In 2013, Lana Del Rey donated $10,000 to a Kickstarter campaign for a documentary on the great Daniel Johnston. Del Rey’s involvement in the upcoming “psychedelic short film” also extends to her cover of Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time.” Listen to an excerpt in the movie’s trailer up above then compare it to the original at the bottom of the page.

The film, Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston?, is directed by Gabriel Sunday and stars Johnston as “an aging musician coming to terms with the dreams of yesteryear.” Specifically, the film finds Johnston revisiting his work on 1983’s Hi, How Are You. It also stars Soko as Johnston’s “long-lost love, Laurie.” The Kickstarter page offers further description:

It's a musical tale of an aging artist encountering psychedelic dreams, nightmares, and characters from his past. We began shooting with a simple outline: an intimate interview between Daniel and his younger self addressing his most prolific and maddening era. Our hope was to bring his stories, memories and art to life. What ensued during shooting was beyond anything our crew could have hoped for. Daniel not only opened up and told stories none of us had ever heard, but embraced and relished the idea of speaking with his younger self, gifting advice and warnings from the future. That became the backbone of our script. As shooting continued Daniel interacted with imaginary creatures from his cast of Spirit World characters like Jeremiah and Joe the Boxer. It was a truly unreal and moving experience. The result is something that will appeal not only to Daniel fans, but to any artist trying to find their way.

Del Rey’s cover will appear in the film, along with a score comprised of Johnston’s orchestral compositions. The film is slated to premiere online on Nov 11.

Daniel Johnston, "Some Things Last a Long Time"

More From Diffuser.fm