lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: ghost

1992-05: rites of passage, epic records press release:

"this is one of my favorites on the album. i think that a lot of people can relate to what this song says about the way a person can romanticize the 'ghost' of a love. you create this beautiful memory, minus all the pain and problems of the real thing."

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1994-03: the indigo girls: the musical ties that bind, performing songwriter:

"i was really happy with the production on the song 'ghost,' which is rare for me."

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1995-xx-xx: interview by kirsti reeve:

"ghost is one of my favourites too. nailed that one."

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1995-03: closest to fine, queensland pride:

fare thee well is a heart-wrenching ballad, a type of song which has almost become a trademark for emily. indeed, during their brisbane concerts, one of the songs which elicited the strongest audience response was the ballad ghost from their rites of passage album.

"i think i feel things very deeply," emily said. "i think a lot about love and relationships, so i write about it. when i was writing ghost, i was thinking about the experience of never being able to get over someone in particular and being haunted forever and how endless and painful yet powerful that is. i think a lot of people have had that experience and continue to have it."

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2000-10-03: retrospective liner notes:

"a fire that always burns, the eternity of unrequited love."

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2012-08-27: q&a: emily saliers, theater jones performing arts news:

you have used symphonic instruments in a number of recordings, such as the intro to the song "virginia woolf." how did you decide which songs to arrange for orchestra?

there were a couple of amy's songs that she wanted to do that she changed her mind about. there's a song, "compromise," a short rock song, it was really going out on a limb with the arrangement, which was awesome, but didn't work out. for me, there were some songs that would have been obvious choices, and i tried to avoid those for the most part. except for the song "ghost." in fact, michael kamen, who has passed, did arrangements on the record for "ghost," and stephen did an homage to michael's work there, which was very powerful.

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2006-12-07: emily saliers of indigo girls, song facts:

sf: i'd just like to go back to another song that seems to have a reasonably similar theme. and that is the song "ghost." would you be able to tell me about that one?

es: i always write about this stuff, don't i? it's like unrequited love is probably my favorite subject matter. that's a song that's about someone who haunts you forever. and we just talked about the last tears, but in this song it's not the case. it uses archetypal images, like achilles heel, and the mississippi river and all of its grandeur, but starts really, really small. and that's the way a love can begin, so small, like a little pinprick, and then the next thing you know, you're flooded with emotion and attachment. and it's obviously about a separation between two people and the person who's speaking in the song is absolutely still in love with the one that she lost. and it seems like everything reminds her of that person. it's a sad song. there's no relief to it, really. it's a person who's drowning in loss, and haunted by either the memory or the knowledge that person's still out there in the world somewhere, but they're not together. very emotional song.

sf: but that was not based on a specific person?

es: no. that was just drawing from, well, personal experiences. but then what other people have gone through and talking to people, or films, or books, or whatever it is. it wasn't just written about one person. but i just have an empathy for heartache, i think. and i'm able to get to heartache and what it feels like and why it happens for whatever reason. and so i think that's why i write a lot of songs about it.

sf: i've heard that from some different songwriters, that they just have that ability to feel what others feel. and they can relate to that.

es: yep, yep.