The five greatest songs about ghosts
‘Dead’ has never really meant ‘gone’, has it? If there’s one thing you can count on those who’ve passed on to do, it’s stick around in our memories, influencing us from beyond the grave. It’s no surprise, then, that the idea of ‘Ghosts’ has been an almost universal construct for as long as stories have been told.
From the stages of ancient Greek theatre, through folklore, through Shakespeare, all the way up to being a staple of horror films, we’ve reckoned with those who’ve passed on by scaring the bejeezus out of each other. A worthy pastime, and long may it last.
However, there’s also a long and glorious tradition of the ghost song. One that may not quite be as outright scary as their non-musical counterparts but just as important to us. That said, number six on the list would be Black Sabbath’s self-titled song from their self-titled album, a bone-chiller if there ever was one to this day.
They can be powerful, moving, exciting and, in some cases that we’ll get to, downright hilarious. So, since winter is here, it’s dark out, and it’s always spooky season in our hearts, here are five of the best songs about the spooky side of life.
The five best songs about ghosts:
‘Wuthering Heights’ – Kate Bush
Within the first 30 pages of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece is one of the most effective pieces of horror fiction of the age. Mild-mannered Mr Lockwood, the novel’s narrator, spends a single night in the titular manor and gets accosted by an apparition of its owner’s true love, begging to be let in through the window as he cowers in mortal terror.
The 1967 BBC adaptation of the novel shook an 18-year-old Kate Bush (yes, she wrote this when she was 18) so thoroughly that she wrote a song about it in a matter of hours (yes, she wrote in a few hours). That fateful night, she created one of the genuine touchstones of British pop and made her an icon to weirdos and goths everywhere, much like Emily had done a century before.
‘Ghosts’ – Laura Marling
Sometimes, though, the ghosts are all in your head. Speaking of women songwriters whose precocity beggared belief, Laura Marling had this affectionate yet cynical broadside against a lover hung up on an ex written at 16. At such a young age, she still had the empathy to accept that her lover was trying to forget these “ghosts that broke my heart before [they] met” but was still world-weary enough to roll her eyes at his fruitless attempts to move on.
“Lover please do not / fall to your knees it’s not/ like I believe in everlasting love” is one of the great lyrics of that decade for a very good reason.
‘Lost River’ – Murder By Death
This list could be entirely Murder By Death tracks, and there’d still be cuts to make from the cult titans of American(a) Gothic. We’ve decided to go with one of their more romantic tracks, one that reflects the comfort that can be found in feeling like someone you love is guiding you from beyond. Of course, this being Murder By Death, there’s one heck of a sting in the tail.
You see, the song’s narrator is guiding their living love to “swim that lost river to me” and to “lay their head in the riverbed” to join them forever. Only fitting from one of the most darkly irresistible bands of their time.
‘Ghost of Yesterday’ – Billie Holiday
Not every paranormal visitation has to be terrifying. There are probably more novelty records about ghosts than ones that play it straight, and then there are records like this classic from Lady Day herself. Records that wring out the image of the mournful phantom for every drop of melancholy it’s worth. Over a typically perfect vocal performance, Billie spins a story that could easily sit on Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning in its sheer, graceful sadness.
The ghost here is one of romantic regret. A sleepless Holiday finds an old flame stalking her room, and while on paper this could be the terrifying vision of a murder victim, I’m going on faith that the “Folly of a love I’ve strangled” is a metaphor for breaking his heart, rather than anything literal. It’s in Holiday’s sighing, “Every night you’re here, Whispering away /”Might have been, might have been, oh, my dear” /
Foolish heart must pay” That’s the sound of not knowing what you’ve got until it’s gone, and finding that what you mourn never truly leaves you.
‘Phantom’ – Rina Sawayama
The penultimate track of Sawayama’s 2022 record, Hold The Girl, sees her reckoning with a lesser-spotted vision of who we can be haunted by. Not some other entity, but instead, the ‘Phantom’ of this track is who we used to be. In this case, the call really is coming from inside the house, Sawayama pleading, “I need you now, I need you close / How do you hold a ghost?/ Inner child, come back to me / I want to tell you that I’m sorry”.
Like so many ghost stories, who we used to be has to be perceived, respected and done justice before it can truly be at rest.
