Ah, something we didn’t realize it until one of our Interscope friends (who put out the soundtrack ) pointed it out, but it makes perfect sense given the childlike nature of his music. The song, “Worried Shoes, by Karen O & The Kids on the “Where The Wild Things Are” soundtrack is actually a cover of a Daniel Johnston song, the wonderfully cracked and damaged Austin, Texas singer songwriter known for his outsider-rock tendencies and bouts with mental illness (plus the 2006 documentary about him, “The Devil and Daniel Johnston”).
His wonderfully frayed pop songs have already been covered by folks like Jad Fair, Eels, Bright Eyes, Calvin Johnson, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Sparklehorse, The Flaming Lips and Tom Waits, so what does it hurt to add another group of musicians to the mix, right? One of our personal favorites is Firehose’s (Mike Watt’s old band) cover of “Walking The Cow.” Sorry, TV on the Radio, this is the best version. A gateway introductory drug if you will to Johnston’s music for many film fans was on the soundtrack for Larry Clark’s controversial film 1995 “Kids,” which featured two of his songs.
Anywhoo, the whole album came out yesterday and you can hear it in its entirety here. The film, directed by Spike Jonze comes out October 16.