Strange Boy, by Kate Davis (2024)

1.

If you want true love, you gotta make god your boyfriend, you know?That seems to me like the surest pathAnd maybe also true love is mundaneLike its already, it’s already in your lifeLike its not anywhere or in any person that you don’t already know

2.

Sometimes I feel like I am a boxerSeems like I'm always standing in the ringAnd then I find someone's been in my lockerHe left me a note that says I can't singI'll do anything but break dance for you, darlin'I just stepped out of the donikerI don't know what happened and I can't rememberBut I was soon to discoverThat my radio had been brokenI'll do anything but break dance for ya, darlin'Don't you know that I love you, love youDon't you know that I love you, love youAll the folks on dope in search of hopeEverybody and the lonely orphanAnd everyone around the worldEvery boy and every girlFor all the good timesAlways remember and never forgetIn my secret heartI'll do anything but break dance for ya, darlin'Don't you know that I love you, love youDon't you know that I love you, love youDon't you know that I love you, love youDon't you know that I love you, love you

3.

I sometimes think that love is loveThere’s no different type of loveBut just different types of peopleWhat if you tell a loveless friend you believe it’s just around the corner for themEven though you don’t really believe it

4.

Bye, Bye, BarbieBarbie, Bye, ByeA knock in the skull sure changes a manI'm having a hard timeIt's been a long timeSince I tried to lay down a songBye, Bye, BarbieBarbie, Bye, ByeA knock in the skull sure changes a manBye, Bye, Barbie

5.

The real love that you should find by the end of your life is with yourself because you are going to die alone and there’s not going to be a person sort of crossing over into death with you

6.

I was shadow boxingAnd my shadow punched backCan you imagine my surprise?Then I got to thinking If there's something I don't knowSomething inside of me That I'm trying to hideFighting with myselfI may never winBut I'll never stopWhen did I begin?'Til I can rest peacefullyI don't feel bitterAnd I wasn't thereAnd I wondered where I could be nowSo I sat in a chair and tried to relaxBut I don't really know howFighting with myselfI may never winBut I'll never stopWhen did I begin?'Til I can rest peacefullyFighting with myselfI may never winBut I'll never stopWhen did I begin?'Til I can rest peacefullySometimes I feel like I could get alongBut it always ends in tearsSometimes I feel like I could be happyBut I always find something to fear

7.

Are you recording me? Oh okI think that I feel like his voice was shakey somehowIt kinda sounds like he had an accent Like different from die or somethingI don’t know because in the end of your lifeI don’t know, this is what I take from

8.

You're too young to dieSo much of lifeAhead of youToo young to dieTake a look outside sometimeA butterfly just won't flyToo young to dieYeah!You must decideNo need to hideSee tears roll downSeeDon't be a tearSmile for me, dearDon't be a frownToo young to die

9.

Hi I’m on the busThat song reminds me of that night that we were togetherAnd then I went and got drinks with someone who I fell in love withAnd we were listening to Daniel Johnston and it wasn’t that songBut it resonatesIs that cheesy?

10.

This song's about pain and hope and suffering... loveThis song's about waiting and waitingThis song's about gladness and madnessAnd the difference betweenThis song's about overAnd it will never stop

11.

I know this songThis guy with a fragile voiceI’m sure I know it, I know itI used to listen to this kind of musicAnd I remember I would build compose very long playlists I would share with my friend until one day my friend sent one of her depressing playlistsWhereas the lyrics were not depressing at allIt just It was all about the voiceAnd the guy sounds like I don’t know he’s lonely in a warehouseI’m wondering who’s talkingIt sounds like a boyfriend breaking up with you and telling you are the most amazing person but he doesn’t deserve you, you know what I mean?Saying in a very sad voice “it’s not sad, there’s hope, bye”

12.

First time that I saw youMy heart skipped a beatI thought that you were prettyI thought that you were neatAnd I walked outsideI saw the starsExpecting that they be thereThey always areAt nightAnd I know that it feels goodJust as I to you But ISaw you walking on your wayYou were walking backI saw that guy walking with youLooked like he was wearing a maskThen I turn, and saw the sun thereShining like it doesDuring the dayAnd I know that it feels goodJust as I to youBut I...This is the last time that I see youIs the last time that I see your faceI wave, you think I'm waving 'hi'But I'll be waving byeGoodbye

13.

And the cat Larry David it was her name, she’s the mumShe came up and jumped up and sat on my lap and was licking baby George and trying to comfort him and I was keeping him warm he was very much skin and boneAnd moments before the wedding started I put him back into his, into his little nest and the other two kittens came and crawled in next to him and Larry David the mama came in and she crawled in and got warm and cozy with him and right before we went off to the wedding we checked in George and he had passed away

14.

The clouds they cameThe sun was hid by the stormThe picnics were cancelledThe little children stayed inside to playOh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no!The wind it blowsThe leaves are piled by the roadThe cat it died13 years is a long timeMost get hit by a carOh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no!The moon is outThe stars they shine in the nightThe clock it ticksThe old lady sits all aloneOh, noOh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no!Oh, no! Oh, no!Oh, no!

15.

I’m far from homeI need a drinkI’m alone in the boothAlone sipping mezcalDJ is a RockstarHe is the greatestHe was my kind of guyHe can really rock

16.

When I saw youI was frozenI knew that I had alreadyGone ahead and chosenI was in love with youI was in love with youI see you act the same wayWhenever we get nearOn the verge of tearsDarling now I fearI am in love with youI am in love with youI tell you nowIt's spooky for me tooJust to feel this wayI don't know what to doI am in love with youI am in love with youI am a strange boyI come from West VirginiaI've seen a lot of hardIn the Avant GardeI am in love with youI am in love with you

17.

If My Ears Were Better And I Could Understand The Words

18.

True love will find you in the endYou'll find out just who was your friendDon’t be sad, I know you willBut don’t give up untilTrue love will find you in the endThis is a promise with a catchOnly if you're looking can it find you‘Cause true love is searching tooBut how can it recognize youUnless you step out into the light, the light, the lightDon’t be sad, I know you willBut don’t give up untilTrue love finds you in the end

In collaboration with the Hi, How Are You Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing open conversations around mental health and well-being, Davis will release Strange Boy, a unique rendering that is named after the eighth song on Johnston’s original masterpiece.

Johnston, who died on September 11, 2019 at the age of 58, has long been a beacon to those making lo-fi bedroom pop. The crinkled quality he achieved by recording to tape made him a giant of the genre. His music, celebrated for its childlike tenderness and for the way he acutely described his own struggles with bipolar disorder, is part of his enduring legacy.

“When I first heard Daniel Johnston I was struck by the directness and clarity in his writing,” Davis says. “I wanted to gain perspective into that directness.”

As a homage to that original song — which begins with a three-minute recording of a man telling a story about meeting Johnston for the first time — Davis placed recordings of her own friends sharing memories that they have of Johnston as interludes between each of the nine songs on her new album. Most of the voices have been sped up to give the impression of someone fast-forwarding through a cassette tape. It’s a neat touch that adds both color and humor to the work.

Davis also put her own spin on the music, adding fuzzy psychedelic tones and warm rock and roll textures that position the cover album alongside her highly coveted indie rock debut, Trophy.