Mental Health Notes

And The A.S.S. Award Goes To…A Random You Tube Commenter

by Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader on February 23rd, 2008

So, I’m driving down the road yesterday when this fantastic little ditty called “Devil Town” escapes the mixed CD of songs featured on Friday Night Lights I borrowed, pirouettes through my auditory canal, and infiltrates my brain.

This song must be mine, I think during its sixth replay. This song will be mine.

I come home, look it up, and discover someone by the name of Tony Lucca covered it for Friday Night Lights. Because my obsession with music pretty much bypasses all of my other obsessions - Wentworth Miller Prison Break included - I did some research and found out the original artist is a man named Daniel Johnston.

Turns out, Daniel Johnston is a 47-year-old man who has autism and bipolar disorder and has what seems to be a pretty nice music career with umpteen recordings and a decent fan base. Why I didn’t know Daniel Johnston existed is a serious mystery to me.

I must know even more about this Daniel Johnston, I thought. Rather than googling him like any normal, red-blooded American Internet junkie would do, I searched You Tube for videos of Daniel Johnston performing “Devil Town.” (Don’t ask me why, I don’t know - I was already there watching Prison Break fan videos, OK?!)

You Tube presented me with Daniel Johnston - Devil Town, and, as fate would have it, Mental Health Notes’ second A.S.S., i.e. winner of the Abusive Supporter of Stigma Award. Actually, someone who goes by the username “sploogersmoof” is being honored with the award, for leaving the following comment under the video:

man, daniel is f*****g crazy. i mean, litterly, he is crazy. he got arrested for drawing jesus fish inside the statue of liberty for christs sake! but that why we all love him isnt it. rock on you crazy bipolar basterd!

Sure, I edited the foul language, but I left the misspellings and general lack of respect for apostrophes and other such mechanics- and grammar-related snubbings intact. Why rob this A.S.S. of all his glory?

For more information about Daniel Johnston (yes, I did finally turn to google), check out the following sites:

• Hi, How Are You?: Johnston’s Official Website.
• The Devil and Daniel Johnston: The official website of the 2005 documentary about Daniel Johnston.
• Rejected Unknown: The Daniel Johnston Official Fan Site.

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POSTED IN: A.S.S. Awards, Bipolar Disorder, Famous Folk, Mood Disorders, Rants & Raves, Sites of Interest, stigma