Van Gough
Daniel Johnston. Syrup of Tears.
I thought that this song was called “I love you more than myself”. That would be a less ridiculous title, Daniel. Although in retrospect the whole song is unusual. Johnston, as usual, is defined more by his song writing capability than his lyrical ability. His titles and lyrics sound miserable, and the songs are tinged with a sadness, but musically the songs almost invariably sound hopeful, almost joyous. Like a preacher who acknowledges the inevitability of death and suffering, but is still rejoicing in the glory of their god.
Women Picking Olives.
It’s really not about the women, it never was. Van Gogh does not know how to paint people,or does not care to. The subject here is the ground and the base of the trees. It’s a voyeuristic, hallucinogenic look at the ground. That may not sound interesting, but it really is.
It’s very important to go and see the picture up close, the caked on paint, the smudges and blending. It seems at once meticulous and passionate. A single mindedness that looks as though it was done with abandon. Women Picking Olives is next to the more famous, and probably rightfully so Grove with Cypresses. Van Gogh is too often portrayed as simply this tortured soul, defined by suicide, his black skies, and his road to nowhere. He was also a painter and his work comes before most of the impressionists. Van Gogh is rightfully put alongside Cezanne and Gaugain as the post-impressionist inventors of modern painting.
It is probably only because of Van Gogh’s reputation for being depressed, cutting his own ear off and sending it to a lover who spurned him, and general mental instability that connects this song to him. It’s obvious and I hate that. It’s unoriginal, because if there is one thing all artists are generally supposed to be is miserable and slightly insane, and this is unfair.
John Hutt 