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John Olson, My Name is John Johanna, 2007 |
14.
MY NAME IS JOHN JOHANNA BY KELLY HARRELL, 1927 REMIX: JOHN OLSON, MY NAME IS JOHN JOHANNA, 2007 This song is better known as ‘The State of Arkansas’ and dates back to the minstrel show era. The song is a ballad about John Johanna a man from Buffalo who has spent 9 long years travelling around the world, but never knew misery until he arrived in Arkansas.He works several jobs, stays in a hotel run by a man with “rat tails” and “got so thin on sassafras tea I could hide behind a straw”. In John Olson’s collage he represents the chaos of John Johanna’s travels around the world, by showing the US map cut up. John Johanna features in the work at the top of the world looking down through his telescope at Arkansas echoing the last line of the song, “If you ever see my face again I’ll hand you down my paw.” John Olson is an artist and member of noise band Wolf Eyes from Ann Arbour, Michigan, USA. He also runs the American Tapes label of limited and often hand made self-releases. www.geocities.com/americantapes |
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