Van Gogh in "Visions of Johanna"
Bloomeenee
Johanna" might be about Johanna Van Gogh Bonger, Van Gogh's sister in law.
Being a major fan of both the song and the artist, I was surprised that the
connection hadn't occured to me before. There are obviously art references in
the song (verse 4 being the best art related verse of a song in history), but
the idea of the song being based on looking all night through a Van Gogh book
in a loft somewhere in New York, with only a couple of other people present
(Louise and her Lover/little boy lost, who I still think may be Richard and
Mimi Farina, though Little Boy Lost could also be Van Gogh related) makes the
song make even more sense to me than ever. This, I felt, warranted further
investigation.
Now, being in college (which I've been for three weeks now) can get rather
lonely when one doesn't happen to drink. So I thought I'd alleviate my boredome
by staying up as late as I could (past the dawn if possible) reading through
Van Gogh books from the library and listening to every version of "Visions" I
have available (six or so) on a continuous loop. So, that's how I spent last
night.
First let me say this: people who print up books on Van Gogh in which all of
the illustrations are in black and white should be made to apologize to their
mothers profusely, and then should be forced to put on a frilly dress and a
have a tea party for some stuffed animals in the middle of a crowded street.
With that off my chest, I'll continue the story. I've always liked Van Gogh.
When I saw a Van Gogh in person for the first time at the Metropolitan Museum
recently, I very nearly got into trouble for leaning in over the ropes to see
the painting from the side (you just don't get that sort of texture on a post
card, man). But looking at these works (and reading exerpts of his letters and
diaries) is a whole other experience when it's late at night, and one is
listening to "Visions of Johanna."
I had just gotten through hearing each version once when my roomate (whom I
took to his first Dylan concert in Atlanta last weekend) announced that he was
going to sleep. This led me to set up camp out in the hallway, where the light
was better. Somehow, this atmosphere seemed more like actually being inside the
song, particularly verse one.
"Hey, whatcha doing out here?" asked the passers-by, drunk as usual.
"Pretending I'm a Hopper painting," I replied, halk joking. I think I fooled
half of them, though.
At that point, I swear to God, I heard the sound of "Visions" playing out of
someone else's dorm room. Shocked, I knocked on the door.
"Great choice of song, man!" I said, hoping to be able to share the Van
Gogh/Johanna ideas with someone.
"Yeah, man," said the guy, his face covered by a familiar haze. "Best drug song
of all time. I like the Dead's version better though."
This got me hopping mad. I tried to explain that, no, it wasn't a drug song so
much as it was an art song, but to no avail. maybe I can try again when the guy
is more sober. For then, I just decided to give him credit for liking the song
for any reason, and sat back down in the hall way.
And there it was. Looking at some of the portraits Van Gogh painted towards the
end of his life in the South of France, staring hard into the colors used in
the skin tones, it suddenly struck me: "THAT"s it! That's EXACTLY what it looks
like when the ghost of electricity howls in the bones of your face!" Much as
I'd always loved that line, I'd never been able to picture the image
completely. I could get the ghost of electricity, or howling electricity, but
never a howling ghost of electricity. That may or may not make sense to anyone
else, but it makes sense to me. And there it was. Right in the portraits.
Almost all of the later portraits, in fact. Suddenly, almost every image in the
song was in my head, looking as though it were a Van Gogh, and they all fir
perfectly.
This probably doesn't count as a scientific investigation, but I for one am
convinced now that the song is about Johanna Van Gogh Bonger. I've never
enjoyed either the song or Van Gogh as much as I did last night. It's an
experiment that everyone should try.
Adam
Bob Gill
>
> At that point, I swear to God, I heard the sound of "Visions" playing out of
> someone else's dorm room. Shocked, I knocked on the door.
> "Great choice of song, man!" I said, hoping to be able to share the Van
> Gogh/Johanna ideas with someone.
> "Yeah, man," said the guy, his face covered by a familiar haze. "Best drug song
> of all time. I like the Dead's version better though."
> This got me hopping mad. I tried to explain that, no, it wasn't a drug song
>
Absolutely. It's just vulgar to think so.
By the way, although I know next to nothing about painting, I think your Van
Gogh/Johanna idea is interesting. I'll keep that in mind next time I listen to
the song.
-- Bob G.
jaydg
Bloomeenee wrote in message
<19990912144823...@ng-fa1.aol.com>...
>"Yeah, man," said the guy, his face covered by a familiar haze. "Best drug
song
>of all time. I like the Dead's version better though."
A vulgar thought indeed!
Richard
time someone has made this connection. It is a plausible connection, and
likely that Bob could not assist you much if you had the chance to ask him
(and I do not mean "would not").
Bob Gill <bob...@erols.com> wrote in message news:37DC68...@erols.com...
> Bloomeenee wrote:
> >
> > At that point, I swear to God, I heard the sound of "Visions" playing
out of
> > someone else's dorm room. Shocked, I knocked on the door.
> > "Great choice of song, man!" I said, hoping to be able to share the Van
> > Gogh/Johanna ideas with someone.
> > "Yeah, man," said the guy, his face covered by a familiar haze. "Best
drug song
> > of all time. I like the Dead's version better though."
Claire
Are you for real - did you really do this - it seems to me to be the
coolest thing that anyone has done on this newsgroup for a while
I can definitely see where you're coming from - especially the bit
about the ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face - I can
actually picture the paintings that you mean in my mind.....It makes
total sense interpreted like this but still keeps its surreal
nature......
Did Don Maclean do Vincent at around the same time - Before/after - I'm
not old enough to know....(not that Im comparing him to Bob - God forbid
- I'd need to buy a tin helmet before I did anything as reckless as that
in this newsgroup!)
Claire
"Well I try my best To be just like I am,
but everybody wants you to be just like them." Bob Dylan
In article <19990912144823...@ng-fa1.aol.com>, Bloomeenee
<bloom...@aol.com> writes
>At that point, I swear to God, I heard the sound of "Visions" playing out of
>someone else's dorm room. Shocked, I knocked on the door.
>"Great choice of song, man!" I said, hoping to be able to share the Van
>Gogh/Johanna ideas with someone.
>"Yeah, man," said the guy, his face covered by a familiar haze. "Best drug song
>of all time. I like the Dead's version better though."
Peter Stone Brown
>
> Did Don Maclean do Vincent at around the same time - Before/after - I'm
> not old enough to know....
Much later.
--
"Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times."
--Bob Dylan
Peter Stone Brown
e-mail: pet...@erols.com
http://www.tangible-music.com/peterstonebrown/
CONFORTICF
Keep on keepin on!
In Peace, Fred