Devil Town (Daniel Johnston cover)

i don't really it's about vampires literally. well maybe but that's not how i interperted it.

i guess because i grew up (well i guess am growing up...) in a small town i relate to this "devil town" differently. i think the narrator traveled or did something to realize how big the world really is.he didn't know this before but he found out that not everyone in the world are like the people in his town. then he comes to a point when he is sick of everyone in his town, how they are all the same, all vampires. but then realizes he is a hypocrite and he himself is the same way, a vampire.

i don't think the term vampire is literal. like other people think the people from my town are stuck-up, ect. so it comes to a point when the non-stuck-up people, like myself, notice this is true. they grow to dislike the people and later realize them too, to some extent, are actually stuck-up themselves. ok that was an overexageration and a horrible example but hopefully you will get the point.

it is a gorgeous song. i like when the girl comes in near the end.

I don't think it's about anything specific, just growing up in general. This song is especially significant for C.O. because it deals with ENVIRONMENT and how that creates and shapes future experiences. Growing up, somewhere along the line, it fucked him up and led to depression and loneliness and everything else. Looking back, and searching for reasons, leads him to the conclusion that it was a combination of who-knows how many things, all of which could be included in the 'Devil Town.'

"Hey Conor, what was it that made you so wretched?" "I don't know...I guess I was living in a Devil Town."

It probably means something similar for D. Johnston too.

This is a cover of a Daniel Johnston song from the tribute lp Discovered Covered. Its a geat version and its worth getting the cd.

i love this song, it's so pretty. everyone is a vampire in this town, it is that simple

Huh, I took something totally different from it. At least when Bright Eyes sings.

It makes me think that Bright Eyes realized that his town had different political views than him, and then he realizes that so do the people around him, his "friends" (perhaps parents, relatives).

It's like when someone realizes that they have starkly different religious or political views than their parents. It could be quite startling to them to realize that everyone seems to believe something they totally disagree with.

i agree with both kris and xian. kris's reasoning makes a lot of sense, but it's probably only part of the meaning behind it. besides that though, i really like what kris got out of it (which is probably why i'm agreeing with them). as we grow up we do tend to judge those around us more critically, when in fact we're just like them.

Today i read an article that stated Conor as the "godfather of emo" and it made ,e think of this songf and how he truly is living in a devil town and all the vampires are trying to suck the life out of him and make all of his words seem like a little emotional boy crying. which is not the case he writes all of these things believe not out of emotional rage but of feelings that can only be free if they are let out and to him the way to let them out is in song.

this is a lot better than the original (daniel johnston) version. his voice is so annoying it makes the song hard to listen to. but of course conor makes it sound 500x better.

im not too sure what the meaning is though. daniel was bipolar and often wrote about his hallucinations and stuff like that. maybe he just thought of everyone in that town as a vampire, there to suck the life out of him and everything else.

yea i agree with vanishing4ct. i heard it was about drugs and stuff. like when it was written daniel was on something. well a beautiful song came out of it. doesnt make the song any less enjoyable or catchy!

If you've seen The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a documentary about his life, it talks about his problems. He was Manic Depressive (Bi Polar) and had delusions of Gradiose. He also suffered the paranioa that comes with such disorders and he believed that the devil was out to get him, that the devil was in the city of Austin, where he spent much time performing. He also was only able to write songs when he was not on medication, thus I take this song very literally. He believed demons were in everyone but him. Thus we have the vampires. xoxo