Lately I've been thinking
Lately I've been dreaming with you
I'm so resistant to this type of thinking
Oh, now it's shining through
I was alone for the last time
Before my night's vacation with you
Alive from the first
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you

You take yourself a photograph and laugh at me
Please

I know there's little use in crying
It's more wide awake and dying then I'm used to
I thought we'd walk these streets together
Now I'm hoping that I'll never have to meet you
Step aside from all this anger
And somewhere in between I can feel you
Ask me should we try again
I'm thinking no
why'know, it's not what I believe in
It's not what I believe in

You take yourself a photograph and laugh at me
Please
You make yourself a photograph and laugh at me
Please

No I, want to taste you, love
No I...no I
No I, just want to taste you, love

Standing in your shoes
I turn and now
You're standing bare in my doorway
I only wish that I had been prepared
I'm gonna have to go along with your way
Just take the plastic camera out
It's the pants you borrowed in the driveway
Alive from the first
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you

Make yourself a photograph and laugh at me
Please
You make yourself a photograph and laugh at me
Please

No I, want to taste of love
No I...

I was alive from the first
Now I'm denied by the ghost of you



Lyrics submitted by oofus

Track duration: 05:43

"Ghost" as written by Sky Ferreira, Jon Brion, Blake Mills

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Ghost song meanings
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32 Comments

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  • 0
    My Opinion:A RELATIONSHIP TAKES A LOT OF WORK.. AND WITH ALL THAT WORK, YOU ALSO PUT IN THE TIME.. SOMETIMES IT CAN BE TOO UNBEARABLE.. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU BOTH FEEL LIKE YOU'VE EXHAUSTED ALL THE POSSIBILIES OF TRYING TO MAKE IT WORK.. IN ANY EVENT.. THERE'S NO TIME FRAME ON, "MOVING ON.."

    WITH THAT SAID..IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THEIR BOTH LAYING THERE UPON A BED TOGETHER..HIS HOLDING HER, AFTER THEY HAD BROKEN UP..AND HIS THINKING..I WAS ALONE BEFORE THIS NIGHT, UNTIL THIS ONE NIGHT, THEY LET THEIR EMOTIONS GET THE BEST OF THEM AND SOMEHOW THEY GOT LOST IN THE MOMENT.. SHE ENDED UP SPENDING THE NIGHT.. AND IN ALL OF HIS PAST RELATIONSHIPS HE WAS ABLE TO MOVE ON, AND GET OVER IT.. BUT NOW WITH HER.. HE CAN'T SEEM TOO..

    NOW, IT'S LIKE HE HAS TO START THE PROCESS OF 'MOVING ON' ALL OVER AGAIN.. THIS WOMAN SOUNDS VERY CHARMING, AS HE UTTERLY MOCKS HIMSELF BY SAYING, YOU TAKE YOURSELF A PHOTOGRAPH AND LAUGH AT ME.. IT'S ALMOST LIKE HE KNOWS THAT SHE HAS THE BEST OF HIM.. AND THAT HE'S ALLOWING THOSE FEELINGS TO SHOW THROUGH. IT'S ALMOST POINTLESS TO CRY, BECAUSE THEIR MEMORIES HAUNT HIM IN THE DAYTIME..AND HE STAYS UP THINKING ABOUT THEM..HE HAD THOUGHT AT ONE POINT THEY WOULD BE TOGETHER FOREVER.. NOW.. IT'S ALMOST DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO SEE HER, CAUSE HE MIGHT JUST "GIVE IN" AGAIN.. THEN HE'S THINKING... IF IT WASNT FOR ALL THIS ANGER..WE WOULD BE TOGETHER, BECAUSE HE SEES HER.. BUT SO MUCH HAS HAPPEN.. THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE TOGETHER, BECAUSE HIS HURT.. SHE'S HURT.. YET SHE ASKES HIM, "SHOULD WE TRY AGAIN?" AND EVEN THOUGH HE VERY MUCH LOVES HER AND WANTS TO BE WITH HER.. HE KNOWS, THIS ISN'T A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP.. AND SADLY.. SAYS NO..

    HE LOVES HER.. HE LOVES HER VERY MUCH.. JUST A CHANCE TO GET LOST IN THE THOUGHT OF BEING WITH HER THROUGH THE GOOD TIMES.. JUST A TASTE OF HER LOVE... BUT THEN..

    HE REALIZES, THEY GOT TO MOVE ON.. THEY BOTH DESERVE TO BE HAPPY.. SO NOW, HE GETS UP.. AND HEADS FOR THE DOOR.. THE LAST TIME, IT WAS HER.. NOW HIS STANDING IN HER SHOES.. AND HE TURNS TO HER..AND EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS THE ONE WHO BROKE UP WITH HIM THE FIRST TIME, AND NOW SHE'S ASKING FOR A SECOND CHANCE.. NOW HE FEELS AS THOUGH, HE HAS TO GO ALONG WITH HER WAY.. AND JUST END IT ALL..

    AS HE LEAVES.. HE'S THINKING.. THEIR BOTH GOING TO REMEMBER THIS MOMENT.. A PHOTOGRAPH.. AND HER SMILE.. AND HEARING HER LAUGHTER.. REMEMBERING ALL THE GOOD TIMES... WHEN THINGS WERE GOOD... LET'S END IT THERE...

    MAKE YOURSELF A PHOTOGRAPH.. AND LAUGH AT ME... PLEASE...
    Flag PoetryCorneron April 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is reflecting on a relationship break up, and a person's inner battle - partly wishing for the other half to ask if they can try again, but then the other half 'thinking no' and wanting them to get over them/make it easier to end it, by 'laughing at them'.
    Flag tjwoodon September 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i reckon its about a guy who loses the girl he loves an now he keeps seein her in his head an it slowly torments him "more wide awake and dying then i�m used to" i hope i never have to meet you, he cant deal with the fact she will have moved on
    Flag wanderer2on March 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with what everyone said on here, for me, this song right now is reminding me of past relationships/friendships. We have those moments where we know this is where we want to be, but it's taken away from us because life doesn't work like that. You can't freeze time and savor every nanosecond, you've just got to take it as it comes and not regret anything. This song is about nostalgia for me. It's about reminiscing about better times. I will always remember meaningful people in my life who have disappeared or passed away.

    This song makes me a little uneasy because when he gets to the part about taking a picture and laughing about it, it always makes me feel as if the person I really cared for thought nothing of me. They were looking back on our memories through photographs and were laughing at how stupid the relationship meant to them. They probably thought, How could they have been so intertwined with that person in that photograph? So that person probably moved on and I'm just left here in the dust, used up and directionless. I will regret not opening up to that certain person and just confess my feelings, but what can I do? It's obviously over and my love hasn't died, it's just faded. There's still hope, a flicker of light that I've left on. I don't regret any time I've spent with them, though, because they were the best moments in my life. I just wish I would have known that back then.
    Flag troblemson October 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've been trying to analyze this song since I first heard it when I was 10/11 and I'm as clueless now as I was then. at first I just assumed this song was about being in a abusive relationship, but I really don't think so anymore. I think this song goes too in-depth and particular that it had to have been a very personal situation he went through. it's just one of those songs that can mean multiple things, it's just all in how you looks at it.

    also, Howie has a very deceiving writing style. you never know a songs meaning until you hear it from him. usually it's about something completely out of the ordinary and far from what you though. true talent.
    Flag kellykingsleyon September 02, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that to fully understand the song you have to analyze every line. Because as it has been mentioned, I think this song is about being indecisive about ending a relationship. I am currently in the situation so I could be being a little biased, but here it goes.

    i’ve been thinking, lately i’ve been dreaming with you
    i’m so resitant to this type of thinking, oh, now it’s shining through
    - He's been wondering if this is what he wants. He doesn't like thinking about it, because deep down, he knows that she isn't interested. Maybe because she hasn't been particularly good to him recently. I see the image of them both sleeping in her bed, while he's wide awake and thinking.

    i was alone for the last time, before my night’s vacation with you
    alive from the first, now i’m denied by the ghost of you
    - I think this means that the night before he stayed over, he was resolved and he knew what he was doing. He was alone and at one with himself. But now afterwards, he's thinking about her and how he really knew she wasn't interested in the first place.

    you take yourself a photograph and laugh at me
    please
    - I see this as him wanting her to take his photo, and to laugh at him to make it easier for him to get over her. Mainly because it's easier to get over someone if they hate you, while it's a lot harder when you know there is that tiny chance they could still like you.
    The 'please' i see as an echo of him wanting it all to get better.

    i know there’s little use in crying
    it’s more wide awake and dying then i’m used to
    i thought we’d walk these streets together
    now i’m hoping that i’ll never have to meet you
    - He knows there is no use in crying and he has to keep his resolve or else he'll end up getting back with her again. He just wants to sleep and not think about her. And although he planned his whole life around her, he hopes that now he doesn't have to run into her because as much as he is thinking about her, it could crack his resolve.

    step aside from all this anger
    and somewhere in between i can feel you
    - Sometimes he thinks the thing that she has done to upset him, doesn't matter because he feels so in love. He can physically feel her inside of him. He's caught wondering if it was the right thing to do.

    ask me should we try again
    i’m thinking no
    y’know, it’s not what i believe in
    it’s not what i believe in
    - Even though he feels so in love with her, he can't get back with her because he doesn't believe the relationship will work. He has his moments where he thinks it won't work, but in his heart he's in love with her.

    no i, wanna taste you, love
    no i...no i
    no i, just wanna taste you, love
    - I think this verse represents the echo of uncertainty. I think the 'No.. I' stands for his sanity and how it's driving him crazy not knowing what to do.

    standing in your shoes
    i turn and now
    you’re standing bare in my doorway
    i only wish that i had been prepared
    i’m gonna have to go along with your way
    - He can't stop thinking about her, and trying to put himself in her shoes to understand why she has done this thing. He wishes he had prepared himself for a failing relationship instead of thinking it'd last forever.. As people in love often do.

    That's my take on it anyway. I guess everyone has a different interpretation.
    Flag arcadeonlineon August 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is so like...wow makes you want to cry and shit its one of his best and hes bloody amazing so it doesnt take much for howie day to make a song...the best, its his voice and his vibe...phenomenal
    Flag eat_sleep_blinkon July 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I never ever understood this song, but then something happened and it all came together.
    You have to understand, to understand. It's about indecision and confusion and all that shitty stuff.
    Flag penny-laneon May 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think its about a break up, and one person feels that they are completely over the other, until they see them again or are reminded of them and the "ghost" of what they had with the other person hits them.
    Flag emzylouon March 12, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i'm still trying to figure this one out...i'm pretty sure its about a break up (which i am currently experiencing).

    "i thought we’d walk these streets together
    now i’m hoping that i’ll never have to meet you" i moved out to this city to be with her (we were across the state)...and we used to walk the streets together. anytime i go out now, i hope sometimes i do run into her, but know deep down i don't want to because i know it will just make it hurt that much more.

    "i, just wanna taste you, love" ...every night, i think about her (even though i try my damndest not to...laying in bed by myself, just want to taste her kiss/body again.

    denied by the ghost of her time and time again...no matter how hard i want to forget about her and move on...i can't :(
    Flag dcp59190on September 19, 2005   Link

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