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Title: Is David Bowie's song "Wood Jackson" actually about Daniel Johnston? Post by: Wood Jackson on October 10, 2007, 06:21:01 AM It has been suggested that the rare bside track by David Bowie named Wood Jackson is actually about Daniel Johnston.
Here are the lyrics (if anyone can offer an interpretation, it would be appreciated). Also the song is well worth tracking down as it's quite magnificent: Jackson made twenty tapes in a day To give away A give away And he play The tunes they'd call creative when they're running out of names Heaven knows he's really torn it now But the names it hurt poor jackson stopped the haters in his way Heaven knows he's for it Sha-a-a-me! Hey hey He was never quite unsure but really sane Wants to play Jackson stole twenty souls in a day To take away A take away He takes away And no complaints Heart's upon his sleeve and his blade Wood jackson took the beating every day, given out, passed away, another way Hey hey Just wants to play And how he played The mob they bleed and tremble when they're running after life Heaven knows he's really torn it now The words that killed Wood jackson's friends were written on the wall Heaven knows he's for it Shame! Just wants to play It's a shame Shame It's a shame Wants to play It's a shame It's a shame Just wants to play Title: Re: Is David Bowie's song "Wood Jackson" actually about Daniel Johnston? Post by: Henry Long on October 10, 2007, 07:22:46 AM Very interesting. It's around, on Amazon and a few music sites. "Slow Burn" is the release, I suppose.
I think one could make the argument that this may well be inspired by Daniel, as Bowie certainly is a fan, but who knows? Sound good to me, unless the real Wood Jackson steps up. Thanks! Title: Re: Is David Bowie's song "Wood Jackson" actually about Daniel Johnston? Post by: sunray.jahchild on January 29, 2009, 09:04:51 PM ok, so nobody's been interested in this one for at least 120 days, but having just gotten into daniel via the movie which they just showed tonight on barcelonatv (greatest channel in universe), and being a db obsessive, just had to reply: wood jackson wrote sci-fi back in the 30s, including the classic 'batmen from mars'. daniel is obviously a major influence on the lyric. it also harks back to older db songs, such as bewley bros, all the madmen. and yes, wood jackson should have been more than a somewhat obscure b-side. looking forward to checking out more dan.
Title: Re: Is David Bowie's song "Wood Jackson" actually about Daniel Johnston? Post by: Rob Wheeler on February 01, 2009, 05:49:10 AM Bowie has always had this tendency to leave some of his best material in the archive, but the distance between his best and the sidelined material has become quite vast in his last few albums.
I remember when the 'Thursday's Child' singles came out prior to 'hours...' the B single had a fantastic track on it called 'We shall all go to town'. I could not understand how anything off of the turgid first side pushed that track off the album. Anyway, I think he did have Dan in mind, especially when you consider how it opens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7zXS_zJQCg |