Songs Of Pain
by Daniel Johnston

Songs Of Pain by Daniel Johnston
Year: 1981
Release date: 1981-00-00
Overall rank: 4,175th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 62 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (73rd)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (609th)
Award Best albums of all time (4,175th)

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Daniel Johnston • SONGS OF PAIN • (Dan Johnston 1980-81) SEALED
Condition: New


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Daniel Johnston “More Songs of Pain” Cassette Stress Records Original Tested
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Daniel Johnston - Songs Of Pain NEW Sealed Vinyl LP Album
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Daniel Johnston bestography

Songs Of Pain is ranked 4th best out of 29 albums by Daniel Johnston on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Daniel Johnston is Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album which is ranked number 2149 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 771.

Daniel Johnston album bestography « Higher ranked (3,837th)
Yip/Jump Music
This album (4,175th)
Songs Of Pain
Lower ranked (7,548th) »
Don't Be Scared

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Songs Of Pain track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (860 - 28 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (28 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Songs Of Pain rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 4,175th | 1980s rank: 609th | 1981 rank: 73rd

Songs Of Pain collection

Songs Of Pain ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 62 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 62 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
03/08/2026 12:48 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  12,72773/100
 
75/100
 
01/19/2026 18:46 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,33449/100
 
75/100
 
12/28/2025 03:24 AAL2014  Ratings distribution  3,80875/100
 
70/100
 
12/11/2025 00:09 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,58570/100
 
85/100
 
10/04/2025 04:54 MaxStorm98  Ratings distribution  3,79889/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.7/100, a mean average of 74.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 21.8.

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Songs Of Pain favourites

Showing all 7 members who have added this album as a favourite

Songs Of Pain comments

Showing all 2 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 06/09/2020 14:54 | #253185
One of my favorite debuts. A wonderful introduction to outsider music.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
30/100
From 02/23/2015 21:01 | #135523
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -6 votes (1 helpful | 7 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno & David Byrne
6. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Damaged by Black Flag
9. Dare by The Human League
10. Deceit by This Heat