Good vs. evil. Godly vs. heathen. Warm vs. cold. Sometimes, it’s all just a flip of a coin.
Texas singer/songwriter Dan Johnson elaborates on these timeless analogies in his incredible project Hemingway. Released on July 27, this audiobook and EP set explores five individuals through stories of fictionalized events that occurred in Johnson’s life. Be warned, however, that this project is something you should not rush through as there are multiple elements to the stories. There are the actual words (some coarse in their nature) of the book and songs that need to be listened to and absorbed; emotions that need to be (and will be) felt and recognized. There is the realization that biographical truth lies within the events that are happening and the critical connections from one story to the next, but most importantly is the true purpose behind Johnson releasing Hemingway: to help bring awareness for mental health aid to our military veterans.
Naming this project Hemingway carries a heavy weight right from the start given the history of its namesake: Ernest Hemingway, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author and military veteran, who took his own life in 1961. Those events mirror Johnson’s own father, who also served, was gravely injured, and sealed his own fate the night before his son’s 11th birthday. Johnson explains some of this background in the preface, as well as dedicating the project to his father and to the families of veterans who have had to go through the same grief.
The birth of this project started on that day, December 6th, 1987, but it wasn’t until more recently that the idea and direction for Hemingway began to take flight. After Johnson spent some time in Hemingway’s study in Key West, he contemplated the author’s “genius, his contribution to this world, the man and the character he was in life, and his ultimate death by his own hand.” It was there that he wrote the last line of the title track “Hemingway” (which is based on his father) and “built the rest of the lyrics around it later.”
Johnson then brought on good friend and Texas author Travis Erwin to collaborate on the five stories inspired by Johnson’s music (some even share the same titles). The stories are deep, at times emotionally draining (several tears were shed while reviewing this project) and intertwine in several ways. As you move through each, characters’ bonds to one another come to light, as well as their relationship to an antique coin. With one side warmer than the other (good vs evil?), the coin represents not only the positive and negative energies, but the catalyst that ends up getting this literary machine in motion. As Erwin states in the preface: “Few people consciously make what they feel are bad or evil choices, but everyone has a different set of guidelines. So what a person feels is a good choice at the time can lead them to a very bad place. Or a person can make a so-called wrong choice, only to have a serendipitous outcome. A flip of the coin if you will.”
In addition to the coin, there are repeated and overlapped references to religion, drug use, alcohol, violence, and suicide. With the characters being so closely related (in one way or another – avoiding spoilers here), this not only makes a connection to Erwin’s idea about subconsciously making a bad or evil choice and their consequences, but shows how this pattern can continue through generations (another nod to the Hemingway family). This is also where Johnson is able to help bring awareness to the necessary mental health aid our veterans need, as many of our heroes suffer from these same exact issues every day.
Much like the visual language used by Erwin, Johnson’s lyrics clearly paint each picture for the listener, making the stories tangible and poignant. Amazing instrumentation accompanies the song’s words – such as the rock of electric guitar in “The Favor,” the steel guitar of “Hemingway,” the delicate piano in “Bloom,” the Latin flare of “Tom Waits For No One,” and acoustic guitar in “Lone Gunman’s Lament” – drilling the emotions home.
Johnson also lends his voice to the audiobook, adding yet another personal touch to this project. The connection Johnson has to the stories allows him to effectively add emotion, his narration reminiscent of Kevin Costner in the Oscar winning film Dances With Wolves. He also reads the lyrics of each song in form of spoken word, giving the material yet another layer.
“So Hemingway tell us a tale,
Of the young life they took from you,
The darkness you’re going through,
How we and the whole world have failed.
There as you lay, oh Hemingway.
There as you lay, oh Hemingway.”
“Hemingway” – Dan Johnson
Twenty percent of all sales of the Hemingway project will go to help support veteran suicide in America through is organization Operation Hemingway. For more information, please visit their website at www.operationhemingway.org.
The list of the story titles and the song that inspired each are listed below:
Hemingway Story Title – Song Title
Devil’s Child – The Favor
Hemingway – Hemingway
Bloom – Bloom
Ice Water – Tom Waits For No One
A Bad Man – Lone Gunman’s Lament
For more information on Dan Johnson, visit his website: www.danjohnsonmusic.us