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 marijuana ("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.
Read more about this topic: Songs Of Pain
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