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Songs of Pain

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Released
  
1981

Songs of Pain (1981)
  
Don't Be Scared (1982)

Release date
  
1980

Producer
  
Daniel Johnston

Recorded
  
1980–1981

Artist
  
Daniel Johnston

Genre
  
Alternative/Indie

Label
  
Eternal Yip Eye Music

Songs of Pain httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenee6Son

Similar
  
Daniel Johnston albums, Lo-fi music albums, Other albums

Songs of Pain is the first album by folk singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded on a simple tape recorder and released on Compact Cassette. Johnston recorded these songs in the basement of his parents' house in West Virginia. It was recorded in 1980 and 1981, and handed out to friends by Johnston. It was rereleased on cassette by Stress Records in 1988, and on Compact Disc in 2003 by the label Dual Tone, together with More Songs of Pain as Early Recordings Volume 1.

Contents

Daniel johnston songs of pain 01 grievances


Sound

All songs feature Johnston on vocals and piano, except for "Premarital Sex" where he plays organ. The opening track, "Grievances", introduces themes that reoccur throughout Johnston's career. He sings about his unrequited love to "the librarian", which refers to a girl named Laurie Allen who has functioned as a muse in many of Johnston's songs. This has been described as the quintessential Daniel Johnston song, including by Johnston himself. Not only the lyrical but also the musical theme of the song has been alluded to in later works. The word "grievances" has also been reused in other song titles, like on More Songs of Pain's "Mabel's Grievances" and Yip/Jump Music's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances".

Other themes on the album are premarital sex ("Joy Without Pleasure" and "Premarital Sex"), Christianity ("A Little Story") and cannabis ("Pot Head").

Between some of the songs are recordings of Johnston's mother screaming at him that he will never make anything of himself. According to Johnston on "The Goat Show", from Lost Recordings Volume 2, this was an "act", though that was likely a facetious remark, as Johnston claims that he and his mother had been working on this act "for about 20 years", which was about his age at the time.

Track listing

All songs written by Daniel Johnston.

  1. "Grievances" – 2:49
  2. "A Little Story" – 3:30
  3. "Joy Without Pleasure" – 1:55
  4. "Never Relaxed" – 3:28
  5. "Brainwash" – 2:40
  6. "Pot Head" – 3:23
  7. "Wicked World" – 2:35
  8. "Lazy" – 2:41
  9. "I Save Cigarette Butts" – 5:26
  10. "Like a Monkey in a Zoo" – 3:28
  11. "Wicked Will" – 1:45
  12. "An Idiot's End" – 4:36
  13. "Wild West Virginia" – 2:39
  14. "Since I Lost My Tooth" – 1:21
  15. "Urge" – 2:36
  16. "Living Life" – 4:08
  17. "Tuna Ketchup" – 2:06
  18. "Premarital Sex" – 3:05
  19. "Don't Act Nice" – 0:37
  20. "Hate Song" – 2:07

Songs

1Grievances2:47
2A Little Story
3Joy Without Pleasure1:53

References

Songs of Pain Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA