Daniel Johnston’s practice revolved around a culling of his psychiatric medication in the weeks leading up to recording sessions. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, this ritual detox found him frequently in and out of mental institutions, suffering from depression, mania, paranoia, narcissism, and delusions.
As he progressed from incel basement-dweller to underground folk hero to international indie legend, the ramifications of Johnston’s health crises became increasingly moral and mortal. Take, for instance, his trip to New York, which resulted in 1990, the final record of demos and live tapes preceding his foray into studio production. Upon arriving in the city, Johnston immediately discontinued his meds, broke plans with drummer Steve Shelley, and ended up arrested for drawing ichthyses in the Statue of Liberty’s stairwell.
After being bailed out of jail, he interrupted the first of a series of concerts he was set to headline with a wild, proselytizing rant, and disappeared for days after Sonic Youth suggested contacting his parents. The band members eventually located him in a motel parking lot and tried to send the songwriter home. Johnston, however, was convinced God wanted him in NYC for missionary purposes. Shelley kicked him out of his apartment. Lee Ranaldo found him beaten and robbed on Bowery. He put him on a bus to West Virginia, though two days later Johnston was back in the city, admitted to Bellevue Hospital, from which he checked himself out and played a show at CBGB before being dropped by the label slated to issue his botched album. Upon its eventual unfinished release, he was committed to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.
Such stories about the artist growing old were too typical. And over the following decades, numerous documentaries, exhibitions, and publications circulated on behalf of the virtuoso. Still, he remained unstable, always returning to his erratic spiritual calling. He died in his home on September 11, 2019. Now I’m on the same meds as Daniel, working on a plan to get off.
-David Fishkind