Ghost, ghost I know you live within me
I feel you as you fly
In thunder clouds above the city
Into one that I love

With all that was left within me
Until we tore in two
Now wings and rings and there's so many
Waiting here for you

And she was born in a bottle rocket, 1929
With wings that ringed around a socket
Right between her spine
All drenched in milk and holy water
Pouring from the sky
I know that she will live forever
She won't ever die

And she goes
And now she knows she'll never be afraid
To watch the morning paper blow
Into a hole where no one can escape
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
Dee, dee, dee, dee

And one day in New York City, baby
A girl fell from the sky
From the top of a burning apartment building
Fourteen stories high
And when her spirit left her body
How it split the sun
I know that she will live forever
All goes on and on and on

And she goes
And now she knows she'll never be afraid
To watch the morning paper blow
Into a hole where no one can escape
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee
Dee, dee, dee, dee



Lyrics submitted by foxyurchin

Track duration: 04:08

"Ghost" as written by Jeff Mangum

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Ghost song meanings
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36 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:The girl taking her life in New York have something in common with Anne Frank

    And one day in New York City, baby
    A girl fell from the sky
    From the top of a burning apartment building
    Fourteen stories high

    Best words ever
    Flag WallaceGofon January 16, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think the "until we tore in two" is an extension of the metaphor in Two-Headed Boy - Mangum's brother who killed himself. He was very close to his brother, and his suicide would have been devastating. (In case you're wondering, he was the dark brother wrapped in white.)
    Flag mudswipeon September 12, 2012   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning:Perhaps the lines:
    "All drenched in milk and holy water
    Pouring from the sky
    I know that she will live forever
    She won't ever die"
    refer to the mixture of milk and water that is sometimes used as rain in films, because regular water rain doesn't show up particularly well on camera. I think it's saying that Anne Frank will "never die" because she will be remembered by the public consciousness - an example being in cinema.
    Flag Negrul1on July 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with everyone on this page, and I liked what vivalapandabear said about not being afraid because you're never erased from history. This song is definately possitive though in response to something that was posted on page 1. It's followed by untitled which is a celebration of life. Those two songs for me together are the best on the record.

    ps I love the way he delivers the line "and she was born in a bottle rocket, 1929". I think mangum referances a bottle rocket because Anne Frank was born into a time where things were about to build up. The wall street crash happened in 1929. During the folowing years the Nazi started gaining more power as people turned to extreame politics in desperate times. The more people who joined/supported the nazis was like pressure being added to a bottle rocket, untill eventually it went off. World War II and the holocaust. It was just unfortunate that Anne was born at this time.
    Flag Peanuts27on August 22, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:and one day in new york city baby....that verse gets me every time.
    Flag HarmonyandDiscordon February 20, 2011   Link
  • -1
    My Interpretation:For whatever reason I always heard the line:

    "how it split the sun" as:

    "how it split the East Side"

    Which makes the New York City reference a lot stronger and the picture a lot more vivid (for me.) I've been listening to it again and again, and now I can hear both versions...although I still believe that mine makes more sense. Even if they aren't the correct lyrics, I'm going to stick to them.

    Oh boy. I do love Mondegreens.
    Flag doubleethinkon November 01, 2010   Link
  • -1
    My Interpretation:For whatever reason I always heard the line:

    "how it split the sun" as:

    "how it split the East Side"

    Which makes the New York City reference a lot stronger and the picture a lot more vivid (for me.) I've been listening to it again and again, and now I can hear both versions...although I still believe that mine makes more sense. Even if they aren't the correct lyrics, I'm going to stick to them.

    Oh boy. I do love Mondegreens.
    Flag doubleethinkon November 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Incredible song.


    "And one day in New York City, baby
    A girl fell from the sky
    From the top of a burning apartment building
    Fourteen stories high
    And when her spirit left her body
    How it split the sun
    I know that she will live forever
    All goes on and on"


    gives me chills every time. I found this album yesterday and I've listened to it at least 4 times. It just keeps getting better.
    Flag ledtheater9on October 17, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"And she goes
    And now she knows that she'll never be afraid
    To watch the morning paper blow
    Into a hole where no one can escape"

    I listened to this on LSD, and I thought the hole symbolized History. And how every event that is written in the morning paper (or noticed, for that matter) is- unavoidably throughout its process- thought about, created and produced, and remembered; and therefore birthed into existence and history and memory, as a Happened Thing. Where it can't not have happened, where it can never un-exist on a timeline.

    In this way the Anne Frank (or Anne Frank-inspired) character Jeff is singing about takes comfort in knowing that when she dies, she will not be afraid, because you can never erase that she lived, you can never take away the love she ever felt or the struggles she ever faced.

    Being jotted down into history (in very minuscule ways) is pretty much unavoidable, and that in itself can be an intimidating or terrifying thought (depending on how deeply you think about it). But Anne is no longer afraid of that fate, because she finally understands it.

    Keep in mind that more people know about something in history that happened if it was a gruesome, terrible thing, or something really profoundly sad. Such as the Holocaust, such as when you forever vividly remember a girl falling from a burning building. In order to enter that level of history within someone's mind and to be that pronounced amongst the other thoughts of the masses, something really tragic must have happened to you. I feel this is also relevant to the song.

    But like I said, LSD.
    Who knows.
    Flag vivalapandabearon August 29, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"To watch the morning paper blow
    Into a hole where no one can escape "

    I think this is referencing how the media propaganda against the Jews in Germany got worse and worse until no one could escape the consequences.
    Flag Samdarkon August 06, 2010   Link

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