43:59,150
Good to see you. I'll see you around.
I've got to go see your film.
1751
01:43:59,234 --> 01:44:01,945
Fantastic. Keep up the fantastic work.
1752
01:44:02,028 --> 01:44:05,490
- Call me.
- I want to do some music for you. Okay?
1753
01:44:05,573 --> 01:44:06,866
-Okay.
-Okay.
1754
01:44:06,950 --> 01:44:08,493
- Okay. It's a deal.
- All right, then.
1755
01:44:08,576 --> 01:44:09,953
- See you.
- Bye-bye.
1756
01:44:10,161 --> 01:44:11,871
- Good luck.
- MATT: You, too.
1757
01:44:11,955 --> 01:44:13,039
Okay.
1758
01:44:13,998 --> 01:44:16,167
- Yeah!
-(LAUGHTER)
1759
01:44:16,626 --> 01:44:19,587
(SINGING) And so the legend grew
1760
01:44:20,255 --> 01:44:23,675
And all the people that he knew
1761
01:44:25,009 --> 01:44:29,180
Go and spread the news of Casper
1762
01:44:30,432 --> 01:44:33,226
The Friendly Ghost
1763
01:44:38,898 --> 01:44:40,233
- Thank you.
-(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1764
01:44:40,316 --> 01:44:44,904
- Good night. Thanks a lot. Thank you.
- MAN: More! More!
1765
01:44:45,363 --> 01:44:46,364
More!
1766
01:44:46,990 --> 01:44:48,908
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1767
01:44:49,534 --> 01:44:52,203
More! More!
1768
01:44:53,079 --> 01:44:57,375
BILL: I don't think Dan would have gotten
as far as he did without our help.
1769
01:44:57,542 --> 01:45:01,880
And he, uh, his own words was,
"I don't know what will happen to me,
1770
01:45:02,797 --> 01:45:04,716
"if you don't help me."
1771
01:45:04,883 --> 01:45:07,469
So we have, for years.
1772
01:45:08,470 --> 01:45:10,805
MABEL: He does love us, I can see that.
1773
01:45:11,556 --> 01:45:14,893
I guess I want the impossible,
I want Dan to be whole.
1774
01:45:15,018 --> 01:45:17,896
And be able to take care of himself.
1775
01:45:19,647 --> 01:45:22,817
BILL: And we're worried now,
we 're running out of time.
1776
01:45:23,693 --> 01:45:26,821
Oh my lord
1777
01:45:30,241 --> 01:45:33,369
I am so bored
1778
01:45:36,706 --> 01:45:41,294
Held the hand of Satan
1779
01:45:51,262 --> 01:45:53,807
Oh, Laura
1780
01:45:57,852 --> 01:46:01,105
What has happened to you?
1781
01:46:04,317 --> 01:46:09,239
Held the hand of the Devil
1782
01:46:19,415 --> 01:46:22,460
I was on MTV
1783
01:46:26,297 --> 01:46:29,342
Everybody was looking at me
1784
01:46:33,304 --> 01:46:37,976
Held the hand of the Devil
1785
01:47:30,194 --> 01:47:32,155
Your picture
1786
01:47:34,574 --> 01:47:36,242
ls still
1787
01:47:38,703 --> 01:47:40,705
On my wall
1788
01:47:43,166 --> 01:47:44,918
On my wall
1789
01:47:47,712 --> 01:47:49,714
The colors
1790
01:47:52,216 --> 01:47:54,844
Are bright
1791
01:47:57,055 --> 01:47:59,223
Bright
1792
01:48:00,975 --> 01:48:02,894
As ever
1793
01:48:05,563 --> 01:48:08,650
The red is strong
1794
01:48:09,692 --> 01:48:12,820
The blue is pure
1795
01:48:14,238 --> 01:48:15,657
Some things
1796
01:48:16,574 --> 01:48:19,452
Last a long time
1797
01:48:23,456 --> 01:48:25,458
Some things
1798
01:48:25,750 --> 01:48:28,670
Last a long time
1799
01:48:40,723 --> 01:48:42,767
Your picture
1800
01:48:45,311 --> 01:48:46,980
ls still
1801
01:48:49,524 --> 01:48:51,442
On my wall
1802
01:48:54,028 --> 01:48:55,947
On my wall
1803
01:48:58,741 --> 01:49:00,618
I think
1804
01:49:03,121 --> 01:49:05,248
About you
1805
01:49:08,334 --> 01:49:09,794
Often
1806
01:49:12,755 --> 01:49:14,215
Often
1807
01:49:16,968 --> 01:49:20,638
I won't forget
1808
01:49:21,431 --> 01:49:24,392
All the things We did
1809
01:49:25,893 --> 01:49:27,979
Some things
1810
01:49:28,312 --> 01:49:30,898
last a long time
1811
01:49:34,986 --> 01:49:36,904
Some things
1812
01:49:37,155 --> 01:49:39,824
last a long time
1813
01:49:57,175 --> 01:49:59,135
DANIEL: (WHISPERING) Bye-bye, Dave.
1814
01:49:59,218 --> 01:50:01,387
(GUITAR STRUMMING)
1815
01:50:01,471 --> 01:50:02,472
Bye.