Don't Be Scared

{{about|the Daniel Johnston album|the John Lennon and Yoko Ono song|Milk and Honey (album){{!}}''Milk and Honey'' (album)|the Rip Chords song|The Rip Chords}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Don't Be Scared | type = album | artist = Daniel Johnston | cover = Daniel Johnston - Don't Be Scared.jpg | alt = | released = 1982 | recorded = July 1982 | venue = | studio = The Johnston Residence's Basement, West Virginia | genre = Blues, Outsider, Lo-fi | length = 60:37 | label = Self-released<ref name=TP/><br>Stress Records<ref name=MH/><br>Eternal Yip Eye Music | producer = Daniel Johnston | prev_title = Songs of Pain | prev_year = 1981 | next_title = The What of Whom | next_year = 1982 }} {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r214192|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]</ref> |rev2 = ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' |rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="CL">{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=4 |page=667}}</ref> |rev3 = ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' |rev3score = {{rating|2.5|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=611}}</ref> |rev4 = ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' |rev4score = 5/10<ref name="SP">{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |page=200}}</ref> }}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot-->

'''''Don't Be Scared''''' is singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston's second self-released album, released in 1982.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/1999-03-19/521590/|title=Genius of Love|website=www.austinchronicle.com}}</ref> It was re-released on cassette in 1989 by Stress Records, a label run by Johnston's friend and manager Jeff Tartakov, on mp3 by emusic.com in 2000, and on CDR by Eternal Yip Eye Music in 2004.

"I Had Lost My Mind" features prominently in the 2005 documentary feature on Johnston's life, ''The Devil and Daniel Johnston.'' The song was accompanied in the film by animation created from cels drawn by Johnston in a book that he had intended to submit to a local competition.

== Background == The album was recorded in July 1982, during Johnston's summer vacation between his sophomore and junior years studying at Kent State University. He was 21 at the time.

As with the previous album, ''Songs of Pain'', the recordings were made in his parents' basement in West Virginia, where Johnston was living at the time.<ref>''The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Dr. Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005''</ref> Initially, Johnston only produced one copy of this tape, until 1986 when Jeff Tartakov of Stress Records began distributing copies.

=== Artwork === The artwork is a drawing of Johnston's 'Polka Dot Underwear Guy' character, with the top of his head removed. The exposed insides of his head represent Johnston's inability to hold anything back artistically, 'spilling forth embarrassingly personal expressions of vulnerability.' The character was when Johnston was in high school, representing anybody 'embattled by life', including Johnston. An evolution of the Polka Dot Underwear Guy, Joe The Boxer, later appeared on the cover of ''Retired Boxer''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yazdani |first1=Tarssa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o7ocj0Qn2IsC |title=Hi, how are You?: The Life, Art & Music of Daniel Johnston |last2=Goede |first2=Don |date=2006 |publisher=Last Gasp |isbn=978-0-86719-667-2 |pages=45–46 |language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy == On Kathy McCarty's 1994 tribute album ''Dead Dog's Eyeball'', she featured two songs on ''Don't Be Scared'', "I Had A Dream" and "Going Down".<ref>K. McCarty - Dead Dog's Eyeball: Songs Of Daniel Johnston (Justine, JUSCD002, 1994)</ref> Sparklehorse recorded "My Yoke Is Heavy" for their 2000 EP ''Distorted Ghost''. In 2004, M. Ward covered "Story of an Artist" and Guster "The Sun Shines Down on Me" on ''The Late Great Daniel Johnston''. Two years later, Chris Harford covered the song "Going Down" on another tribute album titled ''I Killed The Monster''.<ref>I Killed The Monster - (Second Shimmy, 0100, 2006)</ref> In 2013, Adrian Crowley and James Yorkston recorded a mini-album of Johnston covers titled after and featuring the song "My Yoke Is Heavy" as well as "The Sun Shines Down on Me".<ref>Adrian Crowley & James Yorkston – My Yoke Is Heavy : The Songs Of Daniel Johnston (Chemikal Underground, PCHEM203CD, 2013)</ref>

Retrospectives on the album published decades following its release praised "The Story of an Artist" highly; the ''Tampa Bay Times'' called it "heartbreaking", while ''The New Yorker'' referred to it as "haunting".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The heartbreaking story of Daniel Johnston|url=https://www.tampabay.com/the-heartbreaking-story-of-daniel-johnston/2239310/|website=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Baker|first=Peter C.|title=Working Through the Sadness of Daniel Johnston's Last —for Now—Tour|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/working-through-the-sadness-of-daniel-johnstons-lastfor-nowtour|magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>

In 2017, a benefit concert by the Canadian Mental Health foundation was held in tribute to Daniel Johnston and was named after the album.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fournier|first=Emelia|title=Local musicians gather to pay tribute to underground folk hero Daniel Johnston – The Manitoban|date=24 March 2017 |url=https://www.themanitoban.com/2017/03/local-musicians-gather-pay-tribute-underground-folk-hero-daniel-johnston/31336/|access-date=2021-10-12|language=en-CA}}</ref>

When Douglas Wolk of ''Pitchfork'' reviewed Johnston's first six albums as part of the "Story of an Artist" boxset, "Don't Be Scared" was described as "lacking in quality control", with Wolk calling "Stars on Parade" "plain awful" and the rest of the material "rather samey", save for "The Story of An Artist".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Daniel Johnston: The Story of an Artist|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14410-the-story-of-an-artist/|access-date=2021-10-12|website=Pitchfork|language=en}}</ref> Similarly, ''Trouser Press'' called the album a "disjointed, a muddy transliteration of some fine songs."<ref name="TP">{{cite web|title=Daniel Johnston|url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/daniel-johnston/|website=Trouser Press|accessdate=26 October 2020}}</ref>

In March 2019, No-Comply Skateshop released a limited edition series of Vans shoes featuring Johnston's artwork, including that of "Don't Be Scared".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-07|title=No-Comply Skateshop & Daniel Johnston Team up on Exclusive Vans Collection|url=https://hypebeast.com/2019/3/daniel-johnston-x-no-comply-vans-collaboration|access-date=2021-10-12|website=HYPEBEAST}}</ref>

David Peisner, writing for ''The New York Times'', included the song "The Story of An Artist" in his "12 essential Daniel Johnston tracks" article.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Peisner|first=David|date=2019-09-12|title=Daniel Johnston's Essential Songs: Listen to 12 Tracks|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/arts/music/daniel-johnston-playlist.html|access-date=2021-10-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Similarly, Willoughby Thom for ''The Observer'' had "The Sun Shines Down on Me" in their top five.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-19|title=Hi, how are you Daniel Johnston? // The Observer|url=https://ndsmcobserver.com/2019/09/kurt-cobain-daniel-johnston/|access-date=2021-10-12|website=The Observer|language=en}}</ref> For ''The Miscellany News''{{'s}} retrospective on Johnston, Abby Tarwater described this album (as well as ''Songs of Pain'') as 'strikingly lo-fi and achingly honest, balancing sunny, childlike pop songs with unfiltered musings on love and longing so agonizing that they're often uncomfortable to listen to'.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Enchanting, enigmatic, enduring: RIP Daniel Johnston – The Miscellany News|date=19 September 2019 |url=https://miscellanynews.org/2019/09/19/arts/enchanting-enigmatic-enduring-rip-daniel-johnston/|access-date=2021-10-12|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2021, the American mystery-comedy television show ''Only Murders in the Building'' included the album's title track in its first episode.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leung|first=Yasmine|date=2021-09-01|title=The gripping soundtrack to Only Murders in the Building season 1|url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/09/01/the-gripping-soundtrack-to-only-murders-in-the-building-season-1/|access-date=2021-10-12|website=HITC|language=en-GB}}</ref> In May 2022, Vans produced a second shoe design featuring the album's artwork in a collage with his other tapes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-06 |title=Daniel Johnston x Vans Collection Release Date {{!}} SneakerNews.com |url=https://sneakernews.com/2022/05/06/daniel-johnston-vans-sk8-hi-slip-on-authentic-release-date/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Sneaker News |language=en-US}}</ref> In May 2023, an exhibit of Johnston's work hosted in Houston's Redbud Gallery was named after the album.<ref>[https://www.chron.com/culture/arts/article/daniel-johnston-show-18073381.php New Daniel Johnston exhibit remembers the outsider art of a Texas icon]</ref>

== Track listing == All tracks written and produced by Daniel Johnston.

'''Side one:'''

{{Track listing | all_writing = | title1 = Going Down | length1 = 2:57 | title2 = Lost Without a Dame | length2 = 2:58 | title3 = Harley Man | length3 = 2:03 | title4 = Something More | length4 = 3:23 | title5 = Evening Stars | length5 = 2:04 | title6 = Cold Hard World | length6 = 3:10 | title7 = I Had a Dream | length7 = 2:40 | title8 = The Story of an Artist | length8 = 5:08 | title9 = My Yoke Is Heavy | length9 = 5:53 | title10 = | length10 = | total_length = 30:16 }}

'''Side two:'''

{{Track listing | all_writing = | title1 = | length1 = | title2 = | length2 = | title3 = | length3 = | title4 = | length4 = | title5 = | length5 = | title6 = | length6 = | title7 = | length7 = | title8 = | length8 = | title9 = | length9 = | title10 = Stars on Parade | length10 = 2:42 | total_length = 30:21 | length11 = 4:01 | length12 = 1:46 | length13 = 2:50 | length14 = 4:09 | length15 = 3:20 | length16 = 3:12 | length17 = 4:44 | length18 = 3:37 | title11 = And You Love It | title12 = I Had Lost My Mind | title13 = The Sun Shines Down on Me | title14 = Loner | title15 = Don't Be Scared | title16 = Lullaby | title17 = I Was Alone | title18 = Mother Mom Said }}

== Release history == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Label !Format !Region !Notes |- |1986 | rowspan="2" |Stress Records | rowspan="2" |Cassette | rowspan="4" |USA | |- |1989 | |- |2004 | rowspan="2" |Eternal Yip Eye Music |CD-R | |- | rowspan="3" |2010 |Cassette | |- | rowspan="2" |Munster Records |CD | rowspan="2" |Spain | rowspan="2" |As part of 'The Story Of An Artist', a 6 disc box-set containing Johnston's albums recorded in West Virginia between 1980 - 1983. |- |LP |- |2014 |Eternal Yip Eye Music |Cassette |USA | |}

== Personnel ==

* Daniel Johnston – vocals, piano

== References == {{reflist}}<br />{{Daniel Johnston}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Daniel Johnston albums Category:1982 albums Category:Albums recorded in a home studio Category:Self-released albums