Johnny Can't Read

[sodascouts]

If you'd like to see the video, it's available for download here:

http://www.donhenleyonline.com/solo/video/johnnycantread.htm

It's got the dark humor going on - and you gotta love the retro computers, pop culture references, and Pac Man.

Don seems almost embarrassed by the song nowadays. It's the only single not to appear on Actual Miles.

[Troubadour]

Yeah, I like the video, and the song. The fact that he looks adorable doesn't hurt!

I seem to remember Don saying, although he stands by the message of the song, he feels like it was probably a step too far - a bit too much for the American public at that point.

[sodascouts]

Hmm, interesting! I'd like to talk about this some more, but I don't want to get the thread off track, so I'll start a new one.

ETA: OK, now that that's done....

A step too far? Hmm! Maybe it was the violence aspect that went too far. I wonder if there were any events in 1982 that made people a bit hypersensitive?

The infamous University of Texas tower sniper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman) had happened way back in 1966, before all the social context that inspired Henley's song, but the video, and the song lyrics about "Johnny got confused and he got himself a gun" always reminds me of the incident anyway. UT only opened up that tower again in 1999. Of course, nowadays, school violence is much more prevalent than it was back then.

For some reason, I always associate the song with school violence even though the lyrics say that Johnny got the gun after "a couple years" so he may have dropped out (hopefully not graduating without being able to read, lol) and the felonies that sent him "on the run" were someplace else.

[Troubadour]

Interesting, Soda. I also wondered whether there were any events that might have made people more sensitive to the themes in the song... From what I can recall, he just felt that the public didn't respond well to it because people didn't want to hear about illiteracy and the state of the schooling system at that time. Almost as if, with hindsight, he felt he was kicking them when they were down, and when general confidence/morale was low. Would there have been a particular reason for this?

This is bugging me now. I'll try to remember which interview I'm thinking of, so I can confirm that I'm not just talking out of my bum! ;)

[sodascouts]

Well, the Texas public school system has always had a bad rap, although I never had a problem with it growing up in good ol' Beaumont, Texas. ;) Admittedly, I was in what they called the "gifted and talented" track of classes which got a more challenging curriculum, but still, I didn't know anyone who wasn't able to read! My family moved to Beaumont in 1983 and I was starting fourth grade that year. Attended classes there all the way until high school graduation.

Note: I realize that Don isn't just complaining about the Texas school system, but I'm using that as an oft-maligned example.

Perhaps Don was using hyperbole to make a point - or perhaps there really was some study at the time that said there were high school students out there who couldn't read. Was there standardized testing back then? Hopefully that has rectified at least the problem of students graduating without minimal knowledge.

[sodascouts]

OK, just watched the video again, and now I understand why I associate it with the UT incident. The UT tower is shown at the very lines I quoted earlier - "A couple years later Johnny's on the run." So, obviously, the association with school violence was intended. Duh! ;)

[Freypower]

I think he tries far, far too hard to make his point. The 'well is it Johnny's fault? OH NOOOOOOO!' bit is laid on with a trowel.

[eaglesvet]

Interesting, Soda. I also wondered whether there were any events that might have made people more sensitive to the themes in the song... From what I can recall, he just felt that the public didn't respond well to it because people didn't want to hear about illiteracy and the state of the schooling system at that time. Almost as if, with hindsight, he felt he was kicking them when they were down, and when general confidence/morale was low. Would there have been a particular reason for this?

This is bugging me now. I'll try to remember which interview I'm thinking of, so I can confirm that I'm not just talking out of my bum! ;)
I Wiki'd 1982 American history and briefly skimmed it...it was the 2nd year of President Reagan's first term, and there was a notable recession that year. So maybe you're on to something with the public morale and confidence being low.

[eaglesvet]

Well, the Texas public school system has always had a bad rap, although I never had a problem with it growing up in good ol' Beaumont, Texas. ;) Admittedly, I was in what they called the "gifted and talented" track of classes which got a more challenging curriculum, but still, I didn't know anyone who wasn't able to read! My family moved to Beaumont in 1983 and I was starting fourth grade that year. Attended classes there all the way until high school graduation.

Note: I realize that Don isn't just complaining about the Texas school system, but I'm using that as an oft-maligned example.

Perhaps Don was using hyperbole to make a point - or perhaps there really was some study at the time that said there were high school students out there who couldn't read. Was there standardized testing back then? Hopefully that has rectified at least the problem of students graduating without minimal knowledge.
Yup, there were standardized tests even back in the dark ages when I went to school...they were called the Iowa Tests and the California Tests, even if you took them in NJ (and presumably in Texas, too.) How else does one learn to color in little circles completely with a number 2 pencil?

[Brooke]

I even had the Iowa Basic Skills Tests and those were even 'darker ages' than ev's!

[sodascouts]

How else does one learn to color in little circles completely with a number 2 pencil?

LOL! Ah yes, the memories! ;)