Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!

[Cowpoke]

That's a very strong (and very sad) observation Dee. Alzheimer's disease as a place between life and death. Another layer of paint and meaning...

I took another look at the complete first verse and first chorus (because no chorus is ever the same in this song)

I know a place between
Life and death for you and me
Let's take hold on the threshold
Of eternity

And see the ghost on the canvas
People don't see us (Paul Westerberg: People don't see them [or there?])
Ghost on the canvas
People don't know
When they're looking at soul

Glen's "People don't see us" seems to indicate that the you and me in the song go to that certain place together to see the ghost on the canvas and in the proces become unnoticeable for other people. Paul's version seems to merely indicate people don't realize the ghost on the canvas (or soul) is there.

[Dee]

Your last post is tremendous, Cowpoke. Thank you.
You have given us lots to think about.
I agree GOTC is a mystical song, Cowpoke (and Jay).
In terms of song meaning, it is much deeper than its surface, which is why I have always had difficulty with this song. I had never taken the time to try to figure out its meaning on my own.
So, here I am back to Van Gogh....an artist known for applying thick layers of paint on his canvases ("impasto"). Westerberg, I feel, has done a similar thing with "Ghost On The Canvas" with his layering of meanings; as you noted, "I even suspect that the meaning of the term 'ghost on the canvas' is constantly changing throughout the song in subtle ways."
I don't know where to start except to first address the interpretation of the opening line (thanks so much for pointing out its significance):
"I know a place between"
"Life and death for you and me"
For Westerberg, the first two lines could have alluded to that gray area we all presumably live in ... life/death not being two different states but part of a spiritual continuum, if I understand your interpretation?
For Julian and Glen, the opening lines could have alluded to that gray area of the person living with Alzheimer's disease and that person's loved one.
Maybe not....not if we link "a place" in this first line to the song that first appears on the album: "a better place".
Okay, signing off for now...still thinking!
Dee

[Cowpoke]

Yes Jay I am interested in both the meaning Paul Westerberg had in mind when he wrote the song and in how Glen and Julian interpreted the song, stressing certain aspects of the song while also adding new layers of meaning to it.

To Dee, in my mind poets often give a clue to the meaning of their poem in their opening statement so to speak. So I think the first line

"I know a place between"
"Life and death for you and me"

we have to take very seriously. To me it states the song is about the big questions of life and death. As I think Jay rightly stated, it's a mystical song. The song seems to insist that, while we often see life and death as two very separate things, like black and white, there is actually a grey area in between, that you can enter, even though most people don't see it or know about it.

What I just meant to add as an additional possibility, not the essence of the song, is that maybe the song can also been seen as sung by someone who is on the other side of the canvas of life. And yes, the line "I'm the ghost on the canvas" at the end seems to point in that direction. But I think there are multiple meanings interwoven in this song. I even suspect that the meaning of the term "ghost on the canvas" is constantly changing throughout the song in subtle ways.

As for why I see "life" to connected to the "you" in the song and "death" to the "me" is just a simple matter of reading that second line as two pairs:

life and death

corresponds with

you and me

But... this could very well be a stretch on my part.

As for the Van Gogh references, that I would love to discuss with you guys when we come to the second verse which of course refers to Van Gogh's famous painting "Wheatfield with crows". Dee? That second verse puzzles me so I'm hoping you want to go first.

BTW, I am not entirely convinced yet that the "ghost paintings" you mentioned are what Paul is referring to as "ghost on the canvas". First of all, the meaning of a ghost as something bleeding through from one side to the other seems to me like a perfect fit with the theme of a place between life and death. Secondly, the ghost paintings are paintings that have been painted over and then destroyed entirely. They originally depicted the garden of Gethsemane if I'm not mistaken. How can we all that fit into the song? I would love to hear your theories about it! Thirdly, I am not sure the existence of these ghosts paintings were known in 2009 when Paul wrote this song. BTW, wouldn't it be cool if we could ask Paul Westerberg himself to shed some light on all this. On the other hand, maybe he comes up with a very peculiar meaning that doesn't mean anything to us!

@Rob, when you said there is so much hope in this song, did you mean to say that this song also says that death is not the final word?

[robduloc]

Yes, Jay and your love for guitars, everyone can hum, sing or whistle a tune, but picking up an instrument like a guitar is a work of art, that's what Carlos Santana says about the instrument, he asserts if you never played one before, just pick one up, try playing it and you will see...

So, I have a new name for guitarist, or all instrumentalist, composers and arrangers, they're, "dream catchers".

Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas, one of the most expressive works I know, by anybody, all the living, loving and hope, visual, emotional range, and multi-layered tracks, the perfect compliment, quite a ride, to listen start to finish, see you on the other side.

Oh. my*

A dream come true~

[jay]

"If so, then how do the Van Gogh references fit in with the song's meaning?"

Bingo!
It boils down to what Westerberg had in mind when he penned it whether it was Van Gogh or Casper (the friendly ghost)...but we know the song wasn't written for or about Glen, but as most mystical songs, you can find a way to make it fit. And Julian knew that, so he Campbellized it.

So its meaning and relation to Glen is truly suppositional grist for the mill (have fun with that Michel).

[robduloc]

Thank you, Cowpoke,

There is a good YouTube of Fare Thee Well Love, by the Rankin Family, the people that are supposed to have written it, a little raw, it may have been taken at a club on someone's phone, most songs the last hundred years have hooks you know, the part of the song, melody or lyric which stands out, and makes you realize, remember or don't forget to buy the song, listen for the main part where the Rankins intone Fare Thee Well Love, and then Fare The Well, it is the hook, it is very emotional, it will grab and rip your heart out, there are a lot of cowboy songs that use Fare Thee Well in the main chorus, but it's almost like the subject wants to dump their love interest because they are born to ride the range and drift off into the sunset, there is a homesickness in the Rankin song that is unique, tender, sad and powerful, I need to find out if they based their song on a traditional, it would explain the longing and heartache for Ireland, their homeland.

Thank you, again.
Rob

[Cowpoke]

Rob, Dee thanks for your posts. Fare Thee Well Love the countermelody for Nothing But The Whole World? Bot oh boy, I have so much to dive into. I don't even know that song! Wild Winds, another one if ny favorites. Dee, I will answer tomorrow to your questions...

[robduloc]

There is a lot of wind in Van Gogh's paintings, you can see it rustling all the time through the sheaves... alluding to what may be a destroyed painting very powerful, the time it took to paint and essence pulled, we are all on a time clock, it's the artist's discontent always having some little detail to alter or move around, always changing never enough, a glimpse of something bigger or grander.

A great artist's soul is carried on the wind, the opening of the song Ghost On The Canvas, wind swept motif, is that a synthesizer to replicate the wind? Very effective, chilling to the bone and the distant morse code, another synthesizer, crystalline like an old tube amp on some remote distant island or watch tower that could use updating

Wild Winds by Corbin/Hanner the second track off Glen Campbell It's Just A Matter Of Time.

The opening line a testament.

"Wild Winds, carry me to a place I'd rather be"...

The part of the brain that you use to create is like having one foot in this world and the other into the next, producing something out of nothing, you have to be able to see it before it's there.

An artist needs to be constantly reminded that they are embraced by this world, fed nurtured and sustained, because they will starve themselves and fo without essentials to realze their dream, it really is our job to help them keep both feet planted firmly on the ground, or their beautiful spirit is likely to up and float away.

To take a deep breath and bleed into every crack your very essence, we should be so lucky to witness.

Yes, there is a lot of sensory on the album Ghost On The Canvas, and we really don't know the artist or subject, for sure an artist lives in the public eye, we depend on masterworks like this to present and display pieces of his life in one giant thread.

And I am so fortunate to have discovered it and be able to share some of my feelings here.

Thank you, Dee and Cowpoke~
Rob

[Dee]

I hope to be ready for that next verse, Cowpoke....right now, I am far from it.
Totally mystified.

You wrote....

That first line of course also perfectly fits with the preceding song about A Better Place. Glen has already stated that there is a better place you'll see, meaning the persons he sings the song to, will one day be there with him too.

Brilliant observation about the fit or link between the first two tracks.
He is already "on the other side"? "you'll see"?

You wrote...

The second line states what this song is about, it's about life and death. Life connects with you and death connects with me. I have wondered if this song could also be seen as narrated by someone who is already on the other side, communicating to his lover over the air waves that they can still be together even through death.

Okay, I am with you...a song about life and death.

Could you please explain "life connects with you and death connects with me"?

The song is narrated by someone who has passed? This is a different perspective altogether. (Now we are in Jimmy Webb territory...The Highwayman....)
I was inclined to disagree with you on this point.

However, when I read the lyrics again as a whole, I noticed that all the references to "ghost on the canvas" are exactly that..."ghost on the canvas" and "a ghost on the canvas" and "with ghost on the canvas".
Who or what is the ghost on the canvas?

Then, I read that last line again and realized that the last line is different from the previous references because the ghost is finally revealed in the last line:

"I'm the ghost on the canvas."

But...is this last line really saying he has already passed on?

I had always understood it to mean that the narrator is saying you really don't know me, the real me, people don't pay attention to who I really am, you just see the public side of me, you think you know me, but you don't....I may as well be just a ghost on the canvas (Van Gogh's destroyed paintings) to you.

Wow. IDK. If so, then how do the Van Gogh references fit in with the song's meaning?

Thanks!

Dee

[robduloc]

Cowpoke~ Your English is excellent and your heart is in the right place, beautiful, man, thank you for all that you do!

There must be some really nice vintage record shops and book stores where you live*