Lyrics for Devil Town (Daniel Johnston cover) as interpreted by Kurt Russell

Devil Town (Daniel Johnston cover) Lyrics
I was living in a devil town
Didn't know it was a devil town
Oh Lord, it really brings me down
About the devil town
And all my friends were vampires
Didn't know they were vampires
Turns out I was a vampire myself
In the devil town
I was living in a devil town
Didn't know it was a devil town
Oh Lord, it really brings me down
About the devil town

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Kurt Russell
01-12-2005

Rated 0 
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.

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passthespection
05-10-2005

Rated 0 
i love this song, it's so pretty. everyone is a vampire in this town, it is that simple

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kris10xx
10-31-2006

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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.

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Shky
11-07-2006

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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.

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XianSnake
12-11-2006

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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.

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smunchy pb
12-30-2006

Rated 0 
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.

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imsogoodatvanishing
01-04-2007

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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.

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devil_town77
01-19-2007

Rated 0 
it kinda bugs me that a lot of people think this was written by bright eyes becuase its not. its written by daniel johnston this is just an amazing cover.

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VANISHING4CT
01-20-2007

Rated 0 
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.

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balloonoflove
02-10-2007

Rated 0 
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!

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cartoon_cat3
02-25-2007

Rated 0 
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

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groundflower
03-15-2007

Rated 0 
This is such a good cover.

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endless_static_sea
05-02-2007

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I think that the original meaning of this song had to do with Daniel's trip to New York, when he was working with the guys from Sonic Youth. During his stay there, if I can remember correctly, he freaked out and thought that everyone had the devil (or demons) in them. He took off and the band mates had to go out looking for him. I think the Devil Town he's referring to is NYC.

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bright_eyes13
07-07-2007

Rated 0 
Daniel Johnston was kind of out of his mind... if you've seen The Devil and Daniel Johnston, you'd understand.

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blahblah123123
11-13-2007

Rated 0 
VANISHING4CT you're a dumbfuck. don't speak again

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xxMeg
12-05-2007

Rated 0 
I always took the mention of "vampires" to mean those who aren't really your friends, but instead feed off of your connections, moods, money, or anything else that can be taken from you and used.

And the whole concept of the "devil town" I took to mean as an entire community of people merely using each other, with no real feelings of compassion or love present. Not a promising world view.

I know that might not be the actual context of the song, but that's what I get out of it.

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majones
01-16-2008

Rated 0 
I feel this song kind of sums up my life at the place I live.

"I was living in a devil town"

It's a really small and judging town in our county in Norway.

"Didn't know it was a devil town"

I didn't really know it untill I finished 1. - 10. grade, and began at the gymnasium another place.

"Oh Lord, it really brings me down
About the devil town.."

"And all my friends were vampires
Didn't know they were vampires"

I meet new people and realized that my old friends were bastards. They used me, and they used each other. I didn't like them, they didn't like me, they didn't like themselves. I was released from this gigantic pressure I had no idea existed. My new friends were so nice, not judging, not making anyone feel like outcasts.

"Turns out I was a vampire myself
In the devil town"

The worst thing of it all, is that I have this vampire inside to. Deeply hidden, but still inside there somewhere. Wanting, needing, thinking only about what would benefit me. Sometimes, it almost bursts. I feel like hurting someone, being rude,
but I never could or would. I have too much conscience. It's how I've been raised, and how my environment has influenced me. Veird=P

Oh, it's really long. Well, anyway, that's how I feel about the song.

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pleasemallorie
01-21-2008

Rated 0 
listen to the songs daniel wrote around the same time as this one....

clearly a reference to his delusions.

either way...conor cover daniel j. is a great thing and I'm happy that it happened...

i really wish he would've covered a different song though....just because it's not my fav. Daniel Johnston song

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bear_hug20
08-30-2008

Rated 0 
Don't fight here pls...

Raly, Johnson Thong is a bi-polar?!?!
They said I might be one too. ( Well, I want to consult a doctort about it, I hope I am NOT)

But sometimes it made me thinks that thjat's kinda exciting, what's exciting about it? I don't KNow!
What I;m sure of is, "Life is Like a Box Of Chocolates, you never know What you'll gonna get" - Forrest Gump's MOther

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bear_hug20
08-30-2008

Rated 0 
* correction*

Really!! Daniel Johnston is a Bi-polar?

I woner why I had that mistakes, maybe I am really a BP...LOL!

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bear_hug20
08-30-2008

Rated 0 
See!!

another mistakes in a suppposedly correction of the first comment I did...hahaha

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FilthIsFun
09-15-2008

Rated 0 
I've always really related to this song.
Obviously other people may interpret it differently, but that's half the beauty of music.
By 'vampires' I always felt that it was just a metaphor about deplorable people who just suck the life out of you. And in the end realizes he is no different. I feel it really describes where I live. Everyone here just fucks one another over, theres no such thing as lasting friendship here. I used to think I was so different then everyone else, and above them but in time realized I'm really no different.

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chitarele
10-12-2008

Rated 0 
Emotional vampires.

"East London is a vampire
It sucks the joy right out of me"

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deathwriter08
12-04-2008

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I just took it to be about perspective, and how when you leave a place, you learn that everyone else views you differently. He was always a vampire (metaphorically), he just didn't learn it until he saw what nonvampires looked like.

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othatzsokewl
07-13-2009

Rated 0 
Is that Maria Taylor I hear at the end?

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