Thank you, Cowpoke and Dee, everybody!
My school is on a green belt, with a deep gully and small waterfall, there is an enormous bird population there that I have been studying over the course of the last five years, around the time I first bought and listened to Ghost On The Canvas.
Crows, Ravens, Falcons and a lot of sparrows.
A neighbor dropped by the other month and said the green belt does not belong to the City, it is owned and still part of one of the original treaty's for the Native American population that used to hunt here.
And so I can only assume, on some higher level the birds are keeping a watchful eye.
The crows in Westerberg's song may fulfill the same sort of function, a meeting ground where two worlds collide and live in symbiosis side to side.
There is one vital aspect of the album that always grabs me, the Swiss Watch like precision, numbers are counted out, the driving force and movement of the second hand ticking away at the beginning of "A Thousand Lifetimes" and "Strong".
The riveting pulse, beating like blood pumped to the heart, a reminder that we are all on a time clock, use our time on Earth wisely, and carry the weight.
Two songs that I never tire upon repeated listening and draw strength from.
Welcome to Glen Campbell Forums
Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
Thanks Rob, again, for your tremendous posts. I love to read them, they really get me thinking about a lot of things. And you too Dee, you really triggered something too with your posts on Van Gogh and this particular painting, very cool. So now I feel I can give it a try myself.
In between here and there
There's a place that we can grow
Spirits make love in a wheatfield with crows
Like a ghost on a canvas
(Most) people don't see them
Ghost on a canvas
No
They never see soul
"In between here and there" seems to be a indicating the same place that in the first verse was located to be "between life and death". The second line, would you believe I have always heard it wrong? I always heard
"There's a place WHERE we can grow" but now I hear both Paul Westerberg and Glen sing: "There's a place THAT we can grow"! If I would have read the lyrics sheet better I would have known. Now what does that mean? That if you work hard (like a farmer) you can make that place like a garden or a field with crops to harvest? How wonderfully does that connect into the next line with its image of a wheatfield. Both Rob and Dee's comments were very insightful here, connecting a wheatfield with fertility and life but also eternity and connecting crows with death and decay. So here it is, everything that Paul Westerberg has been trying to convey in the first verse, about a mysterious place between life and death often unnoticed by people where you can be with your loved one, in one glorious line:
Spirits make love in a wheatfield with crows
There they are, can you see them, right before you, between the wheat and the crows, between life and death, the spirits are there and they're making love. But most people won't see them, they only see the wheatfield and the crows and will say look at what the wind is doing with the wheats. I can imagine the writer standing in front of that actual painting, perhaps with his loved one, in a museum, telling her what to him is the real title of the painting: "Spirits make love in a wheatfield with crows". Can you see it too?, he asks. This is the place I told you about.
And of course, how wonderful to use a metaphor of a canvas and then connect it to a real canvas, by Vincent van Gogh. Does that mean he was not talking about a canvas as "life as we see it" and in which sometimes something shimmers through from another place? Is he saying this special place only exists on a actual canvas, on a painting which is merely fiction? I don't think it's either / or here. Paul Westerberg to me seems to be working on many levels.
Like a ghost on a canvas
People don't see them
Notice the subtle change from *the* ghost on *the* canvas in the first verse to *a* ghost on *a* canvas. To me that is saying: this place I was talking about is real but you can compare it with something some people see in a painting, but that most other people don't see. It's LIKE that. Of course then there is also the perspective of the painter himself. Maybe he saw things in the landscapes he painted that most people don't see and wanted to reveal. For me, that's what makes Vincent van Gogh's later work so special. His style of painting a landscape makes me feel there is more to the world than meets the eye.
Ghost on a canvas
No
They never see soul
Again, Paul indicates that the ghost on the canvas, that special place, is actually what he calls "soul". Now... what does he mean by that? Does he mean something that never dies? So much more to think about!
In between here and there
There's a place that we can grow
Spirits make love in a wheatfield with crows
Like a ghost on a canvas
(Most) people don't see them
Ghost on a canvas
No
They never see soul
"In between here and there" seems to be a indicating the same place that in the first verse was located to be "between life and death". The second line, would you believe I have always heard it wrong? I always heard
"There's a place WHERE we can grow" but now I hear both Paul Westerberg and Glen sing: "There's a place THAT we can grow"! If I would have read the lyrics sheet better I would have known. Now what does that mean? That if you work hard (like a farmer) you can make that place like a garden or a field with crops to harvest? How wonderfully does that connect into the next line with its image of a wheatfield. Both Rob and Dee's comments were very insightful here, connecting a wheatfield with fertility and life but also eternity and connecting crows with death and decay. So here it is, everything that Paul Westerberg has been trying to convey in the first verse, about a mysterious place between life and death often unnoticed by people where you can be with your loved one, in one glorious line:
Spirits make love in a wheatfield with crows
There they are, can you see them, right before you, between the wheat and the crows, between life and death, the spirits are there and they're making love. But most people won't see them, they only see the wheatfield and the crows and will say look at what the wind is doing with the wheats. I can imagine the writer standing in front of that actual painting, perhaps with his loved one, in a museum, telling her what to him is the real title of the painting: "Spirits make love in a wheatfield with crows". Can you see it too?, he asks. This is the place I told you about.
And of course, how wonderful to use a metaphor of a canvas and then connect it to a real canvas, by Vincent van Gogh. Does that mean he was not talking about a canvas as "life as we see it" and in which sometimes something shimmers through from another place? Is he saying this special place only exists on a actual canvas, on a painting which is merely fiction? I don't think it's either / or here. Paul Westerberg to me seems to be working on many levels.
Like a ghost on a canvas
People don't see them
Notice the subtle change from *the* ghost on *the* canvas in the first verse to *a* ghost on *a* canvas. To me that is saying: this place I was talking about is real but you can compare it with something some people see in a painting, but that most other people don't see. It's LIKE that. Of course then there is also the perspective of the painter himself. Maybe he saw things in the landscapes he painted that most people don't see and wanted to reveal. For me, that's what makes Vincent van Gogh's later work so special. His style of painting a landscape makes me feel there is more to the world than meets the eye.
Ghost on a canvas
No
They never see soul
Again, Paul indicates that the ghost on the canvas, that special place, is actually what he calls "soul". Now... what does he mean by that? Does he mean something that never dies? So much more to think about!
I'm a carefree, range ridin', driftin' cowpoke...
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
Thank you, Dee.
I think that all art is about moving toward life, just like all music is spiritual.
Even the most coldest and darkest canvas warms our being as long as we have the air to breathe, stand or sit, witness and take in a work.
So that is the job every artist, to make us feel more alive. much like a good book. Meal, even.
We can only hope, they are compensated fully.
Your post and messages are works of art, not only do they bring me closer to the subject, loyalties run high, I know that you spend a lot of time in art museums, reading and exploring all that you have to say, share, give and offer is like walking through a hall of pictures, treasures, illuminated and warmed by the spirit and presence they were composed!
Thank you. For all that you do. And more!
I think that all art is about moving toward life, just like all music is spiritual.
Even the most coldest and darkest canvas warms our being as long as we have the air to breathe, stand or sit, witness and take in a work.
So that is the job every artist, to make us feel more alive. much like a good book. Meal, even.
We can only hope, they are compensated fully.
Your post and messages are works of art, not only do they bring me closer to the subject, loyalties run high, I know that you spend a lot of time in art museums, reading and exploring all that you have to say, share, give and offer is like walking through a hall of pictures, treasures, illuminated and warmed by the spirit and presence they were composed!
Thank you. For all that you do. And more!
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
From an early age, we are wired for Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, and we grow in groups, learning to sit still, listen to the teacher, absorb lessons, and be graded accordingly for our trouble, in the day, in small towns across America many people go on to marry their childhood sweetheart.
That comes with age, as children spill out onto the playground, their minds are far away, back at the Movie Theater, dreaming what it would be like to fill the shoes of their childhood hero, sweep up the girl and ride off into the sunset
Very few get to run away and join the circus.
I'm sure that Glen Campbell has a few stories what it's like growing up on the road playing in small venues and smokey bars with his Uncles. Playing all night for a pack of smokes, how to wash clothes, or where to find and eat your next meal, survival tricks, you learn outside school, oh, the pleasures of a home cook meal.
Returning to your hometown for another stint of school, only to pack up your bags and never return home. Forge a livelihood singlehandedly.
It's ingrained in our DNA. The sound of children at play,skipping of rope, bouncing balls off the nearest wall, huddles of boys and girls, whispering,sharing secrets, eyes and ears on some available target.
Some performers and celebrities go on to dine with Presidents and their First Lady, play in front of Kings.
It's only natural for a school or small town to remember what it was like to sit alongside somebody in school before their classmate broke out into the spotlight.
The overall feeling for five minutes they are all your own, before you end up having to share them with the rest of the world.
Even more delicious for an artist to return home, and drive down their old streets and look at the world in a fresh light.
What sort of role does a musician fulfill. Fuel our dreams perhaps, and open us up to something bigger, life isn't all drudgery, to live your life for a song, what a pledge.
The countless hours touring, holed up in small room, car, bus, boat or plane, the applause must be addicting.
Where do you go after a show or taping to settle down, must be hard to disengage, or pull up all the stops, I'm sure that it takes a long time to feel like your feet are planted firmly back on the ground, the secret world of an entertainer, always working while everybody else is eating, relaxing or sleeping, haunting melodies, rhythm accompaniment and lilting notes of the last song to grab you.
Valley Of The Son
Wisps of Southern Nights overlapped with children at play.
Sleepless nights perhaps, the personal triumphs coming off the road, nothing can replace that sort of drive.
But there is a new game in town to compete with all the lights and trappings of success.
A good woman, hearth and home, children to pick up and bundle in your arms.
You're back at the schoolyard, dreams and conquest fulfilled, the legacy passed onto succeeding generations.
Coming Home to a house filled with laughter and love.
You know in your heart that your wife and children will be happy to see you, that is how to measure your true success.
Valley Of The Son Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas~
That comes with age, as children spill out onto the playground, their minds are far away, back at the Movie Theater, dreaming what it would be like to fill the shoes of their childhood hero, sweep up the girl and ride off into the sunset
Very few get to run away and join the circus.
I'm sure that Glen Campbell has a few stories what it's like growing up on the road playing in small venues and smokey bars with his Uncles. Playing all night for a pack of smokes, how to wash clothes, or where to find and eat your next meal, survival tricks, you learn outside school, oh, the pleasures of a home cook meal.
Returning to your hometown for another stint of school, only to pack up your bags and never return home. Forge a livelihood singlehandedly.
It's ingrained in our DNA. The sound of children at play,skipping of rope, bouncing balls off the nearest wall, huddles of boys and girls, whispering,sharing secrets, eyes and ears on some available target.
Some performers and celebrities go on to dine with Presidents and their First Lady, play in front of Kings.
It's only natural for a school or small town to remember what it was like to sit alongside somebody in school before their classmate broke out into the spotlight.
The overall feeling for five minutes they are all your own, before you end up having to share them with the rest of the world.
Even more delicious for an artist to return home, and drive down their old streets and look at the world in a fresh light.
What sort of role does a musician fulfill. Fuel our dreams perhaps, and open us up to something bigger, life isn't all drudgery, to live your life for a song, what a pledge.
The countless hours touring, holed up in small room, car, bus, boat or plane, the applause must be addicting.
Where do you go after a show or taping to settle down, must be hard to disengage, or pull up all the stops, I'm sure that it takes a long time to feel like your feet are planted firmly back on the ground, the secret world of an entertainer, always working while everybody else is eating, relaxing or sleeping, haunting melodies, rhythm accompaniment and lilting notes of the last song to grab you.
Valley Of The Son
Wisps of Southern Nights overlapped with children at play.
Sleepless nights perhaps, the personal triumphs coming off the road, nothing can replace that sort of drive.
But there is a new game in town to compete with all the lights and trappings of success.
A good woman, hearth and home, children to pick up and bundle in your arms.
You're back at the schoolyard, dreams and conquest fulfilled, the legacy passed onto succeeding generations.
Coming Home to a house filled with laughter and love.
You know in your heart that your wife and children will be happy to see you, that is how to measure your true success.
Valley Of The Son Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas~
-
Dee
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
Rob, you don't feel that crows are a sign of death?
These birds are just a part of life, part of the "circle of life"?
Kinda like the lineman, searching in the sun, working on yet another telephone pole, just doing his job?
Many art interpreters would agree with you; crows are given a bad rap by associating them with death.
Much has been written about Van Gogh's crows particularly in this painting. Talk about over-analysis?
Are the crows flying toward the viewer (which could give a viewer a feeling of fear or dread?) Away from the viewer (giving the viewer a sense of reassurance that he/she is safe?).
Are these Hitchcock-movie-like crows foreshadowing Van Gogh's death?
Or are the birds representing freedom and life and spirit in the face of an oncoming storm?
Is the storm passing or ending, and the crows are taking flight once again?
Yes, I am over-analyzing.
Isn't this painting mystical? What's with the three paths, the one on the left and the one on the right, each having no beginning and no end.
The path in the near center of the painting: why does it appear to end abruptly?
Father>>>Son>>>Holy Ghost?
A golden, vibrant wheat field, the wheat possibly representing life? or the sustaining of life?
Rob, you are on it: infinity!
"Spirits make love in a wheat field with crows".
What "better place" for spirits to make love than in Van Gogh's mysterious, mystical, metaphorical wheat field with crows?
Is this lyric simply a Westerberg homage to the artist who haunts his dreams: Van Gogh?
Is Westerberg expressing that these spirits are in between life (the wheat) and death (the crow)?
Or by Westerberg referencing another artist who struggled artistically all his life, is he sharing something about his own artistic demons or challenges?
Rob, I think you better send me the next block of songs to post in your songbook. Or, I will just keep rambling on.
Any other thoughts about "Spirits make love in a wheat field with crows"?
Anyone? Please?
These birds are just a part of life, part of the "circle of life"?
Kinda like the lineman, searching in the sun, working on yet another telephone pole, just doing his job?
Many art interpreters would agree with you; crows are given a bad rap by associating them with death.
Much has been written about Van Gogh's crows particularly in this painting. Talk about over-analysis?
Are the crows flying toward the viewer (which could give a viewer a feeling of fear or dread?) Away from the viewer (giving the viewer a sense of reassurance that he/she is safe?).
Are these Hitchcock-movie-like crows foreshadowing Van Gogh's death?
Or are the birds representing freedom and life and spirit in the face of an oncoming storm?
Is the storm passing or ending, and the crows are taking flight once again?
Yes, I am over-analyzing.
Isn't this painting mystical? What's with the three paths, the one on the left and the one on the right, each having no beginning and no end.
The path in the near center of the painting: why does it appear to end abruptly?
Father>>>Son>>>Holy Ghost?
A golden, vibrant wheat field, the wheat possibly representing life? or the sustaining of life?
Rob, you are on it: infinity!
"Spirits make love in a wheat field with crows".
What "better place" for spirits to make love than in Van Gogh's mysterious, mystical, metaphorical wheat field with crows?
Is this lyric simply a Westerberg homage to the artist who haunts his dreams: Van Gogh?
Is Westerberg expressing that these spirits are in between life (the wheat) and death (the crow)?
Or by Westerberg referencing another artist who struggled artistically all his life, is he sharing something about his own artistic demons or challenges?
Rob, I think you better send me the next block of songs to post in your songbook. Or, I will just keep rambling on.
Any other thoughts about "Spirits make love in a wheat field with crows"?
Anyone? Please?Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
Hi Dee!
I appreciate that we were talking about the song GHost On The Canvas and the wheat field in another thread.
Even though, it plainly states a wheat field, I always picture a corn field*
Most likely because of alluding to the crows.
Anyone who has lived near wheat fields know that they change appearance, and there is always talk about which season they're in.
But when they are ripe and green a wheat field is a symbol or signpost of the infinite, they stretch on forever out of range of the naked eye.
Painting must be like that, when an artist is driven there is the impulse to go on creating forever.
We rely on their broad vision and show us the elliptical line or horizon, breathtaking to find.
That's why it's funny when I listen to the main theme of Ghost On The Canvas I always picture a cornfield torn down to the stumps, something in me wants to break it up.
Another aspect of painting a picture, taking all the jagged edges and blending them together.
As a head custodian at a school, I have noticed crows have a way of mixing it up during the course of Spring Break, I'm glad that everyone is gone as they are doing it up in grand style in the middle of an empty parking lot, you can't help notice, the screeches, make you want run out of a building and see what's going on, oh, my.
Baby crows are cute, a bad sign if you see one, they may not survive after they've been pushed out the nest, if a cat discovers it.
All part of the circle of life.
Crows are part of the natural process to pick everything clean and leave no waste.
It's just all tearing down and chewing involved, the stomach of the world, a big force to reckon.
We rely on the artist's eye to bring order and make sense of these different varying signals and messages.
To find and make our way in the world and leave our indelible mark, using whatever resources we have at hand.
Fill our life with sensory and be a light for succeeding generations.
Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas
I appreciate that we were talking about the song GHost On The Canvas and the wheat field in another thread.
Even though, it plainly states a wheat field, I always picture a corn field*
Most likely because of alluding to the crows.
Anyone who has lived near wheat fields know that they change appearance, and there is always talk about which season they're in.
But when they are ripe and green a wheat field is a symbol or signpost of the infinite, they stretch on forever out of range of the naked eye.
Painting must be like that, when an artist is driven there is the impulse to go on creating forever.
We rely on their broad vision and show us the elliptical line or horizon, breathtaking to find.
That's why it's funny when I listen to the main theme of Ghost On The Canvas I always picture a cornfield torn down to the stumps, something in me wants to break it up.
Another aspect of painting a picture, taking all the jagged edges and blending them together.
As a head custodian at a school, I have noticed crows have a way of mixing it up during the course of Spring Break, I'm glad that everyone is gone as they are doing it up in grand style in the middle of an empty parking lot, you can't help notice, the screeches, make you want run out of a building and see what's going on, oh, my.
Baby crows are cute, a bad sign if you see one, they may not survive after they've been pushed out the nest, if a cat discovers it.
All part of the circle of life.
Crows are part of the natural process to pick everything clean and leave no waste.
It's just all tearing down and chewing involved, the stomach of the world, a big force to reckon.
We rely on the artist's eye to bring order and make sense of these different varying signals and messages.
To find and make our way in the world and leave our indelible mark, using whatever resources we have at hand.
Fill our life with sensory and be a light for succeeding generations.
Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
Well, I don't know how much has changed since I was a kid, the older children on the block were always softening and conditioning the youngest ones and then hardening them right before they enter school for the first time.
There are two kinds of laughter.
One where everyone is laughing with you, the group mind strong and spirits elevated, everyone fits in.
Nothing can prepare you for the second kind when you feel cornered and everyone is laughing at you.
It usually involves a ring leader, you've been on their radar for awhile, everyone is quick to chime in, it hurts to stick out like that, it makes you want to crawl under a rock and never come out. Yes, it takes a lot of strength to show your face again.
That's what I love about Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas.
Always looking at the world anew with fresh eyes and life lessons up for review.
"Ring Around The Roses". "All The Kings Horses And All The King's Men".
There is a thread there.
Your strength will fail you. You will need a back up plan.
And then it will be alright if you do stick out, because you know where your true source of strength comes from.
Let it be a comfort, serve or aid you in your hour of need.
When we are broken and feel like we can't get up, be ready for divine intervention, in our greatest hour of need, we all ride on the backs of eagles.
Medicine for the soul.
Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas~
Check out the sermon by Pastor Levi Lusko on YouTube "Ride With Horses, Cue The Eagle"
There are two kinds of laughter.
One where everyone is laughing with you, the group mind strong and spirits elevated, everyone fits in.
Nothing can prepare you for the second kind when you feel cornered and everyone is laughing at you.
It usually involves a ring leader, you've been on their radar for awhile, everyone is quick to chime in, it hurts to stick out like that, it makes you want to crawl under a rock and never come out. Yes, it takes a lot of strength to show your face again.
That's what I love about Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas.
Always looking at the world anew with fresh eyes and life lessons up for review.
"Ring Around The Roses". "All The Kings Horses And All The King's Men".
There is a thread there.
Your strength will fail you. You will need a back up plan.
And then it will be alright if you do stick out, because you know where your true source of strength comes from.
Let it be a comfort, serve or aid you in your hour of need.
When we are broken and feel like we can't get up, be ready for divine intervention, in our greatest hour of need, we all ride on the backs of eagles.
Medicine for the soul.
Glen Campbell Ghost On The Canvas~
Check out the sermon by Pastor Levi Lusko on YouTube "Ride With Horses, Cue The Eagle"
-
Dee
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
So, back to Ghost On The Canvas, the song....
"In between here and there there's a place that we can grow" --- any other comments / interpretations? If not...
"Spirits make love in a wheat field with crows". Refers to one of Van Gogh's paintings created during the terrible time of anguish and pain that resulted in his tragic suicide.
What is Westerberg's meaning in this line?
Photo credit from: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0149V1962" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (see full image here)
"In between here and there there's a place that we can grow" --- any other comments / interpretations? If not...
"Spirits make love in a wheat field with crows". Refers to one of Van Gogh's paintings created during the terrible time of anguish and pain that resulted in his tragic suicide.
What is Westerberg's meaning in this line?
- Van Gogh_Wheatfield with Crows_c 1890.jpg (170.82 KiB) Viewed 8610 times
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
The opening line for Track 13, "Don't go to any trouble, you know I won't be here long"...
There is so much empowerment there, all of the man, what it feels like for a father open a door to greet a child with an open heart or open arms, a release to be loved like that.
I always hear in the back of my mind, "It's me, it's okay"... Every father wants their child to know that they hold a special place in their heart, the treasures stored there, it's where we draw our strength, love as a governing force, shall wash away all pain.
There is so much empowerment there, all of the man, what it feels like for a father open a door to greet a child with an open heart or open arms, a release to be loved like that.
I always hear in the back of my mind, "It's me, it's okay"... Every father wants their child to know that they hold a special place in their heart, the treasures stored there, it's where we draw our strength, love as a governing force, shall wash away all pain.
Re: Ghost on the Canvas - Share your thoughts!
I hear another variation of a theme Track 13, Any Trouble, the opening line, "It's Me" sounds like "Kiss Me" the hook for a huge pop song recorded by American band Sixpence None The Richer in 1997.
Unsure whether it was intentional or if I am blowing a bunch of smoke but the overall feel or vibe is there.
I don't know how record producers or arrangers work but a song like Kiss Me is in the spirit of the times, one of the last of the big radio airplay songs before app's became more popular to use or play.
At best, I'd like to think of Raymond sitting around with the Campbell's and asking them if they had any songs they like to call their own, sitting on the tour bus or am SUV I can see "Kiss Me" as the sort of song that would make a couple snuggle up closer.
It is a cute image, even if I am offbase, I hear a little snatchet of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer in track 13, Any Trouble.
Unsure whether it was intentional or if I am blowing a bunch of smoke but the overall feel or vibe is there.
I don't know how record producers or arrangers work but a song like Kiss Me is in the spirit of the times, one of the last of the big radio airplay songs before app's became more popular to use or play.
At best, I'd like to think of Raymond sitting around with the Campbell's and asking them if they had any songs they like to call their own, sitting on the tour bus or am SUV I can see "Kiss Me" as the sort of song that would make a couple snuggle up closer.
It is a cute image, even if I am offbase, I hear a little snatchet of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer in track 13, Any Trouble.